hobbies & interests

I also have a developing interest in the Northern Irish Parliamentary affairs. I am deeply interested in the customs & practices adopted by the Stormont Parliament until 1972 where Northern Ireland had it's own House of Commons and adopted all the same parliamentary customs used at Westminster. Further details in relation to this can be obtained from http://www.election.demon.co.uk/stormont/intro.html

In addition to my interest in the old Stormont I strongly appreciate the Sunningdale Agreement and the work such Statesmen as Brian Faulkner did in an attempt to bring Northern Ireland's rival communities together.

It was sadly wrecked by people such as Ian Paisley and Bill Craig with the help of the Ulster Workers Strike which brought chaos to all parts of Northern Ireland. The Executive set up as part of Sunningdale managed to survive fourteen days of the strike but eventually collapsed when the strikers threatened to stop the sewage pumping stations and thereby risk raw sewage in the streets of Belfast and elsewhere whilst the UK's Labour government took little, or in some instances, no action. The collapse of Sunningdale was truly a great opportunity missed.

Brian Faulkner's Memoirs accurately reflect a dynamic politician who adapted to political realities. His death in 1977 as a result of a horse riding accident remains a deep & tragic loss.

We unfortunately have had to wait thirty years for Paisley to make the moves Faulkner made in only a few years.

Faulkner's accurate account of the failures of Unionism are detailed in Chapter 11 of his memoirs, pages 282 & 283 of which can be downloaded in PDF format by clicking here.