Assume Nothing: How to Kill a Government in 14 Days

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Assume Nothing

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A government vote triggers a strike – but even the organisers don’t know what’s to come.

Glenn Patterson finds out how, in 1974, an extraordinary strike slid Northern Ireland into sheer anarchy in days - and collapsed its first power-sharing devolved government. 

Writer Glenn Patterson finds out how, in May 1974, a tiny band of loyalists and unionists over fourteen days stages a strike that paralyses Northern Ireland and slides it into anarchy, with consequences to the present. 

Then twelve years old, Glenn lived through these events, taking place in the context of a ‘Troubles’ conflict which by 1974 has already seen 1000 dead. 

Now, 50 years on, he wants to understand what happened. 

Because these events cast a long shadow. The Ulster Workers’ Council stoppage culminates in the overthrow of Northern Ireland’s democratically elected devolved government – then just five months old, and the first power-sharing administration ever in the country’s history. Its creation, also involving controversial formal links to the Irish government, sparks the stoppage.

Glenn considers how not until decades later, with the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement in 1998, will Northern Ireland see another such attempt at power sharing. Now, exploring the legacy of the strike, he tries to uncover what it might mean for us today. 


CREDITS
Access to material relating to the Don Anderson interviews kindly provided by Don Anderson and the Linen Hall Library, Belfast. 

Series contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Photo: Belfast Telegraph.

Writer/ Presenter: Glenn Patterson.

Producer: Ophelia Byrne

Studio Engineers: Gary Bawden. Michael Davidson, Bill Maul

Actors: Ian Beattie, Richard Clements, Jo Dow, Patrick FitzSymons, Jonathan Harden, Paddy Jenkins, Rhodri Lewis, Patrick McBrearty, Aoibhéann McCann, Charlotte McCurry, Marty Maguire, Seamus O’Hara

Executive Producer: Andy Martin


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Glenn Patterson finds out how an extraordinary strike slid Northern Ireland into anarchy.

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