Liam McMillen

Liam McMillen appears in 697. The Troubles: Murder in Belfast (Part 1) as the independent Republican candidate whose West Belfast campaign office displayed an Irish tricolor during the 1964 Westminster election. Under pressure from Ian Paisley, the RUC removed the flag on 28 September 1964.

The resulting riot gave Paisley publicity and made flag symbolism a street-level case of Historical Memory Contest. McMillen’s role is therefore less about electoral success than about how symbols, policing, and publicity could turn ordinary political campaigning into sectarian confrontation.

Connections

• Ian Paisley, RUC, and Belfast - 1964 tricolor riot context.
• Historical Memory Contest, Provocation Publicity Politics, and State Policing Legitimacy Crisis - concepts illustrated by the incident.