NI activates internment law in 1971

Quality not great at the start. The introduction of the new measures and the secret dawn raids sparked fierce gun battles and protests in Ulster which claimed the lives of 12 people, including two women. Protestants in the Ardoyne area of Belfast, which is predominantly Catholic, fled after setting fire to their own homes to make sure they were not taken over by Catholics. In February 1972 after more violence and deaths the British Embassy in Dublin was burnt down. Ted Heath, the British Prime Minister, now convinced that Stormont was incapable of containing a situation rapidly going out of control, announced on 24th March that control of security and of the Royal Ulster Constabulary would be transferred to Westminster. Mr Faulkner and his colleagues resigned and addressed an immense crowd of 100,000 in front of Parliament Buildings. Stormont was suspended for a year, but in effect it was the end of the experiment in devolution under the 1920 Government of Ireland Act. A Northern Ireland Assembly was elected in June 1973. The British government's aim was to restore devolved government, but with power shared by both Catholic and Protestant representatives. This was agreed by party leaders and the Irish and British governments at Sunningdale in Berkshire in December 1973. A power-sharing executive, with Mr Faulkner as Chief Executive and Gerry Fitt as his deputy, began work at the start of 1974. The Ulster Unionist Council, however, rejected the Sunningdale Agreement, and in the Westminster general election of 28th February 1974, 11 of the 12 MPs elected for Northern Ireland were loyalists opposed to power-sharing. When the Assembly approved power-sharing, Protestant workers launched a highly-effective strike which paralysed the region for 15 days until Faulkner resigned. Direct rule would continue from Westminster for many years to come. On 5 December 1975 the then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Merlyn Rees announced the end of internment.