In 1974 then minister for finance John Hume told the Northern executive that it would not be in its interests to let Harland and Wolff go into liquidation with the loss of 10,000 jobs, writes Eamon Phoenix.
The economic difficulties facing Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast were outlined to the power-sharing executive by minister of finance John Hume in May 1974.
Ministers considered a memo by Mr Hume, who warned of the real possibility of the closure of Belfast's historic staple industry. The minister wrote: "Harland and Wolff is again in serious and immediate financial difficulty. Because of the seriousness of the situation, UK ministers are to consider a number of options for resolving the crisis."
These included withdrawing financial support and letting the company go into liquidation; continuing financial assistance, which would increase the British government's shareholding; or taking the company fully into public ownership. Mr Hume sought the advice of his colleagues on the executive's attitude towards the shipyard. However, he advised ministers:
"It would not be in our interest to allow the company to go into liquidation at the present time. The loss of 10,000 jobs in a sensitive area would be likely to cause irreparable harm both politically and economically. The prospect of establishing a new and viable shipbuilding industry, based on the assets at Queen's Island, would be uncertain and could be costly. In the meantime, we might be faced with a disruptive work-in of the type experience in Clydeside."
Mr Hume saw no simple method of extending financial arrangements to meet the company's needs. It was unlikely that his department could continue to assist the shipyard under its industrial development powers. "In many ways, nationalisation is an attractive option. If the business is to be kept going at government expense, there is much to be said for taking it into public ownership now. The trade unions would not be averse and the Labour government has stated its intention of nationalising the ship-building industry."
The minister felt that, owing to the difficulty of introducing controversial legislation at Westminster, they should consider the advantages of nationalisation measures being introduced at Stormont. "It could be argued that it is quite wrong that control of such a major industry should pass entirely out of our hands. In theory at least, a future British government could decide to close the yard without reference to us (the NI executive)."
The scale of the problem facing Harland and Wolff was outlined in a paper from the minister of manpower services, Robert Cooper. This showed that to operate at optimum level, the shipyard should have an annual steel throughput of 200,000 tonnes and a ship-building programme geared accordingly. This would require greatly increased productivity.
On May 8th, 1974, ministers decided "there could be no question of allowing the company to collapse". The executive empowered the department of commerce and manpower services to initiate discussions with the secretary of state with a view to taking the company wholly into public ownership by means of legislation.