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| Affiliation | Unionist |
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| Name | Brian Faulkner |
| Address |
Belfast, , Northern Ireland |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
February 18, 1921
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| Died | March 03, 1977
(56 years)
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| Contributor | Some say... |
| Last Modifed | Ralphie
Jan 18, 2008 02:18am |
| Tags |
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| Info | He was born at Helen's Bay near Bangor, County Down and educated at Inchmarlo School in Belfast, Elm Boarding School, County Armagh, and St Columb's College, an Anglican school in Dublin. After one year reading law at Queen's University Belfast his studies were interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War and due to labour shortages, Faulkner left to work in the family business, a shirt-making firm. In 1949 he entered politics for the first time when he became the youngest person elected to Stormont, the Northern Ireland Parliament, as the Unionist MP for East Down (1949-72). He soon established himself and promotions followed with his appointment in 1956 as government Chief Whip (1956-59) and in 1959 he became Minister of Home Affairs (1959-63) in the midst of a renewed Irish Republican Army (IRA) campaign against partition. In 1963 on the retirement of the aging Lord Brookeborough, then Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Faulkner was regarded by many as favourite to succeed him but Captain Terence O'Neill emerged to claim the position.
Under O'Neill he was made Minister of Commerce (1963-69) and gained praise for his work in trying to attract new industry to Northern Ireland. His relationship with the new Prime Minister however was always an uneasy one and deteriorated further as Faulkner grew increasingly concerned at O'Neill's response to the emerging civil rights campaign. Matters finally came to ahead in January 1969 when Faulkner resigned from the Cabinet in protest at the package of reforms introduced by O'Neill in the face of growing unrest on the streets. When the Prime Minister then resigned in April 1969 Faulkner was again mooted as the natural successor but in the subsequent contest, decided by the Unionist parliamentary party, he lost out to Major James Chichester-Clarke by a single vote. Faulkner did however agree to return to the Cabinet as Minister of Development (1969-71) and was given the task of pushing through measures of reform particularly concerning local government. Then in March 1971 Chichester-Clark, unable to solve the worsening security situation tendered his resignation and Faulkner was duly elected as Prime Minister (1971-72) easily defeating his only opponent, William Craig.
His term in office however was to be defined by of two major events. To begin with in August 1971, in order to try to deal with the escalation in paramilitary activity, Faulkner introduced internment without trial. Unfortunately this decision was to prove counter-productive in that it not only further alienated the nationalist community but also failed to halt the increasing levels of violence. Then in March 1972 he was powerless to stop the British government from suspending the Stormont parliament and introducing direct rule from Westminster. As a protest against this move he initially joined with other more militant unionists in organising opposition to the decision taken by the authorities in London. But later he alienated his former allies by taking part in negotiations aimed at returning devolved power to Northern Ireland. To the alarm of many within his own party, as well as sections of the wider unionist community, in November 1973 Faulkner agreed to the establishment of a a power-sharing administration to govern Northern Ireland.
This new body took office in January 1974 with him as Chief Executive but from the outset it faced major problems. In particular to add to the sense of unease amongst many within the unionist community at Faulkner's apparent willingness to share power he had also signed up in December 1973 to the Sunningdale Agreement. This proposed to set up a Council of Ireland to formalise and manage cross-border relations between the authorities in Belffast and Dublin. These arrangements however were immediately opposed by many unionists culminating in the loyalist strike of May 1974. Not only did this bring down the power-sharing executive but also directly spelt the end of Faulkner's political career. Having already been forced out of the Unionist Party he tried to rally support by forming the Unionist Party of Northern Ireland (UPNI) but it won little electoral support at the election in 1975 to the Constitutional Convention. Finally in 1976 he announced his intention to quit politics and in 1977 was awarded a peerage, later taking his seat in the House of Lords as Lord Faulkner of Downpatrick.
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