The Prime Ministers Of Northern Ireland

Storyline

From the birth of the state in 1921 to the fall of the Stormont administration in 1972, six men held the post of Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. Historian Alvin Jackson looks back on the complex legacies and key moments that defined the time in office of Sir James Craig, John Andrews, Sir Basil Brooke, Terence O'Neill, James Chichester-Clark and Brian Faulkner. He examines how actions of these men, and the decisions they made, helped shape Northern Ireland for more than 50 years, and right up to the present day. But for many, they are largely unknown figures. The first episode sees Alvin explore the challenging early years as prime minister for Sir James Craig, as he battled several internal and external threats to the survival of the state. He also studies the man tasked with succeeding him, John Andrews, who inherited a difficult legacy and faced challenges of his own, such as the bombing of Belfast by Hitler's Luftwaffe. Later in the series, Alvin looks at how the IRA's border campaign in the 1950s was an attempt to undermine the premiership of Sir Basil Brooke, and how Terence O'Neill attempted to deliver reforms demanded by the Civil Rights movement. Alvin then moves on to James Chichester-Clark, who was Northern Ireland's prime minister in the early period of the Troubles, and who took over control at a time of escalating violence and political turmoil. He was replaced by Brian Faulkner, who was the sixth and last prime minister of Northern Ireland. His time in office was brief and after only 12 months, 51 years of local devolved autonomy would come to a close on 30 March 1972 with the introduction of direct rule. The Prime Ministers Of Northern Ireland was made for BBC Northern Ireland by DoubleBand Films.