Irish News May 15, 2004 Stoppage that brought the north to its knees Thirty years on — The Ulster workers strike remembered by William Scholes William Scholes looks back to 1974 and how rising tensions in the north  resulted in an unprecedented strike that set back power sharing by almost  30 years. Confusing splits within unionism, concerns over the Pope's health and an  apparently ill fated experiment in power sharing – the headlines at the  start of May 1974 seem to echo those of May 2004.  But for all the similarities, these were also the days of 15-minute gun  battles between soldiers and IRA members in Crossmaglen and deadly bomb  attacks at places such as the Rose and Crown pub on Belfast's Ormeau  Road, in which six people died.  British troops, IRA gunmen and bombers and loyalist paramilitaries were  all on the streets as what would later become known as the Troubles  gathered their bloody momentum.  Against a backdrop of killings and injuries, efforts to find a political  solution had led to the creation of the Sunningdale Agreement, which  created an executive in which unionists, led by Brian Faulkner, shared  power with the SDLP, under the leadership of Gerry Fitt, and the Alliance  Party.  In addition to establishing power sharing at Stormont, Sunningdale  created an assembly and proposed setting up a council of Ireland which,  hardline unionists feared, would give the Dublin government a direct hand  in the affairs of the north.  Three strands of unionism opposed to both Faulkner's pro-power-sharing  leadership and Sunningdale, joined forces to form the United Ulster  Unionist Council (UUUC).  The UUUC represented the Official, Vanguard and Democratic Unionist  parties – led by Harry West, William Craig and Ian Paisley respectively –  as well as the Orange Order and believed the majority of unionists were  opposed to power sharing.  An opportunity to test this view came less than two months after the  Faulkner/Fitt executive had been formed on January 1 1974 with the  calling of a general election on February 28.  It was a resounding victory for the UUUC, with its representatives  winning 11 of 12 seats.  Armed with this bolstered mandate and determined to bring down the  executive, UUUC member John (now Lord) Laird proposed a motion calling  for the rejection of Sunningdale.  Mr Faulkner put forward a counter motion, with the date for the debate  set as May 14.  At the start of May power station workers had gone on strike in a dispute  over pay.  The stoppage had a crippling effect on Northern Ireland industry,  including the temporary closure of Harland and Wolff, Shorts and Mackies.  "I think we have walked to the brink, looked over and come back just in  time," an employer, little knowing what lay ahead, said after the strike  had been settled.  As the day of the crucial vote drew near, it looked as if the executive  parties of Mr Faulkner, Mr Fitt and Alliance leader Oliver Napier would  be able to muster a total of 45 votes compared to 31 votes for the  anti-executive UUUC.  On the Saturday before the vote, May 11, a warning from a group calling  itself the Ulster Workers' Council (UWC) was tucked away in the news  stories.  The UWC said it would call a "full-scale strike" if the assembly approved  Sunningdale.  "The UWC, the successor of the Loyalist Association of Workers, which  organised political strikes in the past, claims to have 300,000 members,"  the Irish News reported.  Tensions, already high, increased when Vanguard leader Mr Craig said that  the spate of sectarian murders in the north was "understandable" and  "excusable", a view that led the Irish News leader writer to be visited  "by feelings of contempt".  By May 14 the stage was set for the opening act of a battle of nerves  that eventually brought the north to its knees, bringing the Sunningdale  experiment to an end and setting back power sharing by almost 30 years.