This footage shows the visit of the Home Secretary, Henry Brooke, to Northern Ireland in 1963. Brooke was not only Home Secretary but also Northern Ireland’s representative to the Conservative government’s cabinet. He is seen here being greeted by Northern Ireland Prime Minister Terence O’Neill at Aldergrove airport and also addressing the annual luncheon of the Unionist Council the following day where he talked up the economic prospects of Northern Ireland and the advantages he felt the province had over areas of England. He is also seen being interviewed by UTV where he compares his work for Northern Ireland with what Lord Hailsham was doing for the North East area of England at the same time.
Brooke was appointed Home Secretary by British Minister Harold Macmillan in 1962 in the cabinet reshuffle known as the Night of the Long Knives. He was kept in position by Macmillan’s successor Alec Douglas-Home until the Conservative government lost the election in 1964.