biography
| name: |
Faulkner (of Downpatrick), (Arthur) Brian (Deane) Faulkner, Baron
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pronunciation:
[fawkner]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1921–77)
|
| biography:
| Politician, born at Helen's Bay, Co Down, SE Northern Ireland, UK. The last Unionist leader to be prime minister of Northern Ireland, he was minister of home affairs (1959–63) at Stormont, and was elected leader of the Parliamentary Unionists in 1971. In an attempt to defeat the IRA, he introduced internment in August 1971; this alienated the Nationalist population while increasing IRA recruitment. In 1973 he entered into Anglo-Irish talks, agreeing to share power with Irish Republicans at an Assembly in Stormont and to take part in a Council of Ireland (the Sunningdale agreement). Faulkner was unable to maintain Unionist unity; in the 1973 election to the new Assembly, the party was split between those who backed the power-sharing policy and those who opposed it. He resigned as leader in January 1974. He was created Baron Faulkner of Downpatrick in 1976. |
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