Northern Ireland Executive (1974)

Northern Ireland 1973–98
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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.

History

Elections to a Northern Ireland Assembly were held on 28 June 1973. 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. 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.

The UUP was deeply divided; its Standing Committee voted to participate in the executive by a margin of only 132 to 105. 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.

Chief Executive

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.

      Ulster Unionist Party (UUP)

# Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Term of Office Party Election(s)
1 Brian Faulkner
(1921–1977)
January 1, 1974 May 28, 1974 Ulster Unionist Party 1973

Members of the Northern Ireland Executive

Department MinisterParty
Chief Executive     Brian Faulkner UUP
Deputy Chief Executive     Gerry Fitt SDLP
Minister of Finance     Herbert Kirk UUP
Minister of Commerce     John Hume SDLP
Minister of Environment     Roy Bradford UUP
Minister of Health and Social Services     Paddy Devlin SDLP
Minister of Education     Basil McIvor UUP
Minister of Agriculture     Leslie Morrell UUP
Minister of Housing, Local Government and Planning     Austin Currie SDLP
Legal Minister and Head of the Office of Law Reform     Oliver Napier Alliance Party
Minister of Information     John Baxter UUP

See also