144-588: The Young Unionists , formally known as the Ulster Young Unionist Council (UYUC), is the youth wing of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). It has in its present incarnation been in existence since 2004. The Young Unionists host a number of events on an annual basis including a summer debate series, conference and social events as well as canvassing for elected reps. New members are always welcome! Attempts had been made in
288-538: A fait accompli on 3 May 1921. Following the 1921 elections , Ulster unionists formed a Northern Ireland government. A Southern government was not formed, as republicans recognised the Irish Republic instead. During 1920–22, in what became Northern Ireland, partition was accompanied by violence "in defence or opposition to the new settlement" – see The Troubles in Northern Ireland (1920–1922) . In
432-550: A civil rights campaign to end discrimination, viewing it as a republican front. This helped spark the Troubles ( c. 1969 –1998), a thirty-year conflict in which more than 3,500 people were killed. Under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement , the Irish and British governments and the main political parties agreed to a power-sharing government in Northern Ireland, and that the status of Northern Ireland would not change without
576-779: A devolved government in Northern Ireland did not include the UUP. In the 2016 European Union referendum the UUP was the only unionist party to support the remain campaign, the UUP Executive passing a motion on 5 March 2016 that the party "believes that on balance Northern Ireland is better remaining in the European Union, with the UK Government pressing for further reform and a return to the founding principle of free trade, not greater political union. The Party respects that individual members may vote for withdrawal." At
720-620: A Catholic funeral for a young boy killed by the Real IRA in the Omagh bombing . In a sign of unity, Trimble and President of Ireland Mary McAleese walked into the church together. In the 2001 general election, the Ulster Unionists lost a number of seats belonging to UUP stalwarts; for example, John Taylor , the former deputy leader of the party, lost his seat of Strangford to Iris Robinson . The party's misfortunes continued at
864-769: A Liberal government if it introduced another home rule bill. The Parliament Act 1911 meant the House of Lords could no longer veto bills passed by the Commons, but only delay them for up to two years. British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith introduced the Third Home Rule Bill in April 1912. An amendment to the Bill was introduced calling for the partition of Ireland. In June 1912 Asquith spoke in Parliament rejecting
1008-422: A Parliament of its own would not be in nearly as strong a position...where, above all, the paraphernalia of Government was already in existence...We should fear no one and would be in a position of absolute security." In reference to the threat of Unionist violence and the achievement of a separate status of Ulster, Winston Churchill felt that "...if Ulster had confined herself simply to constitutional agitation, it
1152-643: A Provisional Ulster Government. In response, Irish nationalists founded the Irish Volunteers to ensure Home Rule was implemented. The Ulster Volunteers smuggled 25,000 rifles and three million rounds of ammunition into Ulster from the German Empire , in the Larne gun-running of April 1914. The Irish Volunteers also smuggled weaponry from Germany in the Howth gun-running that July. On 20 March 1914, in
1296-574: A hard-line challenge. The result proved inconclusive for O'Neill, who resigned a short time later. His resignation was probably caused by a speech of James Chichester-Clark who stated that he disagreed with the timing, but not the principle, of universal suffrage at local elections. Chichester-Clark won the leadership election to replace O'Neill and swiftly moved to implement many of O'Neill's reforms. Civil disorder continued to mount, culminating in August 1969 when Catholic Bogside residents clashed with
1440-684: A majority. Irish unionists assembled at conventions in Dublin and Belfast to oppose both the Bill and the proposed partition. The unionist MP Horace Plunkett , who would later support home rule, opposed it in the 1890s because of the dangers of partition. Although the Bill was approved by the Commons, it was defeated in the House of Lords . Following the December 1910 election , the Irish Parliamentary Party again agreed to support
1584-676: A rebellion against British rule, the Easter Rising. It was crushed after a week of heavy fighting in Dublin. The harsh British reaction to the Rising fuelled support for independence, with republican party Sinn Féin winning four by-elections in 1917. The British parliament called the Irish Convention in an attempt to find a solution to its Irish Question . It sat in Dublin from July 1917 until March 1918, and comprised both Irish nationalist and Unionist politicians. It ended with
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#17327838865401728-452: A report, supported by nationalist and southern unionist members, calling for the establishment of an all-Ireland parliament consisting of two houses with special provisions for Ulster unionists. The reports proposal for the setting up of an all Ireland parliament was passed by 51 votes to 18. The amendment to exclude Ulster from the jurisdiction of a national parliament was voted down by 52 votes to 19. The majority of southern Unionists voted for
1872-488: A six counties Parliament, with 52 members, the Unionist majority, would be about ten. The three excluded counties contain some 70,000 Unionists and 260,000 Sinn Feiners and Nationalists, and the addition of that large block of Sinn Feiners and Nationalists would reduce our majority to such a level that no sane man would undertake to carry on a Parliament with it. That is the position with which we were faced when we had to take
2016-568: A speech in the British House of Commons where he made clear the future make up of Northern Ireland: "The three Ulster counties of Monaghan, Cavan and Donegal are to be handed over to the South of Ireland Parliament. How the position of affairs in a Parliament of nine counties and in a Parliament of six counties would be is shortly this. If we had a nine counties Parliament, with 64 members, the Unionist majority would be about three or four, but in
2160-767: A truce in July 1921 and led to the Anglo-Irish Treaty that December. Under the Treaty, the territory of Southern Ireland would leave the UK and become the Irish Free State. Northern Ireland's parliament could vote it in or out of the Free State, and a commission could then redraw or confirm the provisional border. The Northern government chose to remain in the UK. The Boundary Commission proposed small changes to
2304-474: A very weak case on the issue "of forcing these two Counties against their will" into Northern Ireland. On 28 November 1921 both Tyrone and Fermanagh County Councils declared allegiance to the new Irish Parliament (Dail). On 2 December the Tyrone County Council publicly rejected the "...arbitrary, new-fangled, and universally unnatural boundary". They pledged to oppose the new border and to "make
2448-559: Is extremely improbable that she would have escaped inclusion in a Dublin Parliament." The Irish War of Independence led to the Anglo-Irish Treaty, between the British government and representatives of the Irish Republic. Negotiations between the two sides were carried on between October and December 1921. The British delegation consisted of experienced parliamentarians/debaters such as Lloyd George , Winston Churchill , Austen Chamberlain and Lord Birkenhead , they had clear advantages over
2592-509: Is the story of weeping women, hungry children, hunted men, homeless in England, houseless in Ireland. If this is what we get when they have not their Parliament, what may we expect when they have that weapon, with wealth and power strongly entrenched? What will we get when they are armed with Britain's rifles, when they are clothed with the authority of government, when they have cast round them
2736-455: The 2017 general election the UUP lost both of its Commons seats, losing South Antrim to the DUP and Fermanagh & South Tyrone to Sinn Féin. The party polled 10.3% (−5.7%) and failed to take any other seats. In the 2019 local elections the UUP polled 14.1% (−2.0) winning 75 council seats, 13 fewer than in 2014. They lost their single MEP at the 2019 European Parliament elections following
2880-523: The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland in April 1970, while the emergence of Ian Paisley's Protestant Unionist Party continued to draw off some working-class and more Ulster loyalist support. In June 1973 the UUP won a majority of seats in the new Northern Ireland Assembly , but the party was divided on policy. The Sunningdale Agreement , which led to the formation of a power-sharing Executive under Ulster Unionist leader Brian Faulkner , ruptured
3024-733: The Belfast Agreement in 1998, and many campaigned against it. At the 2004 AGM the officers voted to disband the group. A new organisation was reconstituted later that year and has since enjoyed a period of sustained growth. The UYUC has branches at Queen's University, Belfast , the University of Ulster and branches at constituency level in the City of Belfast , Mid-Ulster/West Tyrone, Lagan Valley and also Newry and Armagh/South Down, as well as Fermanagh & South Tyrone. The youth wing has produced many current and former senior faces in
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#17327838865403168-642: The British Parliament to introduce bills that would give Ireland a devolved government within the UK ( home rule ). This led to the Home Rule Crisis (1912–14), when Ulster unionists/ loyalists founded a large paramilitary organization (at least 100,000 men), the Ulster Volunteers , that could be used to prevent Ulster from being ruled by an Irish government. The British government proposed to exclude all or part of Ulster, but
3312-711: The Buckingham Palace Conference to allow Unionists and Nationalists to come together and discuss the issue of partition, but the conference achieved little. After much negotiations in 1914, John Redmond the leader of the largest political party in Ireland (the Irish Parliamentary Party) agreed to the temporary exclusion of some areas of Ulster. In June 1916 Lloyd George asked for Redmonds approval for six counties (now to include Tyrone and Fermanagh) to be temporarily excluded (four counties had been requested in 1912 and 1914). Redmond
3456-638: The Fermanagh County Council passed the following resolution: "We, the County Council of Fermanagh, in view of the expressed desire of a large majority of people in this county, do not recognise the partition parliament in Belfast and do hereby direct our Secretary to hold no further communications with either Belfast or British Local Government Departments, and we pledge our allegiance to Dáil Éireann." Shortly afterwards, Dawson Bates
3600-485: The Government of Ireland Act 1920 , Irish unionism in effect split. Many southern unionist politicians quickly became reconciled with the new Irish Free State , sitting in its Senate or joining its political parties, while in Northern Ireland the existence of a separate Ulster Unionist Party became entrenched as it took control of the new Government of Northern Ireland , established in 1921. Carson strongly opposed
3744-755: The House of Lords who affiliated themselves with the IUA. The Ulster Defence Union was also formed on 17 March 1893 to oppose the Liberal government's plans for the Government of Ireland Bill 1893 . Although most unionist support was based in Ulster , especially within areas that later became Northern Ireland , in the late 19th and early 20th century there were unionist enclaves throughout all of Ireland. Unionists in Dublin and County Wicklow and in parts of County Cork were particularly influential. In September 1904,
3888-588: The Irish War of Independence (1919–21), a guerrilla conflict between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and British forces. In 1920 the British government introduced another bill to create two devolved governments: one for six northern counties (Northern Ireland) and one for the rest of the island (Southern Ireland). This was passed as the Government of Ireland Act 1920, and came into force as
4032-670: The National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations , but in 1985, withdrew from it as well, in protest over the Anglo-Irish Agreement . Subsequently, the Conservative Party has organised separately in Northern Ireland, with little electoral success. Under West's leadership, the party recruited Enoch Powell , who became Ulster Unionist MP for South Down in October 1974 after defecting from
4176-758: The Northern Ireland Assembly , after Sinn Féin , the DUP, and the Alliance Party . Since August 2024 the party has been led by Mike Nesbitt . Between 1905 and 1972, its peers and MPs took the Conservative Party whip at Westminster , in effect functioning as the Northern Irish branch of the party. This arrangement came to an end in 1972 over disagreements over the Sunningdale Agreement . The two parties have remained institutionally separate ever since, with
4320-764: The Parliament of Northern Ireland (24 May 1921), the 1921 Northern Ireland general election returned Sinn Fein/Nationalist Party majorities: 54.7% Nationalist / 45.3% Unionist in Fermanagh – Tyrone (which was a single constituency). In a letter dated 7 September 1921 from Lloyd George to the President of the Irish Republic Eamon de Valera regarding Counties Fermanagh and Tyrone, the British Prime Minister stated that his government had
4464-536: The Royal Ulster Constabulary in Derry because of an Apprentice Boys of Derry march, sparking days of riots. Early in 1971, Chichester-Clark flew to London to request further military aid following the 1971 Scottish soldiers' killings . When this was all but refused, he resigned to be replaced by Brian Faulkner . Faulkner's government struggled though 1971 and into 1972. After Bloody Sunday ,
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4608-459: The Sunningdale Agreement and in 1985 over the Anglo-Irish Agreement . The UUP's sole remaining MP at the time, Sylvia Hermon, opposed the agreement, stating she would not be willing to stand under the UCUNF banner. In February 2010, Hermon confirmed that she would not be seeking a nomination as a UCUNF candidate for the forthcoming general election. On 25 March 2010, she formally resigned from
4752-760: The United Ulster Unionist Council (UUUC) with Vanguard and the Democratic Unionist Party , successor to the Protestant Unionist Party. The result was that the UUUC won 11 out of 12 parliamentary seats in Northern Ireland on a fiercely anti-Sunningdale platform, although they barely won 50% of the overall popular vote. This result was a fatal blow for the Executive, which soon collapsed. Up until 1972
4896-567: The " Curragh incident ", many of the highest-ranking British Army officers in Ireland threatened to resign rather than deploy against the Ulster Volunteers. This meant that the British government could legislate for Home Rule but could not be sure of implementing it. Ireland seemed to be on the brink of civil war. In May 1914, the British government introduced an amending bill to the Third Home Rule Act allowing for
5040-480: The "temporary exclusion of Ulster" from Home Rule. Some Ulster unionists were willing to tolerate the 'loss' of some mainly-Catholic areas of the province (the Ulster counties of Monaghan, Cavan and Donegal). In May 1914 three border boundary options were proposed for the temporary exclusion of part of Ulster from Home Rule. One option recommended that Counties Tyrone and Fermanagh, south County Armagh, south County Down,
5184-563: The 'Ulster Unionist Party Assembly Group' whose membership was the 24 UUP MLAs and Ervine. Empey justified the link by stating that under the d'Hondt method for allocating ministers in the Assembly, the new group would take a seat in the Executive from Sinn Féin. Following a request for a ruling from the DUP's Peter Robinson , the Speaker ruled that the UUPAG was not a political party within
5328-605: The 149 UUP Stormont MPs were members of the Orange Order, as were all Prime Ministers. Sir James Craig, who in 1927 was created Viscount Craigavon , led the government of Northern Ireland from its inception until his death in November 1940 and is buried with his wife by the east wing of Parliament Buildings at Stormont . His successor, J. M. Andrews, was heavily criticised for appointing octogenarian veterans of Lord Craigavon's administration to his cabinet . His government
5472-560: The 1920 partition for the time being, and of the rest of Treaty text as signed in regard to Northern Ireland: That whilst refusing to admit the right of any part of Ireland to be excluded from the supreme authority of the Parliament of Ireland, or that the relations between the Parliament of Ireland and any subordinate legislature in Ireland can be a matter for treaty with a Government outside Ireland, nevertheless, in sincere regard for internal peace, and to make manifest our desire not to bring force or coercion to bear upon any substantial part of
5616-725: The 1920s to create a youth movement linked to that of the Conservative Party (the Junior Imperial and Constitutional League ) without much success. A second attempt was made before the outbreak of the Second World War , which also failed. The UYUC was formed by the Standing Committee of the Ulster Unionist Council in 1946 and quickly became a successful movement in South & West Belfast, Fermanagh and Down . The body's first Chairman
5760-632: The 2005 election. The party held six seats at Westminster immediately before the 2005 general election, down from seven after the previous general election following the defection of Jeffrey Donaldson in 2004. The election resulted in the loss of five of their six seats. The only seat won by an Ulster Unionist was North Down, by Sylvia Hermon , who had won the seat in the 2001 general election from Robert McCartney of UK Unionist Party . David Trimble himself lost his seat in Upper Bann and resigned as party leader soon after. The ensuing leadership election
5904-551: The Belfast shipyards, all of them either Catholics or Protestant labour activists . In his Twelfth of July speech, Unionist leader Edward Carson had called for loyalists to take matters into their own hands to defend Ulster, and had linked republicanism with socialism and the Catholic Church. In response to the expulsions and attacks on Catholics, the Dáil approved a boycott of Belfast goods and banks. The 'Belfast Boycott'
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6048-490: The Bill two entirely new provisions, one providing for the permanent exclusion of Ulster, of the six Ulster counties...and I was given to understand in so many words that this decision was not put before me for the purpose of discussion or consultation, that the decision was absolute and final, and the right hon. Gentlemen described themselves to me simply as messengers, without any power or authority to discuss these questions in any way whatever with me, and they informed me that it
6192-460: The Bill, fearing industrial decline and religious persecution of Protestants by a Catholic-dominated Irish government. English Conservative politician Lord Randolph Churchill proclaimed: "the Orange card is the one to play", in reference to the Protestant Orange Order . The belief was later expressed in the popular slogan, "Home Rule means Rome Rule " . Partly in reaction to the Bill, there were riots in Belfast , as Protestant unionists attacked
6336-405: The British Government entertain an earnest hope that the necessity of harmonious co-operation amongst Irishmen of all classes and creeds will be recognised throughout Ireland, and they will welcome the day when by those means unity is achieved. But no such common action can be secured by force. In reply, de Valera wrote We most earnestly desire to help in bringing about a lasting peace between
6480-417: The British Government threatened to remove control of the security forces from the devolved government. Faulkner reacted by resigning with his entire cabinet, and the British Government suspended, and eventually abolished, the Northern Ireland Parliament , replacing it with Direct Rule . The liberal unionist group, the New Ulster Movement , which had advocated the policies of Terence O'Neill, left and formed
6624-399: The British House of Commons concerning the Government of Ireland Act: I was pleased to fight shoulder to shoulder, on the Somme and elsewhere, with my fellow-countrymen from the North of Ireland. We fraternised, and we thought that when we came home we would not bicker again, but that we would be happy in Ireland, with a Parliament for our own native country. We did not want two Irelands at
6768-423: The Catholic majority counties (Tyrone and Fermanagh) would later be incorporated into Northern Ireland. In September 1912, more than 500,000 Unionists signed the Ulster Covenant , pledging to oppose Home Rule by any means and to defy any Irish government. They founded a large paramilitary movement, the Ulster Volunteers , to prevent Ulster becoming part of a self-governing Ireland. They also threatened to establish
6912-442: The Conservative Party. In the 2011 local elections it lost seats to the Alliance Party east of the Bann and was also overtaken by them on Belfast City Council. Tom Elliott was criticised for comments he made in his victory speech where he described elements of Sinn Féin as "scum". Elliott resigned in March 2012 saying some people had not given him a 'fair opportunity' to develop and progress many party initiatives. Mike Nesbitt
7056-411: The Conservative government of Arthur Balfour published proposals for limited devolution to Ireland which would not amount to home rule. Coming from Conservatives, these led to great alarm among Irish unionists; in March 1905, the Ulster Unionist Council, which later became the Ulster Unionist Party, was formed as a co-ordinating organization for a new form of local political activity. It largely subsumed
7200-433: The Conservatives. Powell advocated a policy of 'integration', whereby Northern Ireland would be administered as an integral part of the United Kingdom. This policy divided both the Ulster Unionists and the wider unionist movement, as Powell's ideas conflicted with those supporting a restoration of devolved government to Northern Ireland. The party also made gains upon the break-up of the Vanguard Party and its merger back into
7344-658: The Dáil in September 1919. The number of counties that might be excluded from an Irish Home Rule parliament varied over the years. During the Gladstone era it was proposed that all nine counties of Ulster be excluded. A nine county exclusion was again proposed in September 1912, during this time the Unionist leader Edward Carson repeatedly spoke of the exclusion of all nine counties of Ulster. In April 1912 Winston Churchill proposed that three counties (Down, Antrim and Londonderry) be excluded. Later that year Bonar Law added County Armagh thereby recommending that four counties be excluded from Home Rule. During Asquith's time in office
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#17327838865407488-491: The Free State, leaving the remaining territory too small to be viable. In October 1922, the Irish Free State government established the North-Eastern Boundary Bureau (NEBB) a government office which by 1925 had prepared 56 boxes of files to argue its case for areas of Northern Ireland to be transferred to the Free State. De Valera had drafted his own preferred text of the treaty in December 1921, known as "Document No. 2". An "Addendum North East Ulster" indicates his acceptance of
7632-449: The Front; it was one Ireland, whether we, came from the North or from the South...I feel in common with thousands of my countrymen in Ireland, that I and they have been cheated out of the fruits of our victory. We placed our trust in you and you have betrayed us. Michael Collins had negotiated the treaty and had it approved by the cabinet, the Dáil (on 7 January 1922 by 64–57), and by the people in national elections. Regardless of this, it
7776-408: The Home Rule Bill (now Government of Ireland Act 1914) on 18 September 1914. The Suspensory Act ensured that Home Rule would be postponed for the duration of the war with the exclusion of Ulster still to be decided. During the First World War, support grew for full Irish independence, which had been advocated by Irish republicans . In April 1916, republicans took the opportunity of the war to launch
7920-644: The Imperial garb, what mercy, what pity, much less justice or liberty, will be conceded to us then? That is what I have to say about the Ulster Parliament." Ulster Unionist Party politician Charles Craig (the brother of Sir James Craig) made the feelings of many Unionists clear concerning the importance they placed on the passing of the Act and the establishment of a separate Parliament for Northern Ireland: "The Bill gives us everything we fought for, everything we armed ourselves for, and to attain which we raised our Volunteers in 1913 and 1914...but we have many enemies in this country, and we feel that an Ulster without
8064-422: The Irish Free State (Agreement) Bill was being debated on 21 March 1922, amendments were proposed which would have provided that the Ulster Month would run from the passing of the Irish Free State (Agreement) Act and not the Act that would establish the Irish Free State. Essentially, those who put down the amendments wished to bring forward the month during which Northern Ireland could exercise its right to opt out of
8208-458: The Irish Free State. Not only is this opposed to your pledge in our agreed statement of November 25th, but it is also antagonistic to the general principles of the Empire regarding her people's liberties. It is true that Ulster is given the right to contract out, but she can only do so after automatic inclusion in the Irish Free State. [...] We can only conjecture that it is a surrender to the claims of Sinn Fein that her delegates must be recognised as
8352-434: The Irish Free State. Once the treaty was ratified, the Houses of Parliament of Northern Ireland had one month (dubbed the Ulster month ) to exercise this opt-out during which time the provisions of the Government of Ireland Act continued to apply in Northern Ireland. According to barrister and legal writer Austen Morgan, the wording of the treaty allowed the impression to be given that the Irish Free State temporarily included
8496-442: The Liberal Chief Whip proposed that "roughly five counties" be excluded. Finally, in May 1916 Lloyd George proposed that six counties be excluded from a Dublin Home Rule parliament. However, in a 29 May 1916 letter to the Unionist leader Edward Carson, Lloyd George made clear that the exclusion should not be temporary: "We must make it clear that at the end of the provisional period Ulster does not, whether she wills it or not, merge in
8640-405: The Sinn Féin negotiators. The Treaty was signed on 6 December 1921. Under its terms, the territory of Southern Ireland would leave the United Kingdom within one year and become a self-governing dominion called the Irish Free State . The treaty was given legal effect in the United Kingdom through the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922 , and in Ireland by ratification by Dáil Éireann . Under
8784-685: The UK, with their own bicameral parliaments, along with a Council of Ireland comprising members of both. Northern Ireland would comprise the aforesaid six northeastern counties, while Southern Ireland would comprise the rest of the island. The Act was passed on 11 November and received royal assent in December 1920. It would come into force on 3 May 1921. Elections to the Northern and Southern parliaments were held on 24 May. Unionists won most seats in Northern Ireland. Its parliament first met on 7 June and formed its first devolved government , headed by Unionist Party leader James Craig. Republican and nationalist members refused to attend. King George V addressed
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#17327838865408928-410: The UUP returned to Westminster, gaining the South Antrim seat from the DUP and Fermanagh & South Tyrone (where they had an electoral pact with the DUP not standing) from Sinn Féin. In 2016, the UUP and the SDLP decided not to accept the seats on the Northern Ireland Executive to which they would have been entitled and to form an official opposition to the executive. This marked the first time that
9072-406: The UUP sat with the Conservative Party at Westminster , traditionally taking the Conservative parliamentary whip . To all intents and purposes the party functioned as the Northern Ireland branch of the Conservative Party. In 1972, in protest over the prorogation of the Parliament of Northern Ireland , the Westminster Ulster Unionist MPs withdrew from the alliance. The party remained affiliated to
9216-418: The UUP was led by a combination of landed gentry ( The 1st Viscount Brookeborough , Hugh MacDowell Pollock and James Chichester-Clark ), aristocracy ( Terence O'Neill ) and gentrified industrial magnates ( The 1st Viscount Craigavon and J. M. Andrews – nephew of The 1st Viscount Pirrie ). Only its last Prime Minister , Brian Faulkner , was from a middle-class background. During this era, all but 11 of
9360-417: The UUP's total councillors. The Young Unionists host a number of events on an annual basis including a summer debate series, conference and social events as well as canvassing for elected reps. Up to 15 Honorary positions are available; Second UYUC Current Young Unionists Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party ( UUP ) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland . The party
9504-417: The UUP. He retired in 1963 and was replaced by Terence O'Neill , who emerged ahead of other candidates, Jack Andrews and Faulkner. In the 1960s, identifying with the civil rights movement of Martin Luther King Jr. and encouraged by attempts at reform under O'Neill, various organisations campaigned for civil rights, calling for changes to the system for allocating public housing and the voting system for
9648-472: The UUP. Shortly after his election, three 2010 general election candidates resigned: Harry Hamilton, Paula Bradshaw and Trevor Ringland . Bradshaw and Hamilton subsequently joined the Alliance Party. The party lost two seats in the 2011 Assembly elections and won fewer votes than the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) (although it won more seats than the SDLP). Two of its candidates, Bill Manwaring and Lesley Macaulay, subsequently joined
9792-454: The Ulster Defence Union. From the beginning, the new organization had a strong association with the Orange Order , a Protestant fraternal organisation . The original composition of the Ulster Unionist Council was 25% Orange delegates; however, this proportion was reduced through the years. The initial leadership of the Ulster unionists all came from outside what would later become Northern Ireland. In particular, from 1905 Colonel Saunderson
9936-406: The Ulster Unionist Executive and area council of Northern Ireland Conservatives agreed to field joint candidates in future elections to the House of Commons and European Parliament under the name " Ulster Conservatives and Unionists – New Force " (UCUNF). The agreement meant that Ulster Unionist MPs could have sat in a Conservative Government, renewing the relationship that had broken down in 1974 over
10080-435: The Ulster Unionist leader Sir James Craig met with the President of Sinn Féin, Éamon de Valera , in secret near Dublin. Each restated his position and nothing new was agreed. On 10 May De Valera told the Dáil that the meeting "... was of no significance". In June that year, shortly before the truce that ended the Anglo-Irish War, David Lloyd George invited the Irish President de Valera to talks in London on an equal footing with
10224-405: The Ulster Unionists. The separate United Ulster Unionist Party (UUUP) emerged from the remains of Vanguard but folded in the early 1980s, as did the UPNI. In both cases the main beneficiaries of this were the Ulster Unionists, now under the leadership of James Molyneaux (1979–95). David Trimble led the party between 1995 and 2005. His support for the Belfast Agreement caused a rupture within
10368-663: The United Kingdom. Many Irish republicans blamed the British establishment for the sectarian divisions in Ireland, and believed that Ulster Unionist defiance would fade once British rule was ended. In an attempt to bring about the secession of Ireland from the UK, the Irish War of Independence began on 21 January 1919 with the Soloheadbeg ambush . A guerrilla war developed as the Irish Republican Army (IRA) began attacking British forces. The British authorities outlawed
10512-615: The United Kingdom. The nationalist Irish Parliamentary Party won most Irish seats in the 1885 general election . It then held the balance of power in the British House of Commons , and entered into an alliance with the Liberals . IPP leader Charles Stewart Parnell convinced British Prime Minister William Gladstone to introduce the First Irish Home Rule Bill in 1886. Protestant unionists in Ireland opposed
10656-404: The achievement of a republic through negotiation was impossible'. On 20 July, Lloyd George further declared to de Valera that: The form in which the settlement is to take effect will depend upon Ireland herself. It must allow for full recognition of the existing powers and privileges of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, which cannot be abrogated except by their own consent. For their part,
10800-404: The all Ireland parliament proposal. The report was, however, rejected by the Ulster unionist members, and since Sinn Féin had not taken part in the proceedings, the convention was considered a failure. In 1918, the British government attempted to impose conscription in Ireland and argued there could be no Home Rule without it. This sparked outrage in Ireland and further galvanised support for
10944-445: The basis of the legislation that partitioned Ireland – the Government of Ireland Act 1920. At the first meeting of the committee (15 October 1919) it was decided that two devolved governments should be established — one for the nine counties of Ulster and one for the rest of Ireland, together with a Council of Ireland for the "encouragement of Irish unity". The Long Committee felt that the nine-county proposal "will enormously minimise
11088-584: The body in disarray by the early 1970s, and it disbanded following the collapse of the Stormont Parliament . The body re-emerged under the Chairmanship of David McNarry and continued to thrive throughout the 1980s, producing figures such as Edgar Graham , Jeffrey Donaldson , Peter Weir and Arlene Foster with the latter 3 defecting to the DUP . The body's membership was strongly opposed to
11232-413: The border in 1925, but they were not implemented. Since partition, most Irish nationalists/republicans continue to seek a united and independent Ireland, while Ulster unionists/loyalists want Northern Ireland to remain part of the UK. Over the years the Unionist governments of Northern Ireland have been accused of discrimination against the Irish nationalist and Catholic minority. In 1967 Unionists opposed
11376-518: The boundaries". This left large areas of Northern Ireland with populations that supported either Irish Home Rule or the establishment of an all-Ireland Republic. The results from the last all-Ireland election (the 1918 Irish general election) showed Nationalist majorities in the envisioned Northern Ireland: Counties Tyrone and Fermanagh, Derry City and the Constituencies of Armagh South, Belfast Falls and Down South. Many Unionists feared that
11520-538: The ceremonial opening of the Northern parliament on 22 June. Meanwhile, Sinn Féin won an overwhelming majority in the Southern Ireland election. They treated both as elections for Dáil Éireann , and its elected members gave allegiance to the Dáil and Irish Republic, thus rendering "Southern Ireland" dead in the water. The Southern parliament met only once and was attended by four unionists. On 5 May 1921,
11664-636: The cities of Newry and Derry should be left under the proposed Irish Parliament. There was then debate over how much of Ulster should be excluded and for how long, and whether to hold referendums in each county. The Chancellor of the Exchequer Lloyd George supported "the principle of the referendum...each of the Ulster Counties is to have the option of exclusion from the Home Rule Bill." In July 1914, King George V called
11808-403: The city's Catholic nationalist minority. The Bill was defeated in the Commons. Gladstone introduced a Second Irish Home Rule Bill in 1892. The Irish Unionist Alliance had been formed to oppose home rule, and the Bill sparked mass unionist protests. In response, Liberal Unionist leader Joseph Chamberlain called for a separate provincial government for Ulster where Protestant unionists were
11952-478: The consent of a majority of its population. The treaty also reaffirmed an open border between both jurisdictions. Results in Ireland of the December 1910 United Kingdom general election showing a large majority for the Irish Parliamentary Party . During the 19th century, the Irish nationalist Home Rule movement campaigned for Ireland to have self-government while remaining part of
12096-544: The crisis was interrupted by the First World War (1914–18). Support for Irish independence grew during the war and after the 1916 armed rebellion known as the Easter Rising . The Irish republican political party Sinn Féin won the vast majority of Irish seats in the 1918 election . They formed a separate Irish parliament and declared an independent Irish Republic covering the whole island. This led to
12240-649: The current name of the Conservative and Unionist Party , to which the Ulster Unionist Party was formally linked, to varying degrees, until 1985. At the 1918 general election , Carson switched constituencies from Dublin University to Belfast Duncairn . After the Irish Convention of 1917–1918 failed to reach an understanding on home rule, and even more after the Partition of Ireland under
12384-432: The decision a few days ago as to whether we would call upon the Government to include the nine counties in the Bill or be settled with the six." In what became Northern Ireland, the process of partition was accompanied by violence, both "in defence or opposition to the new settlement". The IRA carried out attacks on British forces in the north-east, but was less active than in the south of Ireland. Protestant loyalists in
12528-562: The devolution of regeneration powers to councils. They received 81,282 votes, 10.9% of the total, down 3.2% from the 2019 local elections . The party had 54 councillors elected, down 21 from 2019. Partition of Ireland The Partition of Ireland ( Irish : críochdheighilt na hÉireann ) was the process by which the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (UK) divided Ireland into two self-governing polities: Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland . It
12672-419: The ending of the ongoing "Belfast Boycott" of northern goods by the south and the return of jobs to the thousands of Catholics that had been forcibly removed from Belfast's mills and shipyards (see The Troubles in Northern Ireland (1920–1922) . The second Pact consisted of ten Articles which called for an end to all IRA activity in Northern Ireland and the setting up of a special police force that would represent
12816-646: The exception of the 2009 to 2012 Ulster Conservatives and Unionists electoral alliance. The first-ever membership survey of the UUP, published in January 2019, suggested that 67% of its members were supportive of the Conservative Party. The Ulster Unionist Party traces its formal existence back to the foundation of the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905. It is the oldest political party on the island of Ireland . Modern organised unionism emerged after William Ewart Gladstone 's introduction in 1886 of
12960-605: The first leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, from 1910. Throughout his years of leadership, he fought a sustained campaign against Irish Home Rule, including taking the lead in the formation of the Ulster Volunteers at the onset of the Home Rule Crisis in 1912. In 1912, at Westminster the Home Rule Crisis led to the Liberal Unionist Party merging with the Conservatives, thus giving rise to
13104-682: The first of three Home Rule Bills in response to demands by the Irish Parliamentary Party . In 1891, the Irish Conservative Party came to an end, merged into a new Irish Unionist Alliance (IUA) which also included the Irish Liberal Unionists , the latter having split from the Liberal Party over the issue of home rule . While usually dominated by unionists from Ulster , the IUA was often led by southern unionists. There were also some eighty members of
13248-471: The floor of the House of Commons: I was informed, on behalf of the Cabinet, that negotiations and communications and consultations with me had been struck off, and that I would receive no communication from the Cabinet until they had come to a decision, behind my back, upon proposals which I had never seen and which they refused to submit to me. I asked them what the nature of these new proposals was, and I
13392-476: The former Act, at 1 pm on 6 December 1922, King George V (at a meeting of his Privy Council at Buckingham Palace ) signed a proclamation establishing the new Irish Free State. Under the treaty, Northern Ireland's parliament could vote to opt out of the Free State. Under Article 12 of the Treaty, Northern Ireland could exercise its opt-out by presenting an address to the King, requesting not to be part of
13536-551: The fullest use of our rights to mollify it". While speaking in the British House of Parliament on 14 December 1921, the British Prime Minister remarked on the possibility of including Tyrone and Fermanagh into Northern Ireland: "There is no doubt—certainly since the Act of 1920—that the majority of the people of two counties prefer being with their Southern neighbours to being in the Northern Parliament." On 21 December 1921
13680-519: The local government franchise, which was restricted to (disproportionately Protestant) rate payers . O'Neill had pushed through some reforms but in the process the Ulster Unionists became strongly divided. At the 1969 Stormont general election UUP candidates stood on both pro- and anti-O'Neill platforms. Several independent pro-O'Neill unionists challenging his critics, while the Protestant Unionist Party of Ian Paisley mounted
13824-650: The long time (1921–1943) Minister of Home Affairs (Northern Ireland) authorized that both County Councils offices be seized (by the Royal Irish Constabulary), the County officials expelled, and the County Councils dissolved. The British government introduced the Government of Ireland Bill in early 1920 and it passed through the stages in the British parliament that year. It would partition Ireland and create two self-governing territories within
13968-540: The meaning of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 . The party lost 9 seats in the 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly election , retaining 18 MLAs. Empey was the only leader of one of the four main parties not to be re-elected on first preference votes alone in the Assembly elections of March 2007. In July 2008, the UUP and Conservative Party announced that a joint working group had been established to examine closer ties. On 26 February 2009,
14112-475: The more convinced am I that these differences will disappear." Unionists opposed the Bill, but argued that if Home Rule could not be stopped then all or part of Ulster should be excluded from it. Irish nationalists opposed partition, although some were willing to accept Ulster having some self-governance within a self-governing Ireland ("Home Rule within Home Rule"). Winston Churchill made his feelings about
14256-482: The new Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, James Craig, which de Valera attended. De Valera's policy in the ensuing negotiations was that the future of Ulster was an Irish-British matter to be resolved between two sovereign states, and that Craig should not attend. After the truce came into effect on 11 July, the USC was demobilized (July – November 1921). Speaking after the truce Lloyd George made it clear to de Valera, 'that
14400-700: The north-east attacked the Catholic minority in reprisal for IRA actions. The January and June 1920 local elections saw Irish nationalists and republicans win control of Tyrone and Fermanagh county councils, which were to become part of Northern Ireland, while Derry had its first Irish nationalist mayor. In summer 1920, sectarian violence erupted in Belfast and Derry, and there were mass burnings of Catholic property by loyalists in Lisburn and Banbridge . Loyalists drove 8,000 "disloyal" co-workers from their jobs in
14544-598: The only Irishmen consulted during this time. During the summer of 1919, Long visited Ireland several times, using his yacht as a meeting place to discuss the "Irish question" with the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland John French and the Chief Secretary for Ireland Ian Macpherson . Prior to the first meeting of the committee, Long sent a memorandum to the British Prime Minister recommending two parliaments for Ireland (24 September 1919). That memorandum formed
14688-581: The partition issue...it minimises the division of Ireland on purely religious lines. The two religions would not be unevenly balanced in the Parliament of Northern Ireland." Most northern unionists wanted the territory of the Ulster government to be reduced to six counties, so that it would have a larger Protestant/Unionist majority. Long offered the Committee members a deal – "that the Six Counties ... should be theirs for good ... and no interference with
14832-575: The partition of Ireland and the end of unionism as an all-Ireland political force, so he refused the opportunity to be Prime Minister of Northern Ireland or even to sit in the Northern Ireland House of Commons , citing a lack of connection with the new province. The leadership of the UUP and, subsequently, Northern Ireland, was taken by Sir James Craig . Until almost the very end of its period of power in Northern Ireland ,
14976-434: The party and announced that she would be standing as an independent candidate at the general election. As a result, the UUP were left without representation in the House of Commons for the first time since the party's creation. At the 2010 general election , UCUNF won no seats in Northern Ireland (while Hermon won hers as an independent). The UCUNF label was not used again. Following the election, Empey resigned as leader. He
15120-501: The party because of Beattie's promotion of 'liberal values'. In January 2022, Beattie made what some saw as a misogynistic joke about DAERA minister Edwin Poots and his wife. After this, it was found that he had made other controversial jokes on social media, before entering politics, and he made a statement apologizing. The party contested all 18 constituencies in the 2022 Assembly election . They received 96,390 votes, 11.2% of
15264-486: The party including The Lord Laird , The Lord Rogan , Jeffrey Donaldson MP MLA and David McNarry , all of whom are former Chairmen, as well as Lord Empey , who served as Vice Chairman. In recent years the Young Unionists have continued to function as an active political youth wing. In the 2014 local government elections 11 members of the Young Unionists were returned as councillors. This represents over 10% of
15408-494: The party into pro-agreement and anti-agreement factions. Trimble served as First Minister of Northern Ireland in the power-sharing administration created under the Belfast Agreement . Unusually for a unionist party, the UUP had a Catholic MLA in the Northern Ireland Assembly , Sir John Gorman until the 2003 election. In March 2005, the Orange Order voted to end its official links with the UUP. Trimble faced down Orange Order critics who tried to suspend him for his attendance at
15552-538: The party. In the 1973 elections to the Executive the party found itself divided, a division that did not formally end until January 1974 with the triumph of the anti-Sunningdale faction. Faulkner was then overthrown, and he set up the Unionist Party of Northern Ireland (UPNI). The Ulster Unionists were then led by Harry West from 1974 until 1979. In the February 1974 general election , the party participated in
15696-434: The peoples of these two islands, but see no avenue by which it can be reached if you deny Ireland's essential unity and set aside the principle of national self-determination. Speaking in the House of Commons on the day the Act passed, Joe Devlin ( Nationalist Party ) representing west Belfast , summed up the feelings of many Nationalists concerning partition and the setting up of a Northern Ireland Parliament while Ireland
15840-406: The possibility of the partition of Ireland clear: "Whatever Ulster's right may be, she cannot stand in the way of the whole of the rest of Ireland. Half a province cannot impose a permanent veto on the nation. Half a province cannot obstruct forever the reconciliation between the British and Irish democracies." The 1911 census reported Catholic majorities in five of the nine counties of Ulster, two of
15984-484: The proposed status as a dominion (as represented by the Oath of Allegiance and Fidelity) for Southern Ireland , rather than as an independent all-Ireland republic , but continuing partition was a significant matter for Ulstermen like Seán MacEntee , who spoke strongly against partition or re-partition of any kind. The pro-treaty side argued that the proposed Boundary Commission would give large swathes of Northern Ireland to
16128-558: The province of Ulster, whose inhabitants may now be unwilling to accept the national authority, we are prepared to grant to that portion of Ulster which is defined as Northern Ireland in the British Government of Ireland Act of 1920, privileges and safeguards not less substantial than those provided for in the 'Articles of Agreement for a Treaty' between Great Britain and Ireland signed in London on 6 December 1921. In early 1922
16272-505: The provisions of Section 12 of the Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922. The treaty also allowed for a re-drawing of the border by a Boundary Commission . Sir James Craig, the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland objected to aspects of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. In a letter to Austen Chamberlain dated 14 December 1921, he stated: We protest against the declared intention of your government to place Northern Ireland automatically in
16416-586: The representatives of the whole of Ireland, a claim which we cannot for a moment admit. [...] The principles of the 1920 Act have been completely violated, the Irish Free State being relieved of many of her responsibilities towards the Empire. [...] We are glad to think that our decision will obviate the necessity of mutilating the Union Jack . In March 1920 William Redmond a member of Parliament and combat veteran of World War I, addressed his fellow members of
16560-437: The republicans. In the December 1918 general election , Sinn Féin won the overwhelming majority of Irish seats. In line with their manifesto , Sinn Féin's elected members boycotted the British parliament and founded a separate Irish parliament ( Dáil Éireann ), declaring an independent Irish Republic covering the whole island. Unionists, however, won most seats in northeastern Ulster and affirmed their continuing loyalty to
16704-435: The rest of Ireland." In September 1919, British Prime Minister Lloyd George tasked a committee with planning Home Rule for Ireland within the UK. Headed by English Unionist politician Walter Long , it was known as the 'Long Committee'. The makeup of the committee was Unionist in outlook and had no Nationalist representatives as members. James Craig (the future 1st Prime Minister of Northern Ireland ) and his associates were
16848-491: The retirement of Jim Nicholson. Danny Kennedy stood as the UUP candidate polling 9.3% (−4.0%). Steve Aiken succeeded Robin Swann as leader in November 2019. The party increased its vote share to 11.7% (+1.4%) in the 2019 general election , but failed to re-gain a seat. Their best result was in Fermanagh and South Tyrone, where Tom Elliott lost to Sinn Féin by 57 votes. Steve Aiken resigned on 8 May 2021, and Doug Beattie
16992-688: The self-declared 32-county Irish Republic . On 6 December 1922 (a year after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty ), Ireland was partitioned. At that time, the territory of Southern Ireland left the UK and became the Irish Free State , now known as the Republic of Ireland . Ireland had a large Catholic, nationalist majority who wanted self-governance or independence. Prior to partition the Irish Home Rule movement compelled
17136-449: The spring and early summer of 1922, the IRA launched a failed "Northern Offensive" into border areas of Northern Ireland. The capital, Belfast , saw "savage and unprecedented" communal violence , mainly between Protestant and Catholic civilians. More than 500 were killed and more than 10,000 became refugees, most of them from the Catholic minority. The Irish War of Independence resulted in
17280-424: The suggestion of partition: "You can no more split Ireland into parts than you can split England or Scotland into parts...You have an essential unity of race and temperament, although I agree that unhappily dissensions have been rank, partially by religion, and partially, by the organisation of partisanship. The more Irishmen are encouraged and empowered to cooperate in the great works of governing their own country,
17424-519: The territory would not last if it included too many Catholics and Irish Nationalists but any reduction in size would make the state unviable. The six counties of Antrim , Down , Armagh , Londonderry , Tyrone and Fermanagh comprised the maximum area unionists believed they could dominate. The remaining three counties of Ulster had large Catholic majorities: Cavan 81.5%, Donegal 78.9% and Monaghan 74.7%. On 29 March 1920 Charles Craig (son of Sir James Craig and Unionist MP for County Antrim) made
17568-537: The total, down 1.7% from the 2017 Assembly election . They had 9 MLAs elected, down 1 from 2017 after Roy Beggs Jr lost his seat in East Antrim to Alliance. In the 2023 local elections , Beattie characterised the election as a 'choice between delivery or dysfunction'. The UUP ran 101 candidates across the 11 councils, with a manifesto pledging 'city and growth deals', the appointment of 'prompt payment champions' to each council, 'below inflation rate rises' and
17712-560: The two communities. Article VII called for meetings before the Northern Ireland Government exercised its option to opt out of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. The purpose of the meetings was to be "...whether means can be devised to secure the unity of Ireland or failing this whether agreement can be arrived at on the boundary question otherwise than by recourse to the Boundary Commission." Under the treaty it
17856-484: The two leaders of Northern and Southern Ireland agreed on two pacts that were referred to as the Craig-Collins Pacts. Both Pacts were designed to bring peace to Northern Ireland and deal with the issue of partition. Both Pacts fell apart and it was the last time for over 40 years that the leaders of government in the north and south were to meet. Among other issues, the first pact (21 January 1922) called for
18000-451: The whole island of Ireland, but legally the terms of the treaty applied only to the 26 counties, and the government of the Free State never had any powers—even in principle—in Northern Ireland. On 7 December 1922 the Parliament of Northern Ireland approved an address to George V, requesting that its territory not be included in the Irish Free State. This was presented to the king the following day and then entered into effect, in accordance with
18144-692: Was Prime Minister for one year longer. During this time he was on more than one occasion called to meetings of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland to explain his actions, most notably following the 1947 Education Act which made the government responsible for the payment of National Insurance contributions of teachers in Catholic Church-controlled schools. Ian Paisley called for Brookeborough's resignation in 1953 when he refused to sack Brian Maginess and Clarence Graham , who had given speeches supporting re-admitting Catholics to
18288-567: Was also believed to be more interested in protecting the statue of Carson at the Stormont Estate than the citizens of Belfast during the Belfast Blitz . A backbench revolt in 1943 resulted in his resignation and replacement by Sir Basil Brooke (later Viscount Brookeborough ), although Andrews was recognised as leader of the party until 1946. Lord Brookeborough, despite having felt that Craigavon had held on to power for too long,
18432-422: Was assured by the British Prime Minister and the entire Cabinet that voters in all counties excluded from Home Rule would be permitted to vote on joining a Home Rule Ireland (a vote was never held). Redmond was also "guaranteed" that all excluded counties were to be returned to Home Rule Ireland after six years. On 20 July 1916 Redmond was removed from any further negotiations with the British government. He spoke on
18576-407: Was deployed and an Ulster Special Constabulary (USC) was formed to help the regular police. The USC was almost wholly Protestant and some of its members carried out reprisal attacks on Catholics. From 1920 to 1922, more than 500 were killed in Northern Ireland and more than 10,000 became refugees, most of them Catholics. See The Troubles in Northern Ireland (1920–1922) . In the first election to
18720-741: Was elected as leader on 17 May 2021. Beattie, a former soldier, is perceived as a progressive unionist, and it was predicted that following his election as leader, the party would reclaim some of the centre ground that they had lost to the Alliance Party. After Beattie became leader, a number of new members joined the party including former Belfast PUP councillor Julie-Anne Corr-Johnston, Derry and Strabane DUP councillor Ryan McCready, former Independent Irish Senator Ian Marshall , Belfast Alliance Party councillor Carole Howard and Belfast PUP councillor John Kyle . In October 2021, Newry and Mourne UUP councillor Harold McKee resigned from
18864-399: Was elected leader on 31 March 2012, beating John McCallister , by 536 votes to 129. In the 2014 European election Jim Nicholson held his MEP seat, although his percentage of the vote decreased to 13.3% (−3.8%). The party gained 15 seats in the local elections that same day. They polled 16.1% (+0.9%), making it the only party to increase its vote share. At the 2015 general election ,
19008-413: Was enacted on 3 May 1921 under the Government of Ireland Act 1920 . The Act intended both territories to remain within the United Kingdom and contained provisions for their eventual reunification . The smaller Northern Ireland was duly created with a devolved government (Home Rule) and remained part of the UK. The larger Southern Ireland was not recognised by most of its citizens, who instead recognised
19152-439: Was enforced by the IRA, who halted trains and lorries from Belfast and destroyed their goods. Conflict continued intermittently for two years, mostly in Belfast, which saw "savage and unprecedented" communal violence between Protestant and Catholic civilians. There was rioting, gun battles and bombings. Homes, business and churches were attacked and people were expelled from workplaces and from mixed neighbourhoods. The British Army
19296-491: Was founded as the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster . Under Edward Carson , it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule movement . Following the partition of Ireland , it was the governing party of Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972. It was supported by most unionist voters throughout the conflict known as the Troubles , during which time it
19440-556: Was future Prime Minister of Northern Ireland , Brian Faulkner In 1959, Brian Maginess , Q.C. , and Sir Clarence Graham , Bt. , spoke to the Young Unionists advocating an increase in Roman Catholic membership of the UUP. This was regarded as controversial at the time. The body created many prominent figures in Northern Ireland politics throughout the 1960s and 1970s such as Bill Craig and John D. Taylor ; however, disagreements over Government policy and other factors left
19584-407: Was in a deep state of unrest. Devlin stated: "I know beforehand what is going to be done with us, and therefore it is well that we should make our preparations for that long fight which, I suppose, we will have to wage in order to be allowed even to live." He accused the government of "...not inserting a single clause...to safeguard the interests of our people. This is not a scattered minority...it
19728-564: Was often referred to as the Official Unionist Party ( OUP ). Under David Trimble , the party helped negotiate the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, which ended the conflict. Trimble served as the first First Minister of Northern Ireland from 1998 to 2002. However, it was overtaken as the largest unionist party in 2003 by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). As of 2022 it is the fourth-largest party in
19872-561: Was provided that Northern Ireland would have a month – the "Ulster Month" – during which its Houses of Parliament could opt out of the Irish Free State. The Treaty was ambiguous on whether the month should run from the date the Anglo-Irish Treaty was ratified (in March 1922 via the Irish Free State (Agreement) Act) or the date that the Constitution of the Irish Free State was approved and the Free State established (6 December 1922). When
20016-465: Was replaced by Tom Elliott as party leader in the subsequent leadership election . During the leadership election, it emerged that a quarter of the UUP membership came from Fermanagh and South Tyrone , the constituency of Elliott. The Dublin-based political magazine, the Phoenix , described Elliott as a "blast from the past" and said that his election signified "a significant shift to the right" by
20160-599: Was simultaneously leader of the Irish Unionist Alliance MPs and leader of the Ulster Unionist Council in Belfast. In 1906 he was succeeded in both roles by Walter Hume Long , a Dublin MP. Another Dubliner, Sir Edward Carson , one of the two Irish Unionist Alliance MPs for the Dublin University constituency , and Lord Midleton were also southern unionists active in both. Carson went on to become
20304-467: Was the intention of the Government to introduce a Bill containing these provisions practically whether we liked it or not. The Home Rule Crisis was interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, and Ireland's involvement in it . Asquith abandoned his Amending Bill, and instead rushed through a new bill, the Suspensory Act 1914 , which received Royal Assent together with
20448-595: Was told that the Cabinet did not desire to consult me about them, and until they had come to a decision I would be told nothing...The next communication I received was on Saturday last, when the Minister for War and the Home Secretary requested me to call and see them at the War Office. They then informed me that another Cabinet Council had been held, and that it had been decided, mark you, decided, to insert in
20592-475: Was unacceptable to Éamon de Valera, who led the Irish Civil War to stop it. Collins was primarily responsible for drafting the constitution of the new Irish Free State, based on a commitment to democracy and rule by the majority. De Valera's minority refused to be bound by the result. Collins now became the dominant figure in Irish politics, leaving de Valera on the outside. The main dispute centred on
20736-400: Was won by Reg Empey . In May 2006 UUP leader Empey attempted to create a new assembly group that would have included Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) leader David Ervine . The PUP is the political wing of the illegal Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). Many in the UUP, including the last remaining MP, Sylvia Hermon , were opposed to the move. The link was in the form of a new group called
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