This is a test
- 272 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
Book details
Book preview
Table of contents
Citations
About This Book
In 1970, a group of people had what many commentators felt was a ludicrous dream, that politics in Northern Ireland 'should not be dominated by division, but should be about co-operation, partnership and reconciliation'. This dream was to become the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland. In the years since, this ambition to overcome tribal politics for a greater good has been preserved, through good times and bad. This book, the first full record of the development of the Alliance Party, charts that journey of hope and of history.
Frequently asked questions
At the moment all of our mobile-responsive ePub books are available to download via the app. Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. Learn more here.
Both plans give you full access to the library and all of Perlegoâs features. The only differences are the price and subscription period: With the annual plan youâll save around 30% compared to 12 months on the monthly plan.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, weâve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes, you can access History and Hope by Brian Eggins in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Politics & International Relations & Politics. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
1
Perchance to dream: The founding of the Alliance Party 1969â1972
INTRODUCTION
This chapter shows how Oliver Napier and others developed the new Alliance Party through the vehicle of the New Ulster Movement against the background of the Civil Rights movement, continuing violence from both Loyalist and Republican paramilitary groups and the prime minister of the day Terence OâNeillâs attempts to provide a package of five reforms, thereby going some distance towards meeting increasing demands from the large minority.
WHAT DREAMS MAY COME MUST GIVE US PAUSE?
There were those who dreamt of a united Ireland and were prepared to fight and die for it. There were those for whom such a vision was a nightmare and who were prepared to fight to prevent it. There were even some who thought an independent âUlsterâ might be preferable. There were others with more modest dreams, who just longed for a fair society. Among these was an expanded force of university-educated Catholics, together with some Protestants who could see the injustices of the Unionist-dominated society and who wanted change. Some members of this mixed group, together with English students attending Queenâs University, formed the Civil Rights Association in February 1967 and held protest marches across the province.
In 1963 Captain Terence OâNeill had taken over as prime minister of the Stormont Government from the more hard-line anti-Catholic Lord Brookeborough. Perhaps OâNeill had a dream too that reform was needed, which led to a meeting with Irish Taoiseach SeĂĄn Lemass. The meeting was opposed by firebrand preacher Revd Ian Paisley who is said to have called Lemass a âFenian papist murdererâ.22
Catholics suffered systemic discrimination in terms of jobs, housing and electoral representation in Northern Ireland. In fact, many Protestant working people were not much better off, but they felt the Unionist government in the âProtestant Parliamentâ at Stormont was looking after them. In the 1950s Ian Paisley came to the fore, vehemently opposed to all things Catholic, and opposed to anyone supporting Catholics.
Even after the defeat of the IRA in its 1956â1962 campaign, there was much fear among Protestants. Paisley whipped up this fear, and in 1965 the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), originally formed around 1913 to oppose the Home Rule movement, was revived. Perhaps they feared a fresh IRA campaign in the fiftieth anniversary year of the Easter Rising of 1916? In 1966 UVF members, including Gusty Spence who was subsequently convicted and jailed, murdered two innocent Catholics.
THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
Since the 1944 Education Act, free secondary education had become more widely available in Great Britain (but not in Northern Ireland until 1947). More Catholics in particular were obtaining educational qualifications and moving into the professions, though the Civil Service continued to be mainly Protestant, especially in the higher echelons. The situation is demonstrated in an anecdote which describes the Minister of Agricultureâs response when accused of employing Catholics in his ministry: âI have 109 officials and so far as I know, four of them are Roman Catholic, three of whom were civil servants turned over to me, whom I had to take on when we beganâ.23
The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) was formed in February 1967, as mentioned earlier, supported by both Catholics and some moderate Protestants. This association was largely student led and coincided with student civil rights movements across Europe, particularly in Paris and Prague, as well as in the USA, where they were protesting against the Vietnam War. The Association was campaigning for universal franchise for local government elections, the redrawing of electoral boundaries, the introduction of laws to end discrimination in employment, a points system for public housing and repeal of the Special Powers Act.
The Special Powers Act was introduced in 1922 by the Unionist government in an attempt to establish law and order. It contained draconian measures such as empowering the Home Affairs Minister to take whatever measures he deemed necessary for that end. A summary non-jury court could sentence offenders to up to a yearâs hard labour in prison or even a whipping. Actions could include the forbidding of inquests, closing licensed premises, banning assembly and marches in public areas, closing of roads, taking possession of arms, ammunition and explosives, seizure of land and destruction of buildings, and even spreading by word of mouth any opinions which might cause disaffection. There were provisions for stop and search and confiscation of motor vehicles, arrest and imprisonments on remand without a warrant. Originally the order was for one year, but in 1928 it was extended for five years and then in 1933 was made permanent following opposition from Nationalist MPs. The act was repealed in 1973 following direct rule. The full details are described in the CAIN WEB.24
The NICRA also demanded the disbanding of the Ulster Special Constabulary (the B-specials) who were almost entirely Protestant and alleged to be riddled with members of Loyalist paramilitary groups.
As in other parts of the world, the civil rights movement was vigorously repressed. Paisley and his colleagues often led the opposition, and the RUC as well as the B-specials often used violence against the protestors. Significant NICRA marches took place in Dungannon on 24 August 1968 and on 5 October in Londonderry. Home Affairs Minister William Craig officially banned this latter march. Over 2,000 people assembled and were viciously attacked by the RUC. Eleven policemen and seventy-seven civilians were injured. The following day students met in protest at Queenâs University in Belfast and formed a more militant group, Peopleâs Democracy (PD), at which meeting Bernadette Devlin emerged as a leader along with Michael Farrell.
Following a meeting with British Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Home Secretary James Callaghan on 4 November, Terence OâNeill announced a package of five reforms on 22 November 1968, which were intended to meet the main points of the Catholic grievances. The five points were: a new system for allocation of houses by local government; an ombudsman to investigate complaints; a development commission to take over powers of Londonderry Corporation; the Special Powers Act to be abolished âas soon as it is safe to do soâ and the end of company vote â but there was no decision to enfranchise non-ratepayers. This innovation led to dissension in the Stormont cabinet, with William Craig calling for tough action against the NICRA, who were in any case not satisfied with OâNeillâs package.
ULSTER AT THE CROSSROADS
On 9 December 1968 Prime Minister Terence OâNeill appealed to the people in a radio broadcast over the heads of his cabinet critics, with his famous âUlster at the crossroadsâ speech.
Ulster stands at the cross roads. I believe ... the time has come for the people as a whole to speak in a clear voice. For more than five years I have tried to heal some of the deep divisions in our community ... What kind of Ulster do you want?25
He apparently received overwhelming public support, especially from Catholic leaders, including Cardinal Conway and Nationalist Eddie McAteer. The Unionists as a whole supported OâNeill, with four abstentions. But two ministers resigned, unconvinced by Terence OâNeillâs policies. So OâNeill called an Ulster general election for 24 February (known as the âCrossroads Electionâ). He himself defeated Paisley (standing as a Protestant Unionist) and Michael Farrell (Peopleâs Democracy) in the Bannside constituency. Independent John Hume won Foyle from Eddie McAteer. Nationalists lost three seats to civil rights candidates. Republican Labour won two seats in Belfast for Gerry Fitt and Paddy Devlin. The Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP) also won a seat. Of thirty-nine Unionist MPs, twenty-seven supported OâNeill, ten were against him and two were undecided.
On 17 April Bernadette Devlin won the Mid-Ulster seat at Westminster in a by-election. Finally, on 23 April, the government agreed to universal suffrage in Northern Ireland elections â the same day the 21-year-old psychology student, Bernadette Devlin, made her maiden speech to an astounded House of Commons.
It is often forgotten that OâNeill had actually won the âCrossroadsâ election on 24 February 1969 in that twenty-seven out of the thirty-nine Unionists elected supported his reform programme. They were, though, a mixture of Official and Unofficial Unionists and the divisions at the grass roots were serious. Despite having âwonâ the election OâNeill had failed to unite the Unionist Party, so in April he resigned and was replaced by James Chichester-Clark. Violence continued when Loyalist gangs attacked and burned Catholic homes in West Belfast. On 14 August 1969 British troops were brought in to help the RUC. Initially Catholics, who were hard pressed by the Loyalists in Belfast, welcomed them. The honeymoon did not last long. Once the army called a curfew to search for weapons there were serious riots and the Catholic people turned against the army. Many of them turned to the newly formed Provisional IRA for support.
THE NEW ULSTER MOVEMENT
Meanwhile another group had a different sort of dream. A new political grouping emerged in January 1969 called the New Ulster Movement, which aimed to develop cross-community politics with moderate and non-sectarian policies involving both Catholics and Protestants. Its inaugural meeting was held on 5 February. As Denis Loretto recalled:
Chaos was at hand and it was up to the Northern Irish people themselves to put aside their sterile divisions and build the solution. The root problem was sectarianism. A combination of absolute equality and involvement for Protestants and Catholics and respect for the rule of law was paramount.26,27
Catholic solicitor Oliver Napier together with Ronnie Boyle invited a number of Liberal Party members, including Tony Cinnamond and Denis Haslem, to this inaugural meeting. As we shall see, it was always Napierâs intention that the NUM should be the launching pad for a new liberal non-sectarian party.
Sir Oliver commented that:
We did our best to hide the fact that a group within the Liberal Party was handling it, which would be the kiss of death. We kept [Revd] Albert McElroy informed at every step but asked him not to attend. I wanted to tell Sheelagh Murnaghan, but Albert advised against. He said he would â it would come better from him as Sheelagh was suspicious of me because she thought I was âtoo politicalâ.28
The Liberals who helped found the NUM were promptly expelled from the Liberal Party. In the subsequent Stormont election, Liberal leader Sheelagh Murnaghan, who had held a seat for the Liberals since 1961 under the anachronistic university franchise, was only able to muster 15% of the vote in North Down.
It was very hard going to develop this new vision in the face of continuing violence and to produce credible documents that would form the basis of constitutional reform of the Stormont Parliament over many years to come. During 1969 the NUM built an active organisation with about 7,000 members, drawn from all sections of the community. It issued many influential papers29,30 and was the first organisation to call for a Community Relations Commission and a central Housing Executive. Its more radical members, however, were becoming dissatisfied with a movement. They wanted a new political party.
A key new member was another (Catholic) solicitor, Jim Hendron. In a very personal account31 he recalled how he and his wife MĂĄire joined the Bloomfield Branch of NUM in September 1969. He quickly proposed that the NUM should set up a special committee to lead to the formation of a new non-sectarian political party. His resolution was easily carried.
The NUMâs first chairperson was personnel manager Brian Walker, followed by Dr Stanley Worrall, former headmaster of Methodist College Belfast.
1970 was the year in which NUM changed its role, owing to the formation of the fledgling Alliance Party. From being an electioneering organisation it became an âideasâ organisation and one which sought to ...
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- Contents
- Glossary
- Chronology of the Alliance Party
- Preface and acknowledgements
- Introduction: A sea of troubles
- 1. Perchance to dream: The founding of the Alliance Party 1969â1972
- 2. âTo take up armsâ: The first elections 1973â1975
- 3. âTowards government?â Consolidation and successes 1976â1986
- 4. âThereâs trouble aheadâ: New political initiatives 1983â1993
- 5. âHope springs eternalâ: Towards the Good Friday Agreement 1993â1998
- 6. âProblems and setbacksâ: Implementing the Good Friday Agreement 1998â2005
- 7. âBack in governmentâ: Revival, two ministries and an MP 2006â2011
- 8. Flags, Haass and elections 2012â2014
- 9. Alliance Party principles and organisation
- 10. The party leadership
- 11. âA party of reconciliationâ? Religion and identity
- 12. The way forward for the Alliance Party
- Notes
- Bibliography