May 1977: UUAC Strike
May 1977 saw the Original Star Wars movie (Episode IV – A New Hope), directed by George Lucas and starring Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford, premiere. In Northern Ireland, Ian Paisley was on a crusade of power with a similar determination to Darth Vader.
Political Developments in May 1977
May 1977 began with an additional 1,200 British soldiers being flown into Northern Ireland, and all RUC leave being cancelled, in anticipation of the United Unionist Action Council strike. With the strike becoming a major concern, fresh appeals were made from a range of organisations and political parties, including the Ulster Unionist Party, the Vanguard Unionist Party, the Orange Order, the Peace People, and the trade union movement, for the UUAC to call off their planned stoppage.
In a last-minute attempt to avoid the planned strike Secretary of State Roy Mason met leaders of the UUAC including Ian Paisley and Ernest Baird but the talks broke up without any agreement.
Ian Paisley rejected allegations that the UUAC was using the strike as cover to secure independence for Ulster but warned that if it did take place he could not guarantee that intimidation would not take place.
At Belfast docks, workers decided by a small majority not to support the UUAC strike.
With the strike looming, in areas of Belfast, including Shankill and Crumlin Road, there were reports of several food vans being hijacked and their contents stolen. To compound the anxiety amongst the people, in an interview, British Defence Secretary Fred Mulley warned that it might be impossible for the Army to maintain essential services.
County Grand Master of the Orange Order in Belfast Thomas Passmore alleged that he had received death threats in the wake of his public opposition to the strike.
An opinion poll carried out by the BBC highlighted that although some 78% of people interviewed opposed the UUAC stoppage, 93% of Protestants and 43% of Catholics supported a tougher security response against the IRA.
The RUC announced that it had set up a special anti-intimidation squad to try to counter the use of the tactic during the proposed strike.
Just before midnight, in a reverse of an earlier decision, 400 workers walked out of the Belfast shipyard.
The strike started on the 3rd of May. Let’s break down what happened each day during the strike.
Day 1 (3rd of May)
The United Unionist Action Council began a Northern Ireland-wide strike. Many factories managed to stay open although the port at Larne, County Antrim, was closed. Intimidation, or 'persuasion' as the Loyalist paramilitaries preferred to call it, was used in 1974 to try to stop people from going to work. Despite this, the majority of the Harland and Wolff shipyard workers voted against the strike. The strike was also criticised by the Ulster Unionist Party, Ulster Vanguard, and the Orange Order. During the first three days of the strike, the Royal Ulster Constabulary reported that it had removed 300 roadblocks, arrested 23 people, and received 1,000 complaints of intimidation. In calling the strike the UUAC were copying the tactics of the Ulster Workers Council strike in May 1974 and were hoping for similar success. However many of the conditions were different from 1974. There was not the same anxiety among the Protest population that Britain was about to withdraw from Northern Ireland and this had the effect of reducing support for the strike. In particular, those organising the strike were unable to secure the support of key groups of workers. Chief amongst these were the workers at Ballylumford power station who, although brought under great pressure, refused on several occasions to support the strike. The other major factor was that the British government had learnt some lessons from the 1974 strike and was more prepared for the tactics of the strikers.
Day 2
The UUUC parliamentary coalition was ended because of the support of Ian Paisley and Ernest Baird for the strike. This decision was taken by the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party at Westminster James Molyneaux because elements of the UUAC were planning to establish a provisional government in Northern Ireland as the next stage of the stoppage.
In Belfast, loyalist paramilitaries were suspected of being responsible for a bomb explosion outside a police station on York Road. Roy Mason argued that more people had attended work than on the first day of the strike.
On the Newtownards Road in east Belfast, the RUC clashed with members of the UDA when police officers attempted to remove a barricade.
In spite of attacks on buses, bus drivers voted to continue working. Leader of the UDA and a member of the UUAC Andy Tyrie appealed for members of the UDA to 'cool it'.
Day 3
After three days of the strike, the RUC released figures showing that it had dismantled some 300 roadblocks, arrested 23 people, and dealt with over 1,000 cases of alleged intimidation.
In addition, it also claimed that the United Unionist Action Council was deliberately choosing to employ women and children during confrontations with the police to draw support to its cause and to alienate people against the RUC.
Day 4
The United Unionist Action Council was unable to secure the support of the workers at the Ballylumford power station, near Larne, County Antrim. This meant that power would be maintained and factories and commerce could continue to operate. The Ballylumford workers had control of a major part of Northern Ireland's power supply, approximately two-thirds, and thus were crucial to the outcome of the strike.
The Coachman's Inn, a hotel situated near Bangor, County Down, was attacked by a mob which set fire to the building. The premises had continued to remain open during the strike.
Secretary of State Roy Mason met a delegation led by the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party Harry West. Its members included representatives from the Orange Order, industrialists, farmers, and businessmen. The delegation pressed Mason to embark on a series of tougher security measures.
Contrasting claims continued to be made about the progress of the UUAC strike. While the Northern Ireland Office claimed that the business sector was 'near normal', leaders of the UUAC argued that support for their action was growing.
In an attempt to increase the pressure, the UUAC called for a complete shutdown of Northern Ireland on Monday the 9th of May. This call was criticised by Harry West who said he had been guaranteed by Roy Mason that a tougher security policy would be implemented.
Day 5
The Peace People held a rally, its first public rally for some time, outside Belfast City Hall to protest at the levels of intimidation in the wake of the strike.
Attention once again turned to the workers at Ballylumford power station, near Larne, which was increasingly being seen as crucial to the outcome of the strike. A delegation of four Ulster Unionist Party MPs, Robert Bradford, William Craig, James Molyneaux, and Harold McCusker, who were opposed to the strike, visited the Ballylumford power station and urged workers to remain at their posts. Ian Paisley, together with a delegation from the UUAC, also held a meeting with workers at Ballylumford. Paisley claimed that he could close the plant at any point but instead had urged staff there to keep working to maintain 'essential supplies'.
In the Lisburn-Hillsborough-Moira area, south of Belfast, some 600 farm vehicles took part in a cavalcade to call for an improvement in the security situation. Those behind the protest however made clear that their actions did not represent any support for the strike.
Day 6
The loyalist paramilitary group the Ulster Freedom Fighters, a cover name used by the UDA, announced that it might be forced to 'coerce' loyalists in Northern Ireland into supporting the strike.
Ian Paisley reiterated his belief that the strike had already been a success even if at some point it had to be called off. However, a spokesman for the UUAC stated that there was 'no chance' of the strike being called off.
Day 7
There were many demonstrations and roadblocks across Northern Ireland in support of the strike. Ian Paisley joined farmers who were blocking the town of Ballymena in the middle of his North Antrim Westminster constituency.
Across Northern Ireland, there were a series of similar protests with demonstrations, roadblocks and cavalcades taking place in Belfast, Enniskillen, Larne, Portadown and Newtownards. Uncertainty still surrounded the situation at Ballylumford power station with reports continuing to emerge about meetings involving workers at the plant.
Day 8
At a roadblock outside Ballymena Ian Paisley, Ernest Baird, and other members of the UUAC were arrested. Paisley was charged with obstruction of the highway and then released.
In Toomebridge, County Antrim a roadblock by farmers supporting the UUAC was attacked by local nationalists. In the disturbances that followed farm vehicles were pushed into the River Bann as the blockade was dispersed. It was reported that several shots were also fired during the disturbances.
Day 9
At Larne, County Antrim, there were a number of ferry sailings to and from the port even though workers were still on strike.
To mark the death of Harry Bradshaw who had been killed by Loyalist paramilitaries on the 10th of May, bus services were halted. However elsewhere the situation appeared to be stabilising with electricity supplies continuing as normal and with apparently fewer street disturbances.
In Donaghdee, County Down, the Copelands Hotel was destroyed in a suspicious fire. The incident is alleged to have followed the decision of the owners to stay open during the strike.
Day 10
The port of Larne, County Antrim, was reopened and ferry sailings were resumed.
During a debate at Westminster Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office Don Concannon defended the British government's security policy in Northern Ireland and pointed to figures which he claimed showed a fall in incidents over the past year. He also claimed that the UUAC strike was simply diverting the security forces from concentrating on the activity of paramilitary groups. On the political front, Concannon also held out the possibility that the government hoped to launch a new initiative after the local council elections scheduled for the 18th of May.
Day 11 (13th of May)
The United Unionist Action Council called an end to its strike which began on the 3rd of May. The strike had failed to stop many aspects of industry and commerce.
Ian Paisley declared the strike a success. However, many commentators considered that in comparison with the Ulster Workers Council Stike of 1974, the UUAC strike was not a success. The RUC were to report later that 3 people had been killed, 41 RUC officers injured, and 115 people charged with offences committed during the strike.
On the 18th of May, elections were held for the 26 district councils in Northern Ireland. As the United Ulster Unionist Council had broken up, the main Unionist parties stood against each other for the first time since 1974.
Five days later, Secretary of State Roy Mason started a new round of talks with the leaders of the main political parties.
British Prime Minister James Callaghan announced that an all-party Speaker's Conference was to be established to consider the merits of the argument for more Northern Ireland Members of Parliament.
A statement written by four members of the Church of Ireland, who were also graduates of Trinity College Dublin, appeared in the Irish Times and other newspapers on the 30th of May. The statement contained an apology for the deeds of the 'Ascendancy Church' in its dealing with the Catholics of Ireland.
“The Role of the Church Committee’ of the Church of Ireland issued an important statement in February 1977. It ends with the words ‘Given penitence, honesty, realism and a determination to face radical change, there is still time for the Churches, Governments and others to make a positive contribution to the creation of a society for which we all long.
In 1691, William of Orange concluded the war in Ireland with the Treaty of Limerick. He granted terms that were generous for the age. They included giving Catholics the same rights they had under Charles II and also permitted the defeated Irish to hold lands under certain conditions.
In 1692 the Parliament that met in Dublin refused to ratify the Treaty. In 1695 they set up Penal Laws with the aim of removing land and power from Catholics.
The Protestant Ascendancy that ruled the Dublin Parliament was the Ascendancy of the Church of Ireland. So the Penal Laws were to some extent applied to Presbyterians also. They, like Catholics, could not hold office under the Crown. They, like Catholics, were forced to pay tithes to help finance the Church of Ireland.
For these and other reasons Presbyterians migrated in tens of thousands to the United States. In the War of Independence they, through their sense of grievance, helped form the backbone of Washington’s army.
But what we, as members of the Ascendancy Church, did to the Catholics, was infamous beyond belief. As the Chief Justice of the day said ‘The law does not suppose any such persons to exist as an Irish Roman Catholic.’
By our studied and deliberate degradation of a proud and cultured people, we reduced them to a poverty stricken peasantry bereft of their natural leaders. We hounded their priests and denied them all possibility of education. We therefore set in train events that led eventually and inevitably to the starvation of the Famine years from 1845 onwards. This meant migration by the hundred thousand to the United States.
We are deeply sorry for these and many other such deeds, not in the spirit of breast-beating, but in honesty and penitence. We know that we must realistically face them if we are ever to be trusted in the future. We know of many other situations in the world where an honest and penitent facing of the facts, instead of excusing ourselves, could lead to ‘the creation of a society for which we all long.’ It is to this end that we sign this document.
Each of us has lived in the North of Ireland for a number of years; was born in the South of Ireland; is a confirmed member of the Church of Ireland; is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin; believes we cannot expect our leaders to do and say what we are not prepared to do and say ourselves.”
Shootings, Beatings & Abductions in May 1977
03/05/77 - Civilian Edward Coleman (22) was found shot dead in a field off Glen Road, Belfast. He was shot by the IRA as an alleged informer.
05/05/77 - Ex-British soldier James Green (22) was shot dead by the IRA in the Andersonstown area of Belfast.
08/05/77 - Civilian Robert Crawford (40) was found shot, on Forthriver Road, Glencairn, Belfast.
10/05/77 - The "Shankill Butchers" kidnapped and tortured a Catholic civilian in Belfast. He was found in an alleyway off the Shankill Road after the gang had beaten and stabbed him, and slashed his wrists. He was the first victim to survive such an attack.
10/05/77 - Harry Bradshaw (46), a Protestant civilian, was shot dead by Loyalist paramilitaries as he drove a bus on the Crumlin Road, Belfast. He was killed because he was working during the United Unionist Action Council strike.
12/05/77 - In an incident on the Donegall Road in Belfast the driver of a petrol tanker was shot when he was forced to stop by a large crowd of loyalist protestors.
12/05/77 - Douglas Deering (53), a Justice of the Peace, was shot dead by the IRA in Rosslea, County Fermanagh.
14/05/77 - Robert Nairac (29), a member of the British Army, was abducted by the IRA outside the Three Step Inn, near Forkhill, County Armagh. His body was never recovered and he was presumed dead. He is listed as one of the 'disappeared'. The IRA later stated that they had interrogated and killed a SAS officer. Nairac was posthumously awarded the George Cross.
20/05/77 - Daniel McCooey (20), a Catholic civilian, died three weeks after he had been severely beaten by members of a British Army foot patrol in Castle Street, Belfast.
20/05/77 - Off-duty UDR soldier Robert North (52) was shot dead while driving a school bus near Benburb, County Tyrone.
21/05/77 - Ex-RUC officer Christopher Shaw (63) was shot dead by the IRA in the Lisburn Road area of Belfast.
23/05/77 - UDA members undertook an armed robbery of Ewart's Bowling Club in Somerdale Park, Belfast. Protestant civilian Roland Hill (74) was shot and died of his wounds on the 29th of May 1977.
26/05/77 - A British soldier, a member of a liaison team from the Royal Anglian Regiment, was shot and seriously injured by an INLA member in a corridor in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast. One of the five shots fired also hit a male nurse.
30/05/77 - Civilian Malachy Gregory (39) was shot dead by the IRA in College Square, Belfast. He was mistaken for an off-duty member of the British Army.
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Bombings in May 1977
05/05/77 - A bomb exploded outside the Lismore factory in Portadown. It was believed that Loyalist paramilitaries were responsible for the bombing which was thought to be a response to the factory remaining open during the stoppage.
10/05/77 - John Geddis (26), a member of the UDR, was killed in a Loyalist bomb attack on a petrol station on Crumlin Road, Belfast. Again this attack was carried out because the petrol station had opened during the strike.
10/05/77 - UDA members William Hobbs (44) and James McClurg (25) were killed as the result of a premature explosion of an incendiary bomb they were working on at a derelict house in Monkstown, Newtownabbey, County Antrim.
28/05/77 - Five improvised mortar shells were launched by the IRA at Warrenpoint docks. All the bombs fell short and exploded in the waters of Carlingford Lough. The mortar and two shells were later found by the Garda in Drummallagh, near Omeath. The Irish Army defused the devices.
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Some recommended reading based on research for this instalment.
I.N.L.A. - Deadly Divisions by Henry McDonald & Jack Holland.