Ulster Workers' Council Strike
Ireland
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- UWC strike
- Dublin & Monaghan bombings
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- Drummuckavall ambush
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- Flagstaff incident
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- 1989 Jonesborough ambush
- Derryard checkpoint
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- 1990 proxy bombs
- 1991 Cappagh killings
- Glenanne barracks
- Coagh ambush
- Teebane bombing
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- Cloghoge checkpoint
- Coalisland riots
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- 1993 Castlerock killings
- Cullaville occupation
- 1993 Shankill bombing
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- 1997 Coalisland attack
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Great Britain
- Aldershot bombing
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- Harrods bombing
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Elsewhere
- Gibraltar 1988
- Osnabrück barracks 1996
The Ulster Workers' Council (UWC) strike was a general strike that took place in Northern Ireland between 15 May and 28 May 1974, during "The Troubles". The strike was called by Ulster loyalists and unionists who were against the Sunningdale Agreement, which had been signed in December 1973. Specifically, the strikers opposed the sharing of political power with Irish nationalists, and the proposed role for the Republic of Ireland's government in running Northern Ireland
The strike was organised and overseen by the Ulster Workers' Council and Ulster Army Council, which were formed shortly after the Agreement's signing. Both of these groups included loyalist paramilitaries such as the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). These groups helped to enforce the strike by blocking roads and intimidating workers. During the two-week strike, loyalist paramilitaries killed 39 civilians, of which 33 died in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.
The strike succeeded in bringing down the power-sharing Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive. Responsibility for the government of Northern Ireland then reverted to the Parliament of the United Kingdom at Westminster under the arrangements for 'Direct Rule'.
The successful strike was later described by the then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Merlyn Rees, as an "outbreak of Ulster nationalism".
Read more about Ulster Workers' Council Strike: Aftermath
Famous quotes containing the words council and/or strike:
“I haven’t seen so much tippy-toeing around since the last time I went to the ballet. When members of the arts community were asked this week about one of their biggest benefactors, Philip Morris, and its requests that they lobby the New York City Council on the company’s behalf, the pas de deux of self- justification was so painstakingly choreographed that it constituted a performance all by itself.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)
“Too long we prayed
God in the thunder,
wonderful though he be
and our father;
too long, too long in the rain,
cowering lest he strike again.”
—Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961)