Fifty years ago this week, the Ulster Workers’ Council strike was in full flight, bringing Northern Ireland to its knees over the Sunningdale Agreement, which brought power-sharing at Stormont between the pro-Brian Faulker wing of the Unionist Party, the SDLP and the Alliance Party.
More controversially at that time, the Council of Ireland also hoped to bring about a new era of cooperation between Northern Ireland and the Republic.
This was the first serious attempt of the Troubles era to implement a political solution to end the cycle of violence that had started five years earlier.
This initiative’s failure has often been cited as a great missed opportunity. As the Executive fell at the end of May 1974, it would be another 25 years before devolution returned.
Missed opportunities. There have been so many of them in our history. In the decades after the UWC strike, we had statements reflecting that the Good Friday Agreement was Sunningdale for slow learners, and more recent leaders in unionism have reflected that they were too slow to accept power-sharing in the early 1970s.
It would be wrong to lead people to believe there were no tensions and disagreements between unionist and SDLP ministers during their brief five months in office. There was no simple and straightforward path, but Sunningdale did represent an opportunity to take a different course.
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Those who made this brave move should be remembered for the leadership and imagination that they showed.
Not for the last time have many politicians paid a heavy price for trying to move things forward in Northern Ireland.
Looking back 50 years later, it is frustrating to read of the many opportunities that we have let pass us by, not just in resolving the Troubles but also in realising the full potential that peace has brought.
We can say many things about the political leaders of 1974, but one thing they did not lack was political courage in attempting to break a cycle of failure.
In 2024, our newly restored executive will face a completely different set of problems which also require breaking a cycle of failure. The Covid inquiry hearings laid out the many failings of our devolved government in handling the pandemic.
The question of providing leadership was asked a number of times during questioning.
The simple fact is that it is incredibly easy for any politician to retreat to a comfort zone. Many in the early 1970s did not recognise the reforms and changes Northern Ireland needed. Those who backed Sunningdale were prepared to step out of their comfort zones.
In 2024, the comfort zone proposes uncosted motions and does not correctly prioritise what exactly it wants the Executive to achieve by 2027. It looks at problems and does not find meaningful solutions.
Yes, the experiment launched by the Sunningdale Agreement failed. But to fail at something, you first have to try
As I look back at the legacy of the Ulster Workers’ Council strike, I see the need for leadership. Yes, the experiment launched by the Sunningdale Agreement failed. But to fail at something, you first have to try.
Those politicians who participated in our first power-sharing government were forced to make deep and controversial compromises that annoyed supporters of unionism and nationalism. It meant making hard choices and prioritising what they believed was important.
There is an important lesson there. Every party needs to bring their base with them, and Brian Faulkner failed to do that. However, years later, his successors within unionism acknowledged that they should have been faster to acknowledge that the old system of majority rule was gone for good.
Faulkner, Fitt and Napier were not perfect leaders. O’Neill, Pengelly, Long and Beattie should look back 50 years and learn from their mistakes and the leadership they showed during a crisis.
The 1974 politicians who supported Sunningdale dared to re-imagine this place and believed it was not condemned to perpetual violence and division.
The 2024 political leaders in the Executive have a chance to re-imagine this place as one that has learned from the failures of the past and reformed government here for the better.
