The Destructors

The Destructors is the story of lost opportunities. On New Year's Day, 1974, Northern Ireland's first Secretary of State, William Whitelaw, convinced unionist and nationalist leaders to set aside irreconcilable differences and long-held principles and enter into a power-sharing government at Stormont. A few months later, the government collapsed, poisoned by factionalism. Taking a fresh and dynamic look at what the idea of power-sharing meant to the different parties in the Northern Ireland conflict, The Destructors examines how the Northern Ireland Executive was subsequently destroyed in May 1974 by an unconstitutional political strike that was called by the Ulster Workers' Council. The book details how the Executive's fate was sealed when power-sharing was abandoned by Heath's successor, Harold Wilson, following an ill-timed Westminster general election in February. This study draws upon previously unavailable British and Irish archival material and over 40 interviews with officials