own policy, with Glenn Barr, Andy Tyrie, Tommy Lyttle and Harry Chicken spearheading an initiative in this direction which culminated in the production of the 1979 New Ulster Political Research Group document Beyond the Religious Divide, which drew up a blueprint for a negotiated independence for Northern Ireland, as well as a framework constitution for the new state. The idea however failed to take off as the UDA was unable to challenge the hegemony of the political parties and it was only in the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party that there existed any sympathy for the notion of independence. The UVF formed a Volunteer Political Party soon after the strike and this group, which rejected Ulster nationalism, suffered similar problems to the politicising UDA as it too failed to make any inroads into the support of the established unionist parties. For Harold Wilson the success of the UWC strike convinced him that it was no longer worthwhile to attempt to impose a settlement on Northern Ireland from Westminster. As a result, the next attempt at devolution undertaken by Wilson's government was the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention of 1975. Based on the principle of "rolling devolution" it elected a body of politicians and left it up to them to decide the future structure of devolved institutions. The body was dominated by UUUC and collapsed without reaching any conclusions, although it did precipitate a split in the Vanguard after Craig suggested power-sharing with the Social Democratic and Labour Party and the majority of his party broke away in protest to form the United Ulster Unionist Party. The UWC would organise a second strike in 1977 although this time without the support of the Ulster Unionists, the Vanguard, the UVF or Glenn Barr. With confused aims and a lack of widespread support this strike collapsed and brought about a permanent rift in the relationship between the Democratic Unionist Party and the UDA. See also Ulster Says No Timeline of Ulster Defence Association actions Timeline of Ulster Volunteer Force actions References Bibliography Anderson, Don, 14 May Days, Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 1994, Fisk, Robert S, Point of No Return: the Strike which Broke the British in Ulster, Harper Collins, 1975, McDonald, Henry and Cusack, Jim, UDA: Inside the Heart of Loyalist Terror, Mainstream Publishing, Edinburgh, 2004. McKittrick, David, D, Kelters, S, Feeney, B and Thornton, C. Lost Lives. Mainstream Publishing, Edinburgh, 1999. External links Key