Joe Mc Cann - Armed Activities

Armed Activities

McCann was appointed commander of the OIRA's Third Belfast Battalion. By 1970, violence in Northern Ireland had escalated to the point, where British soldiers were deployed there in large numbers. From 3–5 July 1970, McCann was involved in gun battles during the Falls Curfew between the Official IRA and up to 3,000 British soldiers in the Lower Falls area that left four civilians dead from gunshot wounds, another killed after being hit by an armoured car and 60 injured. On 22 May 1971, McCann's unit ambushed a British patrol, killing one soldier.

In another incident McCann led a unit which captured 3 UVF members in Sandy Row. The UVF had raided an OIRA arms dump earlier that day and the OIRA announced they would execute the three prisoners if the weapons were not returned. McCann eventually released the three UVF members because they were "working class men like yourself".

His most famous act came on 9 August 1971 when his unit took over the Inglis bakery in the Markets area and fortified it after the introduction of internment without trial by the Northern Ireland authorities (see Operation Demetrius). They defended it throughout the night from an incursion by 600 British soldiers, looking to arrest paramilitary suspects. The action allowed other IRA members to slip out of the area and avoid arrest. He was photographed during the incident, holding an M1 carbine, against the background of a burning building and the Starry Plough flag; one of the most striking early images of The Troubles.

In early February 1972, he was involved in the attempted assassination of Ulster Unionist politician and Northern Ireland Minister for Home Affairs. John Taylor in Moira, County Down. McCann and another gunman fired on Taylor's car with Thompson submachine guns, hitting him five times in the neck and head, but he survived, though badly injured. In another incident he and a comrade were standing outside a Belfast cinema to purchase tickets for the film Soldier Blue when McCann spotted a British Army checkpoint. He drew his gun and fired at the soldiers before running away laughing.