UWC declared its system of permits a success and argued that it was ensuring maintenance of the previously defined 'essential services', especially the supply of petrol. Police reported that–over the past few days–two petrol stations had been bombed, three pubs and a café had been wrecked and three more pubs had been burnt-down after their owners refused to shut. 27 May: Day thirteen of the strike The army took over twenty petrol stations across the region to supply petrol to those drivers deemed essential and in receipt of a Ministry of Commerce permit. In response to this development the UWC announced that it would no longer oversee the 'essential services' and declared that the army could now look after even the most basic of provisions. They further announced that at midnight Ballylumford power station would be closed down with its workers joining the strike. The energy crisis deepened when a pressure drop in the system hit gas supplies in Belfast and surrounding areas, resulting in a warning that gas users would have to switch their supplies off at the mains. A car bomb exploded in the underground car-park of the Russell Court Hotel in Belfast, forcing it to shut. 28 May: Day fourteen of the strike Rees' continuing refusal to meet with the UWC representatives saw Brian Faulkner tender his resignation as chief executive. When Faulkner's Pro-Assembly Unionist supporters followed him in resigning the Northern Ireland Executive was for all intents and purposes brought to a conclusion. In his final speech in the Executive meeting room Faulkner said "after five months of being able to work together, Catholic and Protestant, I hope that one thing can remain – that we do not attack each other on a sectarian basis ever again". In a final show of support for the strike the Upper Newtownards Road in East Belfast was lined by farmers in their tractors with the convoy continuing all the way to the front entrance of the Stormont parliament, blocking the entrance. Before long news about the collapse of the Executive spread across Northern Ireland, sparking uproarious scenes in Protestant areas. Aftermath Many people returned to work on 29 May, with the UWC announcing a formal end to the strike on that day. The Assembly itself was officially prorogued the following day, although it was not officially abolished until 29 March 1975. In the immediate aftermath of the strike the