ABSTRACT
Internment was permitted under Regulation 12, which required Ministerial authorisation to make an internment order of indefinite duration against an individual. contingency planning for internment commenced in early 1971, at which point the UK Ministry of Defence also envisaged the detention of ‘Protestant extremists,’ separated from Irish Republican Army internees. Ed Moloney argues that internment was a political triumph for the IRA, because it was introduced in such a one-sided way that it increased nationalist alienation on the island of Ireland. Internment in Northern Ireland became intimately connected with the contours of the conflict, and following its re-introduction ‘there was a dramatic leap in the number of lethal-force-related deaths in Northern Ireland.’ The Police Prison Service of Northern Ireland was responsible for internal security within the camps, while the British army was tasked with external security. The British Army responded to disturbances outside Magilligan camp on 22 January 1972.
