William Long (Northern Ireland politician)

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William Joseph Long

Unionist politician in Northern Ireland
.

Early life

Long was born in Stockton-on-Tees in England and studied at the Friends' School in Great Ayton, the Royal Veterinary College in Edinburgh and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He became an officer in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and was posted to Northern Ireland in 1940. While there, he married Doreen Mercer, a local doctor, and in 1942, the two settled in Northern Ireland.[1]

Long left the

Urban District Council in 1952, serving as chairman from 1955 until 1964. He was also a member of Down County Council Health and Education Committees.[3]

Parliamentary career

At the

Harland and Wolff shipyard of introducing "capital punishment" by sacking 2,000 men during a strike.[6]

Long initially focussed on representing the

Minister for Education.[1]

Long aimed to integrate

Protestant families. He negotiated a small role for the state in Catholic school governance in exchange for increasing state funding for those schools to cover all their costs. When in October 1968 students linked to the socialist group People's Democracy organised a sit-in, Long joined them but asked them to go home.[1] He refused to sign their petition and was not able to convince them to leave.[6]

Minister of Home Affairs

In December 1968, Long was promoted to

Burntollet Bridge where there were numerous injuries. Long claimed that Paisley and Bunting had not "threatened or hinted that their followers would cause any trouble in Derry", and claimed that Paisley's supporters had not participated in the violence. The Belfast Telegraph disputed this, and claimed that Long was being partisan.[2]

The following week, People's Democracy organised a march in Newry. It was again surrounded by violence, and several police officers were injured. O'Neill claimed that this showed that People's Democracy was not a non-violent organisation. He responded to this by introducing a new Public Order Bill, which amended the Public Order Act (Northern Ireland) 1951 and among other measures made it an offence to knowingly take part in an illegal procession or meeting.[6]

Later political career

After only three months as Minister of Home Affairs, in March 1969, Long moved to become Minister of Development. He was appointed to a four-person cabinet Security Committee which, in April, decided to request British troops to maintain order. Long loyally supported O'Neill, and when he resigned in May, many people expected Long to lose his cabinet role. Instead, new Prime Minister James Chichester-Clark moved Long back to the Minister of Education post.[6]

In August 1969, Long had a 95-minute meeting with Paisley. Paisley had a list of demands to which Long listened patiently but did not act upon. He attended the funerals of some members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and British Army who were killed in The Troubles, and placed more welfare officers in inner city schools after claiming that riots were poisoning children's minds.[6]

Long remained in post under

Willie Whitelaw's reduced use of internment, claiming that "there is no doubt units of the IRA that have been broken down by internment have been able to become active again".[6]

Long was also President of the Yorkshire Association for a British Ulster; in April 1974, a member was charged with

gun running to violent loyalists, a group which Long had described as "the very antithesis of Loyalism".[6]

Life after politics

Out of politics, Long became the owner and skipper of a fishing boat, and also the Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Fish Producers' Association. In 1982, he chaired the

Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1985 New Year Honours,[7] and retired in 1987, soon moving to North Yorkshire. In 2007, he married Valerie Bryans, who had been his secretary at Stormont.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Anne McHardy, "Obituary: William Long", The Guardian, 11 April 2008
  2. ^ a b "Captain William Long", The Times, 15 April 2008
  3. ^ Biographies of Members of the Northern Ireland House of Commons
  4. ^ "No. 2138". The Belfast Gazette. 15 June 1962. p. 226.
  5. ^ "No. 2334". The Belfast Gazette. 3 December 1965. p. 427.
  6. ^
    Daily Telegraph
    , 14 April 2008
  7. ^ "No. 4511". The Belfast Gazette. 28 December 1984. p. 1111.
Parliament of Northern Ireland
Preceded by
Member of Parliament for Ards

1962–1973 		Parliament abolished
Political offices
Vacant Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture
1964–1965 		Office abolished
Preceded by Minister of Education
1966–1968 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Home Affairs
1968–1969 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Development
1969 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Education
1969–1972 		Office abolished
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