A brief history : Who are the DUP ?
By Matthew Clifton
Theresa May is going to face a massive backlash from supporters and backbenchers alike for doing a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party ( DUP ). But who are the DUP and what is their history ? There has been a lot of information flying around from all sorts of news outlets and they have been right by and large however , the history they print tends to be bits rather than detail . Because as we know , the history is far more complex .
Firstly , the DUP was founded by Reverend Ian Paisley , during the Troubles in 1971 . He led them for 37 years and oversaw many unsavoury aspects of the Troubles , which eventually led to a power-sharing agreement with Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland .
The foundation to mid- 90s
The DUP evolved from the Protestant Union Party ( PUP ) by then leader Desmond Boal and Ian Paisley , the latter was a Protestant fundamentalist with extreme views who also founded the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster , heading both for the next 37 years . The DUP opposed the civil rights movement to end discrimination against the Catholic / Irish nationalist minority by the Protestant / unionist government . They were further right and more hard-line than other parties and the formation was arguably through insecurities of the Ulster Protestant working class .
During the Troubles , an agreement was put forward in 1973 to attempt to stop the violence by setting up a new assembly and government in Northern Ireland . But the DUP were adamantly against the agreement and Ian Paisley , along with
other paramilitary leaders organised an anti-Agreement strike by unionists that lasted 14 days , bringing Northern Ireland to a standstill . Loyalist paramilitaries got involved and enforced the strike through blockades and intimidation , they also set of four car bombs on the 3 rd day in Dublin and Monaghan which killed 33 civilians .
Throughout the 80s the DUP were against talks between Irish PM , Charles Haughey and British PM , Margaret Thatcher . In their bid to oppose the any agreement , Ian Paisley and other DUP members created the Ulster Third Force , a private army to fight the IRA . With Paisley stating that his men were ‘ ready ’ to be ‘ recruited under the crown ’ to fight the IRA but if this did not happen , then they had ‘ no other choice ’ but to ‘ destroy the IRA ’ themselves . They constantly opposed the Anglo-Irish Agreement , with several protests by DUP politicians and supporters alike .
DUP politicians , including Ian Paisley ,
Issue # 8 17th June 2017
formed the Ulster Resistance Movement ( URM ) to take direct action against Republicanism and bring down the agreement . Thousands were said to have joined following huge recruitment missions across towns and the following year the URM helped smuggle in a large supply of weapons , sharing them with the Ulster Volunteer Force ( UVF ) and Ulster Defence Association ( UDA ).
The UDA released a document in 1994 demanding the repartition of Ireland , with then DUP press officer and future MP talking positively of the document saying , “ contemplating what needs to be done to maintain our separate Ulster identity ” and it was “ valuable return to reality ”. The plans were to be implemented after withdrawal of the British Army and areas that were predominantly Catholic would be handed over to republic control and those within the rump state would be “ expelled , nullified , or interned ".
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