Thirty years ago, after half a century of devolved administration, the Stormont Parliament was prorogued and a new cabinet post, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, established. It was regarded as the least attractive job in British politics. In this series, four former incumbents explain how their perceptions of the job, the people and the place were confounded or confirmed by their experiences. 2: James Prior (1981-4). Prior attempted to establish a process of "rolling devolution" in Northern Ireland. But his tenancy of Stormont
Castle coincided with republican hunger strikes at the Maze Prison and ongoing sectarian violence. Repeated from Sunday at 10.45pm