Sunningdale, the Ulster Workers' Council strike and the struggle for democracy in Northern Ireland

The ‘Sunningdale experiment’ of 1973-74 witnessed the first attempt at establishing peace in Northern Ireland based on power-sharing. However, its provisions, particularly the cross-border ‘Council of Ireland’, proved to be a step too far. The experiment floundered amidst ongoing paramilitary-led violence and collapsed in May 1974 as a result of the Ulster Workers’ Council Strike. Yet, many of the ideas first articulated in this period would resonate in later attempts to cultivate peace and foster a democratic. This collection asks what became of those ideas and what lessons can we learn looking back on Sunningdale over forty years hence.Drawing on a range of new scholarship from some of the key political historians working on the period, this book presents a series of reflections on how key protagonists struggled with ideas concerning ‘power-sharing’ and an ‘Irish dimension’ and how those struggles inhibited a deepening of democracy and the ending of violence for so long. The book will be essential reading for any student of the Northern Irish conflict and for readers with a general interest in the contemporary history of British-Irish governmental relations. Front matter Contents Notes on contributors Acknowledgements List of abbreviations and Irish terms Chronology Part I Introduction and overview of the Sunningdale Agreement Introduction The Ulster Workers’ Council strike: the perfect storm Understanding aspiration, anxiety, assumption and ambiguity: the anatomy of Sunningdale Part II The lessons of Sunningdale: the key protagonists Sunningdale and the Irish dimension: a step too far? British government policy post 1974: learning slowly between Sunningdales? British security policy and the Sunningdale Agreement: the consequences of using force to combat terrorism in a liberal democrac Sunningdale and the limits of ‘rejectionist’ Unionism Stan Orme and the road to ‘Industrial Democracy’: British attempts at the politicisation of working-class Protestants in Northern Ireland, 1973–75 Power sharing and the Irish dimension: the conundrum for the SDLP in Northern Ireland ‘1974 – Year of Liberty’? The Provisional IRA and Sunningdale Part III The legacies of Sunningdale Cultural responses to and the legacies of Sunningdale ‘Slow learners’? Comparing the Sunningdale Agreement and the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement The Sunningdale Agreement (December 1973) References Index "This important book reassesses a defining historical, political and ideological moment in contemporary history: the 1989 revolutions in central and eastern Europe. Adopting a multi-disciplinary approach, the authors reconsider such crucial themes as the broader historical significance of the 1989 events, the complex interaction between external and internal factors in the origins and outcomes of the revolutions, the impact of the 'Gorbachev phenomenon', the West and the end of the Cold War, the political and socio-economic determinants of the revolutionary processes in Poland, Hungary, the German Democratic Republic, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Bulgaria, and the competing academic, cultural and ideological perceptions of the year 1989 as communism gave way to post-communist pluralism in the 1990s and beyond. Concluding that the contentious term 'revolution' is indeed apt for the momentous developments in eastern Europe in 1989, this book will be essential reading for undergraduates, postgraduates and specialists alike."--Publisher's description The "Sunningdale experiment" of 1973-4 witnessed the first attempt to establish peace in Northern Ireland through power-sharing. However, its provisions, particularly the cross-border 'Council of Ireland', proved to be a step too far. The experiment floundered amid ongoing paramilitary-led violence, finally collapsing in May 1974 as a result of the Ulster Workers' Council strike. Drawing on new scholarship from some of the top political historians working on the period, this book presents a series of reflections on how key protagonists struggled with notions of power-sharing and the 'Irish dimension', and how those struggles inhibited a deepening of democracy and the ending of violence for so long. -- Provided by publisher A sustained and systematic attempt to draw together political and historical scholarship on the Sunningdale experiment and the Ulster Workers' Council strike (1973-4) in Northern Ireland, revisiting the period to explore its lessons and echoes today.