The Northern secretary made it clear he was not interested in a constitutional settlement. However, trouble in the prisons was a harbinger of problems to come, writes Jonathan Bardon
The Northern Ireland secretary of state, Roy Mason, perpetually exuded confidence in his ability to tackle terrorism and restore order. "He is an anti-Irish wee git," the SDLP leader, Gerry Fitt, remarked to journalists and, indeed, Mason did not try especially hard to hide his contempt for local politicians. Unionists certainly felt that Mason was profoundly hostile to their aspirations.
In November 1976 the report of the constitutional convention had defiantly recommended a return to majority unionist rule.
No British government could restore devolution to the region in a manner almost indistinguishable from the old Stormont regime, terminated in 1972. Support for the stand of the United Ulster Unionist Council (UUUC) majority in the convention, after all, was negligible across the Irish Sea in the House of Commons.
Mason made it plain he was dropping all attempts to find a constitutional solution. He wanted no "dramatic initiatives that might lead to failure and leave people in deep despair again".
Instead, he would concentrate on crushing terrorism and on economic regeneration - the latter was an urgent task, for the number of unemployed in the region reached 60,000 that summer, the highest June level for 37 years.
The Ulster Workers' Council (UWC) strike of May 1974 had brought the powersharing executive tumbling down. Could a fresh attempt force the British government to restore majority rule? Ian Paisley and Ernest Baird, a founder member of Vanguard, certainly thought so.
Together they formed the United Unionist Action Council (UUAC) and drew in the UWC and paramilitary organisations such as the Ulster Defence Association.
On April 23rd, 1977, the UUAC gave "notice to Mr Roy Mason that he has seven days to begin a powerful and effective offensive against the IRA and announce steps to implement the convention report".
The authorities had learned many hard lessons since 1974 and Mason used the week's notice to good effect. The Scots Guards emergency Spearhead Battalion raced to Northern Ireland, accompanied by technical experts and specialist vehicles. By April 23rd the government had several contingency plans in place.
Quite apart from such preparations, it became clear on the first day of the strike that support for an all-out stoppage was insufficient. Kenneth Newman, former commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, made certain that the RUC he commanded would not flinch in the face of strikers.
When the "constitutional stoppage" began on the night of Monday, May 2nd, Newman called on journalists and television crews to observe the police sweep away a large barricade in east Belfast. This time - unlike 1974 - the trade-union leaders persuaded the great majority of their members to stay at work.
On Tuesday the rock'n'roll veteran, Chuck Berry, was able to go ahead with his concert in Belfast.
Permanent secretaries, heading the civil service departments, meeting on Monday, May 8th, at 5pm, were informed that "support for the 'strike' was continuing to dwindle". Dr George Quigley, reporting on the electricity industry, told his colleagues that "66 per cent of the manual staff had turned up for work today and overall there was an 83 per cent turnout of all staff. NIES [ Northern Ireland Electricity Service] does not want these figures released; the line taken publicly was that all stations' plant was being manned and normal demand was being met."
The most spectacular effort by the loyalist strikers was a series of "tractorcades" on May 9th, most notably in Ballymena. The Department of Agriculture reported that: "(1) 400-500 vehicles in total had been involved; . . . (2) they had been able to recognise very few farmers actively participating in the demonstrations; (3) the RUC had received many reports on tractors being stolen or commandeered . . ."
Troops and police promptly encircled Ballymena, bulldozers swept aside the tractors and trailers, and Paisley and several of his supporters were arrested.
On May 13th the UUAC called off its strike. One civil servant liaising with the army reported that the "end of the strike was greeted with relief by all, except the 'yobbos', who had found a form of full-time employment to their liking."
The stoppage had failed. Refusal to implement the convention report had not aroused the same anger as had the implementation of the Sunningdale deal in 1973-1974. The Ulster Unionist Party in any case had been dissociating itself from the UUUC before the strike.
In addition, the secretary of state was demonstrating a more robust approach to paramilitary violence. In March, 26 loyalists were given sentences amounting in total to some 700 years - a blow from which the UVF took much time to recover.
The security forces were clearly more vigorously on the offensive against republican militants, most noticeably in south Armagh.
"Stonemason will not break us," the Provisionals declared, but by December Newman was able to report that the year had been the least violent for six years - 88 deaths in comparison with 116 in 1976 and 267 in 1975.
Mason told the Daily Express: "We are squeezing the terrorists like rolling up a toothpaste tube. We are squeezing them out of their safe havens . . . We are squeezing them out of society and into prison."
The prisons were certainly filling up with republicans. Protest action against the withdrawal of political status did not yet attract much public attention but it was logged in prison reports. At Crumlin Road jail on January 10th, a "large number of RCs are refusing prison food"; at Magilligan, "prisoners from F Compound (PIRA) refused their lunch. No reason was given"; and in the Maze there were 41 "prisoners in the 'H' Blocks refusing to wear prison clothes".
The protests gathered pace as the year advanced. On February 2nd, the "number of strippers in the H Blocks has increased to 62". By August 18th, the "total number of 'streakers' is now 150". On December 28th, the report said: "Prisoners in H1 (Provo AWTs and Remands) refused breakfast on Christmas Day; they accepted their tea. There are 244 'streakers'."
The civil servant liaising with the army's 3 brigade said: "It is particularly heartening to note that PIRA does not now have the degree of public support required to mount major campaigns."
Militant republicans, however, were to prove they had the will and resources to keep the Long War going for years to come.