Post-strike
The initial response to the strike was jubilation with large bonfires lit across loyalist areas of Northern Ireland, although before long cracks appeared. Publicly the political leaders Paisley, Craig and Harry West were able to claim the glory whilst the shop stewards returned to work anonymously and the paramilitary leaders faded into the background. Nonetheless the loyalist paramilitaries had decided that political activity might still be an avenue worth exploring, with both main groups declaring ceasefires and the UVF announcing the establishment of their own Volunteer Political Party.
The British government took the strike as a sign that a solution could not be imposed by rather that the people of Northern Ireland, or at least their representatives, had to find a solution for themselves. A white paper was published in July outlining plans for a Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention which would provide the Northern Irish with "a crucial part in determining their own future". Meanwhile the Provisional Irish Republican Army responded to what it saw as the British government's capitulation to the strike by launching a wave of attacks in mainland Britain in an attempt to demonstrate to the British government that they were a greater threat than striking loyalists. The UWC itself lost cohesion rapidly. As early as July 1974 Harry Murray was forced to resign from the UWC after stating publicly that he would be happy to talk to representatives of the PIRA if they ended their campaign of violence. Murray left loyalism altogether after this and by the following year was a candidate in a North Down Borough Council by-election for the cross-community Alliance Party of Northern Ireland.
Read more about this topic: Ulster Workers' Council