Ulster Unionist Party

The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP, sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or OUP or simply the Unionist Party ) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland, and was the party of government in Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972. Until 2003 it was the largest party, but it has been overtaken by the Democratic Unionist Party.

Foundation

The UUP came into existence as the Irish Unionist Party in 1905 to resist any granting of home rule to Ireland within the United Kingdom, which was the main demand of the Irish Parliamentary Party under leaders Isaac Butt, William Shaw, Charles Stewart Parnell and John Redmond. The party had a strong association with the politico-religious Orange Order, a Protestant institution which some compare to the much smaller Roman Catholic Ancient Order of Hibernians. Though most unionist support was based in the geographic area that became Northern Ireland, its initial leadership all came from outside these six counties, with people like Colonel Saunderson, Viscount (later the Earl of) Midleton and the Dublin-born Sir Edward Carson. However, with the partition of Ireland under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, Irish unionism in effect split. Many southern unionists became reconciled with the Irish Free State, sitting in its senate or joining its political parties. Unionism's northern wing evolved into a separate Ulster Unionist Party.

Related Topics:
Irish - 1905 - Home rule - United Kingdom - Irish Parliamentary Party - Isaac Butt - Charles Stewart Parnell - John Redmond - Orange Order - Protestant - Roman Catholic - Ancient Order of Hibernians - Viscount (later the Earl of) Midleton - Dublin - Edward Carson - Government of Ireland Act 1920 - Irish Free State - Ulster

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