History Lessons

Glenn Barr was a leading spokesman for the UDA in the early 1970s, and here he tells the inside story of the UWC strike which brought down Northern Ireland's power sharing Executive in just 14 days in May 1974. He describes the planning for the strike, the secret meetings with loyalist workers and politicians at UWC headquarters in East Belfast, the stranglehold of the strikers on power, fuel and food supplies and their eleation at prime minister Harold Wilson's notorious "spongers' speech", which they felt guaranteed them victory. He also talks of his disappointment at subsequent political developments and the feeling of betrayal he felt at the hands of unionist politicians.