Executive_of_the_1974_Northern_Ireland_Assembly
Executive of the 1974 Northern Ireland Assembly
Devolved government of Northern Ireland from 1 January to 28 May 1974
A power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive was formed following the Northern Ireland Assembly elections of 1973. The executive served as the devolved government of Northern Ireland from 1 January 1974 until its collapse on 28 May 1974.
Executive of the 1974 Northern Ireland Assembly | |
|---|---|
| 1974 Executive of Northern Ireland | |
| Date formed | 1 January 1974 |
| Date dissolved | 28 May 1974 |
| People and organisations | |
| Head of state | Elizabeth II |
| Head of government | Brian Faulkner |
| Deputy head of government | Gerry Fitt |
| No. of ministers | 9 |
| Member party | UUP (pro-assembly) SDLP Alliance |
| Status in legislature | Coalition |
| History | |
| Election(s) | 1973 assembly election |
| Legislature term(s) | 1973 Assembly |
| Predecessor | Faulkner ministry |
| Successor | Direct rule (1974–98) 1st Executive of Northern Ireland |
Elections to a Northern Ireland Assembly were held on 28 June 1973.[1] 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.[2] Prominent members of the executive included former Ulster Unionist Party Prime Minister Brian Faulkner as Chief Executive, then Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) leader Gerry Fitt as Deputy Chief Executive, future Nobel Laureate and SDLP leader John Hume as Minister for Commerce and then leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland Oliver Napier as Legal Minister and head of the Office of Law Reform.[3]
The UUP was deeply divided; its Standing Committee voted to participate in the executive by a margin of only 132 to 105.[4] Since the partition of 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.
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 Chief Executive.[5]
In January 1974 Brian Faulkner became Chief Executive in the power-sharing executive with the SDLP and the non-sectarian Alliance Party, a political alliance cemented at the 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 Chief Executive. Brian Faulkner would later then form his own political party known as the Unionist Party of Northern Ireland.[6] They contested the 1975 Constitutional Convention Elections in which they got only 5 seats and no new Chief Executive was elected to replace Brian Faulkner.
| No. | Name (Birth–Death) Constituency |
Portrait | Term of office | Elected (Assembly) |
Executive | Party | Last office(s) held before election | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Brian Faulkner (1921–1977) MLA for South Down |
1 January 1974 | 28 May 1974 | 1973 (Assembly) | 1974 Executive |
Ulster Unionist Party | Prime Minister of Northern Ireland (1971–1972) Minister of Home Affairs (1971–1972) | ||
| Office | Name | Term | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chief Executive | Brian Faulkner | 1974 | UUP | |
| Deputy Chief Executive | Gerry Fitt | 1974 | SDLP | |
| Minister of Agriculture | Leslie Morrell | 1974 | UUP | |
| Minister of Commerce | John Hume | 1974 | SDLP | |
| Minister of Education | Basil McIvor | 1974 | UUP | |
| Minister of the Environment | Roy Bradford | 1974 | UUP | |
| Minister of Finance | Herbert Kirk | 1974 | UUP | |
| Minister of Health and Social Services | Paddy Devlin | 1974 | SDLP | |
| Minister of Housing, Local Government and Planning | Austin Currie | 1974 | SDLP | |
| Minister of Information | John Baxter | 1974 | UUP | |
| Legal Minister and Head of the Office of Law Reform | Oliver Napier | 1974 | Alliance | |
- "CBP-8638.pdf" (PDF). researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk. 30 March 2022. p. 20. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
- "CAIN: Events: The Sunningdale Agreement - Chronology of Main Events". cain.ulster.ac.uk. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
- Holohan, Francis T., ed. (2009). Politics and society in Northern Ireland, 1949-1993. Ireland : Leaving certificate history. Hibernian Industrial Estate, Greenhills Road, Tallaght, Dublin 24: Folens. p. 37. ISBN 978-1-84741-186-0.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) - Kane, Alex (31 July 2013). "Power-sharing: Just a little bit of history repeating". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
- "BBC News | UK Politics | Quarter century after first assembly's fall". news.bbc.co.uk. 28 May 1999. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
- "CAIN: Abstracts of Organisations - 'U'". cain.ulster.ac.uk. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
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'.