The Troubles: Ireland's Ordeal 1966–1995 and the Search for Peace

by Tim Pat Coogan

The public inquiry never took place, but a public outcry did. The report was leaked to the Guardian, the Sunday Times and various politicians before its official publication on 13 June. Mindful of what had gone before, Thames, and This Week, played the issue with a very straight bat. A programme was prepared containing a short clip of interviews with some of the Catholic doctors who had treated some of those interrogated. This was to be followed by interviews with Ian Paisley and a Protestant defender of the RUC. On top of this, ‘balance’ dictated that a studio discussion would ensue between Enoch Powell, the Unionist John Taylor, and a Nationalist, Patrick Duffy. However, on the day the programme was scheduled for transmission (8 June) the IBA met and banned it, sight unseen. What followed was literally black comedy. Thames proposed to replace the banned programme with a comedy show. But the company’s technicians refused to transmit it, saying the only programme they would put out was the previous year’s Inhuman and Degrading Treatment! As a result, screens went blank for half an hour in England, and on Ulster Television (UTV).