Executive of the 1974 Northern Ireland Assembly: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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{{Short description|Devolved government of Northern Ireland from 1 January to 28 May 1974}}

{{Unreferenced|date=September 2010}}

{{Infobox government cabinet

|cabinet_name = Executive of the<br/> 1974 Northern Ireland Assembly

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A power-sharing '''Northern Ireland Executive''' was formed following the [[Northern Ireland Assembly (1973)|Northern Ireland Assembly]] elections of 1973. The executive served as the [[Devolution in the United Kingdom|devolved]] government of [[Northern Ireland]] from [[1 January]] [[1974]] until its collapse on [[28 May]] [[1974]].

==History==

[[1973 Northern Ireland Assembly election|Elections]] to a Northern Ireland Assembly were held on 28 June 1973.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-03-30 |title=CBP-8638.pdf |url=https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8638/CBP-8638.pdf |access-date=2024-02-02 |website=researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk |page=20 |format=PDF}}</ref> On 21 November, the [[Sunningdale Agreement]] was reached on a voluntary coalition of pro-agreement parties, and the Executive took office on 1 January 1974.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CAIN: Events: The Sunningdale Agreement - Chronology of Main Events |url=https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/events/sunningdale/chron.htm |access-date=2024-02-02 |website=cain.ulster.ac.uk}}</ref> Prominent members of the executive included former [[Ulster Unionist Party]] [[Prime Minister (Northern Ireland)|Prime Minister]] [[Brian Faulkner]] as Chiefchief Executiveexecutive, then [[Social Democratic and Labour Party]] (SDLP) leader [[Gerry Fitt]] as Deputydeputy Chiefchief Executiveexecutive, future Nobel Laureate and SDLP leader [[John Hume]] as Ministerminister for Commercecommerce and then leader of the [[Alliance Party of Northern Ireland]] [[Oliver Napier]] as Legallegal Ministerminister and head of the [[Office of Law Reform]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Politics and society in Northern Ireland, 1949-1993 |date=2009 |publisher=Folens |isbn=978-1-84741-186-0 |editor-last=Holohan |editor-first=Francis T. |series=Ireland : Leaving certificate history |location=Hibernian Industrial Estate, Greenhills Road, Tallaght, Dublin 24 |pages=37}}</ref>

The UUP was deeply divided; its Standing Committee voted to participate in the executive by a margin of only 132 to 105.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kane |first=Alex |date=2013-07-31 |title=Power-sharing: Just a little bit of history repeating |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/columnists/power-sharing-just-a-little-bit-of-history-repeating/29461301.html |access-date=2024-02-02 |work=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref> Since the [[partition of Ireland]], [[Unionism in Ireland|unionists]] had been opposed to sharing power with the [[Irish nationalist]] minority and the end of [[majoritarianism]] caused great strife in the UUP. Other contentious issues were [[internment]], policing and the question of the planned [[Council of Ireland (1970s)|Council of Ireland]].

After opposition from within the UUP and the [[Ulster Workers' Council strike]], the executive and Assembly collapsed on 28 May 1974 when Faulkner resigned as Chiefchief Executiveexecutive.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1999-05-28 |title=BBC News {{!}} UK Politics {{!}} Quarter century after first assembly's fall |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/354539.stm |access-date=2024-02-02 |website=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>

==Chief Executive==

In January 1974 [[Brian Faulkner]] became Chiefchief Executiveexecutive in the power-sharing executive with the SDLP and the non-sectarian [[Alliance Party of Northern Ireland|Alliance Party]], a political alliance cemented at the [[Sunningdale Agreement|Sunningdale Conference]] that year. After opposition from within the UUP and the [[Ulster Workers Council Strike]], the executive and assembly collapsed on 28 May 1974 when Faulkner resigned as Chiefchief Executiveexecutive. Brian Faulkner would later then form his own political party known as the [[Unionist Party of Northern Ireland]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=CAIN: Abstracts of Organisations - 'U' |url=https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/othelem/organ/uorgan.htm |access-date=2024-02-02 |website=cain.ulster.ac.uk |quote=The Unionist Party of Northern Ireland (UPNI) was officially launched in September 1974. It was formed by a group of people who had been members of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and who supported Brian Faulkner after the proposals contained in the Sunningdale Agreement had been rejected by most of the members of the UUP. This group of people had contested the 1974 Westminster election under the title 'Unionist Pro-Assembly'.}}</ref> They contested the 1975 Constitutional Convention Elections in which they got only 5 seats and no new [[Chief Executive (Northern Ireland)|Chiefchief Executiveexecutive]] was elected to replace [[Brian Faulkner]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

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|[[Alliance Party of Northern Ireland|Alliance]]

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== References ==

<references />

==See also==

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[[Category:1974 disestablishments in Northern Ireland]]

[[Category:1974 in British politics]]

[[Category:Ministries of Elizabeth II]]