Tea by candlelight.

Memories of the UWC strike

May 2004 is the thirtieth anniversary of the Ulster Workers’ Council strike when loyalist workers brought down a ‘power-sharing’ Executive.  For a fortnight, all economic life came to a standstill.  The power stations in Ballylumford and in Belfast harbour closed down for hours at a time.

  At that time, I was in my final year at Rathcoole Secondary School, looking forward to doing my O-level exams.  For my age group, the actual politics of the situation were of little or no interest to most of us.  It was a great adventure. 

  There was no school!  Shops were only open for a few hours a day.  Pubs were shut.  Farmers came around our area with tankers of raw milk which they gave away to folk who queued up with all kinds of jugs and pitchers. 

  People broke up flagstones, chopped down wood and used metal garden gates to put together communal campfires for a bit of outdoor cooking.  Fortunately for us all, the weather remained fine during the strike.

  Barricades were put across the entrances to Rathcoole estate and at Cloughfern Corner, which was a lot narrower than it is now.  The local strike headquarters for our part of East Antrim was in a house in a old row opposite Rathfern estate.  This row has since been replaced by a row of shops.

  I can remember being among a group of youngsters who helped Rev William Fleming of Abbotts Cross Presbyterian Church to chop up wood and distribute it to needy people in the area.  Quite why I did this there, I no longer remember.  I was never a member of his congregation, but some of my schoolmates were.

  I had a great aunt who was determined to have a cup of tea, strike or no strike, whether there was electricity or not.  She boiled the teapot over four candles!  It took hours, but she said it was the best tea she had ever tasted!

  Anyone interested in this period should read two books.  The Point of No Return by the well-known journalist Robert Fisk is the definitive account.  This book is very scarce.  It was never reprinted and a copy in good condition is worth a small fortune. The Fall of the Northern Ireland Executive by one of the ousted ministers, Paddy Devlin, gives his own perspective on the events of that heady fortnight.  This book is not quite so rare.  I’ve seen quite a few copies in secondhand bookshops.