ABSTRACT
In addition to the pragmatic, but liberal, agenda, a substantial part of O'Neill's reform agenda was inspired by the economic situation in the Province. During the 1950s and early 1960s, dire predications had been made in economic forecasts for the region. In particular, experts argued that much of the industry in Northern Ireland was outdated and that the entire economic infrastructure needed modernizing.6 It was under O'Neill that economic planning began to be taken seriously, primarily because unemployment in the Province had risen quite dramatically. A number of important sectors, such as agriculture, shipbuilding, textiles and clothing had experienced a continuous decline. Employment in these four sectors, which dominated the Province's industry, declined by half between 1950 and 1979.7 As a
consequence, social problems related to the high levels of unemployment developed. These were most marked in Catholic areas. Within the overall decline, it was notable that employment rates varied quite radically across the Province. In the south and west and in western Belfast, predominately Catholic areas, unemployment was double the regional average. 8 In 1961, a joint working party of senior officials from the mainland and the Province was established to investigate the factors which were causing the high rate of unemployment. The outcome of these investigations, wh ich became known as the Hall Report, was published in October 1962. It contained a bleak analysis of the prospects for dealing with employment.9 Worried by this prognosis, O'Neill commissioned Professor Thomas Wilson, of Glasgow University, to prepare areport on economic development. The subsequent Wilson Report, which was published in 1965, pointed to substantial weaknesses in the economy of the Province, but it also made positive recommendations for the improvement of a series of key sectors of the economy: in transport, tourism, agriculture and capital investment. lO It also recommended a wholesale house-building programme to replace slum dwellings. 11
In attempting to implement reform, O'Neill's economic programme ran headlong into the problems of trying to modernize a divided society. There were numerous obstacles to change as far as both communities were concerned. Even what might appear as trivial questions to an outside observer had serious political ramifications. Many of these arose because of the peculiar resonance that the past still exerted over the populations in the North. This meant that the naming of a new bridge, town or college, evoked deep passions. One suggestion that a new bridge be named the Carson Bridge, after the key strategist of the Province, caused upset in the Catholic communities. 12 Equally, the siting of a new university at Coleraine caused a stir in the rival site of Londonderry where Catholic leaders led a protest (which included some Protestant councillors) against the decision and alleged that the siting of the new institution reflected a bias
against that part of the region and adesire not to upset the electoral geometry of the city. Some analysts have argued that this was part of adesire to uphold the Protestant east of the Province, which was always strengthened with new llllUaUves. In Londonderry itself, Catholics outnumbered Protestants by more than two to one, but manipulation of electoral boundaries ensured a Protestant dominance was maintained. 13
Despite constant sectarian wrangling, Q'Neill believed that his economic and modernization programme could eventually reduce inter-communal tensions and reconcile Catholics to the rule of Northern Ireland. Not least, he envisaged that a greater level of general economic prosperity would ameliorate rifts between the communities. In purely economic terms, Q'Neill's reforms showed signs, albeit limited ones, of success. In the period 1969....()8, numbers in employment rose; the population grew by 3 per cent and there was a substantial programme of new house-building. 14
Q'Neill also persisted in his attempt to normalize the relationship between the Government and the Catholic communities. To this end, the Prime Minster visited a number of Catholic institutions and organizations, something that his predecessors had neglected. Yet such gestures, while important, did not make any significant inroads into the Protestant domination of either employment or government structures. 15 Catholics still remained under-represented on committees and government bodies. 16 Despite the limited nature of the reform process, Q'Neill's very attempts aroused deep resentment within his own community and it was from this quarter that he first began to encounter opposition.
