In opposition , Conservative leader Edward Heath appointed Channon as a spokesman on public building and works in 1965 , and then on arts in 1967 . He served as a junior minister in the government led by Heath from 1970 to 1974 , as Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Housing and Local Government in 1970 , then as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the new Department of the Environment from 1970 to 1972 , briefly as Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office for six months in 1972 , and then Minister of Housing and Construction from 1972 to 1974 . Secretary of State for Northern Ireland William Whitelaw met IRA leader Sean MacStiofain and other Republicans at Channon 's house in Chelsea on 7 July 1972 . The talks ended in failure , and the IRA bombed Belfast repeatedly on Bloody Friday just 2 weeks later . After the February 1974 general election , Channon joined Heath 's shadow cabinet as environment spokesman . His services were dispensed with by Margaret Thatcher when she became leader of the Conservative Party in February 1975
Bloody Friday
Bloody Friday (1972)
Paul Channon