Killing of William Twaddell
Parkinson says that details of the assassination are unclear but that it shocked the Unionist community. McDermott says that assassination was not an authorised IRA job. According to Hopkinson, an earlier raid by the Specials had netted the names of 'practically every officer in the [3rd Northern] Division' and that subsequently, the military strength of the IRA in Belfast was negligible. Gallagher (who says that Twaddell was killed on 19th May) notes that the arrests left the minority population without political direction for many years to come. Phoenix says that that internment dealt a big blow to Sinn Fein but that its impact on the IRA was more limited since those arrested included a lot of professional men and politicians. The Belfast parliament proscribes the IRA. Parkinson notes that the sweep was not knee-jerk response to the assassination of Twaddell but had been planned for some time (Article 23B of the Special Powers Act – which had become law of the 7th April – permitted internment.) Inside four months, 446 men were interned and an estimated 728 men were detained between May 1922 and end of 1924.