The Sunningdale Accord was an attempt to end the Northern Ireland Conflict by forcing unionists to share power with the nationalists. The agreement consisted of three parts: the election of a Northern Ireland Assembly (which would replace the Northern Ireland Parliament), an executive with power shared between unionists and nationalists, and the creation of a cross-border collaborative body, the Council from Ireland. The Agreement was signed at the Civil Service Staff College (now Headquarters of the National School of Government) in the city of Sunningdale on December 9, 1973. The Unionist opposition, the violent acts of the Provisional IRA and, finally, the great general strike organized by the loyalists, prevented the text from being put into practice and abandoned in May 1974.
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