'Voluntary coalition': The dramatic emergence of the "voluntary coalition" idea in talks between the loyalist coalition parties and the SDLP can be traced in the files of the abortive 1975 Constitutional Convention. The files were released in Belfast under the 30-Year Rule.
The series of meetings in late August 1975 between the convention chairman, Sir Robert Lowry (the North's Lord Chief Justice) and the Stormont parties, witnessed the tensions between the UUUC (United Ulster Unionist Council) bloc, led by Harry West, the Rev Ian Paisley and William Craig, and the SDLP over power-sharing. The convention had been set up in May 1975, following elections, and produced a large loyalist majority against power-sharing and an Irish Dimension.
On August 27th, following an unsuccessful round of inter-party talks, Sir Robert consulted officials at Stormont on the way ahead. He referred to Paragraph 8 (iii) of the UUUC policy document which provided for a voluntary coalition government for a limited period during an emergency situation. He noted that Vanguard leader Mr Craig had said the SDLP were unlikely to be interested in this since they were seeking a permanent solution.
Dr Maurice Hayes, one of Sir Robert's advisers, reported that John Hume had "seen a faint glimmer of hope in Paragraph 8". The SDLP would be prepared to go for a 10-year constitution.
A note on the file details a meeting between Sir Robert and the UUUC on August 26th, 1975, attended by Mr Craig, Capt Ardill (the Ulster Unionist negotiator) and the Rev William Beattie of the DUP. The unionist leaders declared themselves pessimistic about the outcome of the inter-party talks "because of the SDLP recalcitrance on the question of power-sharing at Cabinet level".
The prospects for an SDLP-UUUC agreement were thrashed out at a meeting the following day between Sir Robert and Messrs Craig, Paisley and West. Sir Robert referred to the rift between the SDLP and the UUUC on the subject of full power-sharing. However, the unionist leaders took the view that there would be no moving away from these positions.
The UUUC leaders were most critical of the attitude of the Northern Ireland Office official and of the Secretary of State himself. They told Sir Robert that "they had the deepest possible suspicions of both the latter and were certain that they were clearing the ground for talks with the leaders of the paramilitaries".
Sir Robert asked whether, in the light of the apparent impasse, consideration had been given to the American system of government. However, Dr Paisley suggested that even under this system the issue of power-sharing would arise. Sir Robert then referred to the UUUC policy document (referring to a voluntary coalition) and wondered about the possibility of an interim solution. Dr Paisley, however, was not inclined to support this on the grounds that, after such a system had been in operation for even a limited period, the unionists would be under pressure to accept it as permanent.
Mr Craig was more inclined to examine voluntary coalition as a possibility without specifying a time period while conscious of the need to prevent paramilitaries wrecking what was agreed.
Following further dialogue between the SDLP and UUUC on August 29th, 1975, Mr Hume could report to Sir Robert that they had "seen a glimmer of light in the willingness of the UUUC to consider some other options" particularly the concept of voluntary coalition .
If some way could be found of giving adequate guarantees to them that the arrangements could not be upset unilaterally by the loyalists, the SDLP were willing to consider this concept as a basis for possible agreement. The SDLP felt they were offering quite a lot in pledging the support of the Roman Catholic community for new institutions. This would mean the SDLP taking on the IRA, often at personal risk and possibly at the risk of a civil war in the Catholic community. At the end of the meeting, Sir Robert said he drew some satisfaction from the evident and genuine search for agreement by both groups.
On the same day (August 29th, 1975), Sir Robert had further discussions with Messrs Craig, Ardill and Beattie at which the question of voluntary coalition surfaced. Mr Craig said that this had been intended to set out the conditions in which coalition governments are usually formed but the SDLP had shown some interest in it. They (the unionists) were implacably opposed to forced coalition - a voluntary coalition was a different thing.
They accepted that such a government would require to have the support of all sections of the community and were prepared to consider every means of attracting the support and participation of the minority - even to the extent of considering offering places in a coalition government to them.
However, the minutes reveal evidence of a rift in the unionist negotiating team with Capt Ardill saying "they would be against an interim or temporary arrangement. Their followers would press for a system which would provide an end to uncertainty".
At the end of the meeting, Dr Hayes noted that the UUUC delegates seem sincerely concerned to try to secure "an acceptable agreement" with the SDLP.
Despite this hopeful augury, Mr Craig was forced to resign the leadership of his Vanguard Party on September 9th, 1975, just two weeks later. In a public statement, Vanguard bluntly accused Dr Paisley of having had second thoughts on the proposals for coalition government because of pressure from his Free Presbyterian Church and the DUP itself.
The unravelling of the "voluntary coalition" initiative is also described in a memo prepared for the Department of Foreign Affairs on November 3rd, 1975.
According to the document, Mr Craig put the coalition idea to the UUUC at a full meeting on September 8th, 1975. It was dominated by Dr Paisley, assisted by Enoch Powell who strongly influenced the Official Unionist delegation at the meeting by insisting that the British government would demand an institutionalised agreement and would never accept a voluntary coalition.
In the upshot, a motion permanently excluding the SDLP from any future government was passed by 37 votes to one (Craig). This left the UUUC in total disarray and effectively ended Mr Craig's political career.