Heath governed during a bloody period in the history of the Northern Ireland Troubles . On Bloody Sunday in 1972 , 14 men were shot dead by British soldiers during an anti-internment march in Derry City . In early 1971 Heath sent in a Secret Intelligence Service officer , Frank Steele , to talk to the IRA and find out what common ground there was for negotiations . Steele had carried out secret talks with Jomo Kenyatta ahead of the British withdrawal from Kenya . In July 1972 , Heath permitted his Secretary of State for Northern Ireland , William Whitelaw , to hold unofficial talks in London with an IRA delegation by Seán Mac Stíofáin . In the aftermath of these unsuccessful talks , the Heath government pushed for a peaceful settlement with the democratic political parties
Bloody Sunday in 1972
Bloody Sunday (1972)
Edward Heath