Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #le23
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What kind of future did Sir James Craig & other #Unionist leaders envisage for the people of #NorthernIreland? As I walked the ground of my old homestead #Rathcoole I was shocked to see how the perfect storm of deprivation, disaffection & despair has broken over the estate 1/10 
Sir Basil Brooke, one of Craig’s successors, believed his government should build “homes fit for heroes” after the Second World War. Built in the 1950s, Rathcoole was to be a model village for his brand of Unionism’s vision of a “peaceful & prosperous Ulster” 2/10
Once an estate where Protestants & Catholics lived side-by-side, neighbours turned on neighbours in the 1970s, leading to the Rathcoole Defence Association intimidating many Catholics out of their homes. Tit-for-tat intimidation soon spread like wildfire across Belfast & NI 3/10
