As part of the protests against the Anglo-Irish Agreement
Unionist-controlled councils refused to engage in many of their public duties,
threatening to bring council work and funding to a standstill - in defiance of
court orders attempting to force them to carry out their duties.
In this report for
Good Evening Ulster, Richard Needham, the under-secretary of state for Northern
Ireland, is interviewed about how he was forced to use special powers rushed
through parliament to appoint commissioners to come in and carry out some of the
most pressing matters of business not being undertaken by the councils.