The 'Sunningdale experiment' of 1973-4 witnessed the first attempt to establish peace in Northern Ireland through power-sharing. However, its provisions, particularly the cross-border 'Council of Ireland', proved to be a step too far. The experiment floundered amid ongoing paramilitary-led violence, finally collapsing in May 1974 as a result of the Ulster Workers' Council strike.

Drawing on new scholarship from some of the top political historians working on the period, this book presents a series of reflections on how key protagonists struggled with notions of power-sharing and the 'Irish dimension', and how those struggles inhibited a deepening of democracy and the ending of violence for so long.

Part I: Introduction and overview of the Sunningdale Agreement
1 Introduction
David McCann and Cillian McGrattan
2 The Ulster Workers' Council strike: the perfect storm
Gordon Gillespie
3 Understanding aspiration, anxiety, assumption and ambiguity: the anatomy of Sunningdale
Arthur Aughey
Part II: The lessons of Sunningdale: the key protagonists
4 Sunningdale and the Irish dimension: a step too far?
John Coakley
5 British government policy post 1974: learning slowly between Sunningdales?
Eamonn O'Kane
6 British security policy and the Sunningdale Agreement: the consequences of using force to combat terrorism in a liberal democracy
Aaron Edwards
7 Sunningdale and the limits of 'rejectionist' Unionism
Stuart Aveyard and Shaun McDaid
8 Stan Orme and the road to 'Industrial Democracy': British attempts at the politicisation of working-class Protestants in Northern Ireland, 1973-75
Tony Craig
9 Power sharing and the Irish dimension: the conundrum for the SDLP in Northern Ireland
Sarah Campbell
10 '1974 - Year of Liberty'? The Provisional IRA and Sunningdale
Henry Patterson
Part III: The legacies of Sunningdale
11 Cultural responses to and the legacies of Sunningdale
Connal Parr
12 'Slow learners'? Comparing the Sunningdale Agreement and the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement
Thomas Hennessey
Appendix: The Sunningdale Agreement (December 1973)
References
Index