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

• Author(s): David McCann, Cillian McGrattan,
• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Pages: 240
• ISBN_10: 1526108399
  ISBN_13: 9781526108395
  
• Language: en
• Categories: History / Europe / Ireland , Political Science / Peace , Political Science / Political Ideologies / Democracy , Religion / Religion, Politics & State , History / Europe / Great Britain / General , Political Science / General ,

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.