The
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)
is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern
Ireland
. Founded by Ian
Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently
the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the
fourth-largest party in the House of
Commons of the United Kingdom
. However, it only came second in the
European Parliament
election 2009 in Northern Ireland. The DUP has strong links to
Protestant churches, particularly the
Free Presbyterian
Church of Ulster, the church Ian Paisley founded, and is
considered a Protestant political party.
The party has a youth
wing at Queen's University Belfast
under the name Democratic Unionist Association
(DUA) and also at the University of
Ulster.
Following on from the
St Andrews
Agreement in October 2006, the DUP has agreed with the
Irish republican party
Sinn Féin to enter into
power-sharing devolved government in Northern Ireland. In the
aftermath of the agreement there were reports of divisions within
the DUP. Many of its leading members, including
Members of Parliament (MPs)
Nigel Dodds,
David Simpson and
Gregory Campbell were claimed
to be in opposition to Paisley. All the party's MPs fully signed up
to the manifesto for the 2007 Assembly elections, supporting power
sharing in principle. An overwhelming majority of the party
executive voted in favour of restoring devolution in a meeting in
March 2007; however, the DUP's sole
Member of the European
Parliament (MEP),
Jim Allister, and
seven DUP councillors later resigned from the party in opposition
to its plans to share power with Sinn Féin. They founded the
Traditional Unionist
Voice in December 2007.
History
The party was established in 1971 by
Ian
Paisley and
Desmond Boal and other
members of the
Protestant
Unionist Party. Since its foundation it has won seats at local
council, province, national and European level. It won eight seats
in the
Northern Ireland
Assembly of 1973-1974, where it opposed the formation of a
power-sharing executive made up of unionists and nationalists
following the
Sunningdale
Agreement. The DUP were more radically unionist than the UUP.
The establishment of this political party arguably stemmed from
insecurities of the Protestant working class.
Paisley was elected
one of Northern
Ireland's three European Parliament
members at the first elections in 1979 and retained
that seat in every European election until 2004. In 2004
Paisley was replaced as the DUP MEP by
Jim
Allister, who resigned from the party in 2007 while retaining
his seat.
The DUP also holds seats in the British House of Commons, and has
been elected to each of the Northern Ireland conventions and
assemblies set up since the party's creation. It has long been the
principal rival to the other major
unionist party, the
Ulster Unionist Party (known for a
time in the 1970s and 1980s as the
Official Unionist Party
(OUP) to distinguish it from the then multitude of other unionist
parties, some set up by deposed former leaders). However, the DUP's
main rivals are currently the
Irish
Republican Sinn Féin and the
Irish nationalist Social Democratic and Labour
Party (SDLP).
The DUP was originally involved in the negotiations under former
United States Senator George J. Mitchell that led to the
Belfast Agreement (also known as the
Good Friday Agreement on
account of the day on which it was signed). The party withdrew in
protest when
Sinn Féin, a
republican party with ties to the
Provisional Irish
Republican Army (IRA), was allowed to participate despite the
IRA retaining weapons. The DUP opposed the Agreement in the
referendum that followed its signing, and which saw the Agreement
approved reasonably comfortably nonetheless.
The DUP fought the resulting election to the
Northern Ireland Assembly and took
two seats in the multi-party power-sharing executive but while
serving as ministers refused to sit in at meetings of the Executive
Committee (cabinet) in protest at Sinn Féin's participation.
The
Executive ultimately collapsed over an alleged IRA espionage ring
at Stormont
. (See
Stormontgate).
In the delayed Northern Ireland Assembly election of 2003, the DUP
became the largest political party in the region, with 30 seats.
In 2004,
it became the largest Northern Ireland party at Westminster
, with the defection of Jeffrey Donaldson. On 12 December
2004, English MP
Andrew Hunter took the
DUP whip, giving the party seven seats, in comparison to the UUP's
five, Sinn Féin's four, and the SDLP's three.
In the
2005
general election, the party reinforced its position as the
largest unionist party, winning nine seats, making it the fourth
largest party in terms of seats in the British House of Commons
behind Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. In
terms of votes, the DUP is the fourth largest party on the island
of Ireland.
When this is compared to the Northern Ireland local government
elections (held on the same day as the
Westminster General Election
but under
proportional
representation), then the final figures would indicate that,
had the Westminster General Election been on a Proportional
Representation basis instead of the
First-past-the-post system, the DUP
would only have had six seats and the UUP and Sinn Féin four seats
each. The SDLP would still have its three seats but there would
have been another seat for an independent.
At the
Local
Government election of 2005, the DUP also emerged as the
largest party at Local Government level with 182 Councillors across
Northern Ireland's 26 District Councils.
The DUP currently has
a majority of the members on both Castlereagh
Borough Council
, which has long been a DUP stronghold and is home
to Party Leader Peter
Robinson, also in Ballymena Borough Council
, home to the party's founder Ian Paisley, and
finally Ards Borough
Council. As well as outright control on these councils,
the DUP is also the largest party in eight of the other Councils.
These are
Antrim Borough
Council
, Ballymoney Borough Council
, Banbridge
District Council, Belfast City Council
, Carrickfergus Borough Council,
Coleraine Borough Council,
Craigavon Borough
Counciland Newtownabbey Borough Council
Opposition to teaching evolution
In 2007, two DUP members raised the issue of
creationism and
intelligent design, questioning the
availability of materials and resources for schools wishing to
teach alternative theories to the
evolution. Additionally, one of these members, MP
David Simpson, asked
for assurances that students who gave creationist answers to
examination questions would not be marked lower for it. A spokesman
for the DUP confirmed that these views are consistent with party
policy.
Party leadership
Northern Ireland Executive Ministers
Party spokespersons - Westminster
| Responsibility |
Spokesperson |
| Party Leader |
Peter Robinson MP
MLA |
| Deputy Leader |
Nigel Dodds MP MLA |
| Defence, Culture, Media and Sport |
Gregory Campbell
MP MLA |
| Education and Skills, Housing |
Sammy Wilson MP MLA |
| Environment, Food and Rural Affairs |
William McCrea MP
MLA |
| Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Europe |
Ian Paisley MP MLA |
| Health, Youth and Women |
Iris Robinson MP MLA |
| Home Affairs, Justice |
Peter Robinson MP
MLA |
| Trade and Industry |
David Simpson MP
MLA |
| Transport, International Development |
Jeffrey Donaldson MP MLA |
| Treasury, Work and Pensions, Shadow Leader of the House |
Nigel Dodds MP MLA |
Party spokespersons - Assembly
| Responsibility |
Spokesperson |
| Party Leader |
Peter Robinson MP
MLA |
| Deputy Leader |
Nigel Dodds MP MLA |
| Agriculture and Rural Development |
William McCrea MP
MLA |
| Culture, Arts and Leisure |
Gregory Campbell
MLA |
| Education |
Mervyn Storey MLA |
| Employment and LearningTom Buchanon MLA |
|
| Enterprise, Trade and InvestmentPeter Weir MLA |
|
| EnvironmentAlastair Ross MLA |
|
| Finance and Personnel |
Ian Paisley Jnr MLA |
| Health, Social Services and Public Safety |
Iris Robinson MP MLA |
| Regional DevelopmentMichelle McIlveen |
|
| Social DevelopmentSimon Hamilton |
|
Belfast Agreement
The 1998
Belfast Agreement was
opposed by the Democratic Unionist Party. The opposition was based
on a number of reasons, including:
- The early release of political prisoners
- The mechanism to allow Sinn Féin
to hold Government office despite ongoing IRA activity.
- The lack of accountability of Ministers within the Executive.
- The lack of accountability of the North/South Ministerial
Council and all-Ireland Implementation Bodies.
The Belfast Agreement relied on the support of a majority of
unionists and a majority of nationalists in order for it to
operate. During the 2003 Assembly Election, the DUP argued for a
"fair deal" that could command the support of both unionists and
nationalists. After the results of this election the DUP argued
that support was no longer present within unionism for the Belfast
Agreement. They then went on to publish their proposals for
devolution in Northern Ireland entitled
Devolution
Now.
These proposals have been refined and re-stated in further policy
documents including
Moving on and
Facing
Reality.
The DUP has consistently held the view that any party which is
linked to a terrorist organisation should not be eligible to hold
Government office. The activities of the IRA and the other
paramilitary groups have been monitored by the
Independent Monitoring
Commission.
Elected representatives
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Members of the House of
Commons:
Members of the House of
Lords
:
Northern Ireland Assembly
Members of the
2007
Northern Ireland Assembly:
Recent developments
On 11
April 2006, it was announced that three DUP members were to be
elevated to the House of
Lords: Maurice Morrow,
Wallace Browne, the former Lord Mayor of Belfast, and Eileen Paisley, a vice-president of the DUP
and wife of DUP Leader Ian
Paisley. None, however, sit as DUP peers.
On 27 October 2006, the DUP issued a four page letter in the
Belfast Telegraph newspaper asking the question "Are the
terms of
Saint Andrew's a basis
of moving forward to devolution?", with responses to be received to
its party headquarters by the 8 November. It was part of the
party's overall direction of consultation with its electorate
before entering a power-sharing assembly.
On 24 November 2006, Ian Paisley refused to nominate himself as
First Minister of
Northern Ireland designate. There was confusion between all
parties whether he actually said that if Sinn Féin supported
policing and the rule of law that he would nominate himself on 28
March 2007 after the Assembly elections on 7 March 2007. The
Assembly meeting was brought to an abrupt end when they had to
evacuate because of a security breach. Ian Paisley later released a
statement through the press office stating that he did in fact
imply that if Sinn Féin supported policing and the rule of law, he
would go into power sharing with Sinn Féin. This was following a
statement issued by 12 DUP MLAs stating that what Ian Paisley had
said in the chamber could not be interpreted as a nomination.
The DUP has recently suggested that it would begin to impose fines
up to
£20,000 on members disobeying
the party whip on crucial votes.
On 24 March 2007 the DUP Party Executive overwhelmingly endorsed a
resolution put to them by the Party Officers which did not agree to
an establishment of devolution and an Executive in Northern Ireland
by the Government's deadline of 26 March, but did agree to setting
up an Executive on 8 May 2007.
On 27 March 2007, the party's sole Member of the European
Parliament (MEP)
Jim Allister, resigned
from the party, in opposition to the decision to enter powersharing
with
Sinn Féin, he will retain his
seat as an Independent MEP. MP
Gregory Campbell has warned on
6 April 2007 that his party will be watching to see if benefits
flow from the party's agreement to share power with
Sinn Féin.
On 7 May 2007 the East Antrim MLA George Dawson died after a short
battle against cancer. He was replaced by
Alastair Ross, who had previously worked as a
Parliamentary Researcher for the East Antrim MP and MLA Sammy
Wilson.
On 30 May 2008 the DUP held a farewell event to mark the retirement
of Ian Paisley as leader of the Party. It was held at the Balmoral
Hall, part of the Kings Hall complex in Belfast.
on 31 May
2008 the party's central Executive Committee met at the offices of
Castlereagh
Borough Council where Ian Paisley formally stepped down as Party
Leader and Peter Robinson was ratified as the new leader with Nigel
Dodds as his deputy.
On 11 June 2008 the party supported the government's proposal to
detain terror suspects for up to 42 days, dubbing all of the
party's nine MPs as part of "Brown's dirty dozen".
The Times reported that the party had been
given "sweetners for Northern Ireland" and "a peerage for the Rev
Ian Paisley", amongst other offers to secure
Gordon Brown's bill.
MPs' expenses row
Members of the DUP were lambasted by the press and voters, after
MPs' expenses reports were leaked to the media. Several newspapers
referred to the "Swish Family Robinson" after party leader
Peter Robinson, and his wife Iris, were to
have claimed £571,939.41 in expenses with a further £150,000 being
paid to family members. Further embarrassment was caused to the
party when its deputy leader, Nigel Dodds, had the highest expenses
claims of any Northern Ireland MP, ranking 13th highest out of all
UK MPs. Details of all MPs' expenses claims since 2004 will be
published in July 2009 under the
Freedom of Information Act
2000.
Leadership
Founder
Ian Paisley led the party from
its foundation in 1971 onwards, but was forced to bring forward his
retirement to the spring of 2008. He was replaced by former deputy
leader
Peter Robinson on
31 May 2008.
The DUP and homosexuality
The DUP has been described as an "anti-gay party" by
Pink News and as having a "near pathological
obsession with all things gay" by
The
Observer. In 1976, its leader Ian Paisley campaigned to
"
Save Ulster from Sodomy" by
maintaining the laws that defined anal intercourse and any sexual
contact between men as crimes. Later, some DUP MPs have spoken out
against homosexuality in different ways, while tending to avoid
outright calls to punish or discriminate against gay people.
In 2005, DUP Councillor Maurice Mills claimed that
Hurricane Katrina was sent by God to the
United States as an act of judgment upon those who practise
sodomy.
In the same year,
The Sunday
World reported that the DUP's then Westminster candidate
Paul Berry had allegedly met a male masseur in a Belfast hotel. Mr
Berry later confirmed he was "there for a sports massage". He later
resigned from the DUP.
In May 2007,
Ian Paisley, Jr. was
criticised for stating during an interview that he was "repulsed"
by homosexuals. In this instance, the DUP claim that there was no
suggestion of any form of discrimination in any of Mr Paisley Jr's
comments though the SDLP's equality spokeswoman,
Dolores Kelly, requested that the assembly
censure Mr Paisley. At the time he was a
Junior Minister in
OFMDFM
with responsibility for equality.
In February 2008, councillor
Edwin Poots
condemned gay
rugby team the
Ulster Titans calling it a form of "
apartheid".
The Lisburn
councillor had also tried
to ban Civil Partnerships from
taking place in Lisburn Civic Centre. Councillor Poots, who
is also a
Stormont
MLA,
was also involved in a row over funding events such as
Gay Pride. Despite strong opposition from within
his Church, his party were bound by equality legislation to provide
the funds.
In June 2008,
Iris Robinson made
controversial comments on the
Stephen
Nolan breakfast show on
Radio
Ulster, saying that "I have a very lovely psychiatrist who
works with me in my offices and his Christian background is that he
tries to help homosexuals - trying to turn away from what they are
engaged in". The psychiatrist in question, Dr Paul Millar, later
resigned from his post as advisor to Robinson and from his post as
consultant psychiatrist at Belfast's Mater Hospital. A few days
later in Westminster, Robinson stated that “There can be no viler
act, apart from homosexuality and sodomy, than sexually abusing
innocent children”. Robinson claimed she was "misrepresented",
however
Hansard staff reported this to be a
statement of fact.
In October 2008,
Peter
Robinson MP, the
First Minister of Northern
Ireland backed his wife's claims stating "It wasn't Iris
Robinson who determined that homosexuality was an abomination, it
was The Almighty. This is the Scriptures and it is a strange world
indeed where somebody on the one hand talks about equality, but
won’t allow Christians to have the equality, the right to speak,
the right to express their views".
By January 2009, the
Police Service of Northern
Ireland advised that it was forwarding a case against Mrs
Robinson to the
Public
Prosecution Service. It is alleged that she twice contravened
Article 9 of the
Public Order Act
1987 by using threatening, abusive or insulting words which have
the likelihood to stir up hatred and arouse fear.
See also
Footnotes
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8089501.stm
- http://quis.qub.ac.uk/dua
- http://ulsterdup.org
- BBC NEWS | UK | Northern Ireland | New unionist
group to be launched
- Beyond the Sectarian Divide: the Social Bases and Political
Consequences of Nationalist and Unionist Party Competition in
Northern Ireland by Geoffrey Evans and Mary Duffy. In
British Journal of Political Science, Vol. 27, No. 1.
(Jan., 1997), p.58
- http://www.dup.org.uk/articles.asp?ArticleNewsID=752
- http://www.dup.org.uk/articles.asp?ArticleNewsID=741
- http://www.dup.org.uk/IrisRobinson.asp
-
http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/politics/docs/dup/dup050204text.htm
- http://www.dup.org.uk/pdf/DUPMovingOn05.pdf
- http://www.dup.org.uk/pdf/DUPFacingReality.pdf
- BBC NEWS | Northern Ireland | Paisley 'will accept
nomination'
- Sunday Times, page 1.10, 4 February 2007
-
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/twelve-good-folk-and-true-or-browns-dirty-dozen-847334.html
-
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4116811.ece
-
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1167726/MP-couple-taking-570-000-taxpayer-salaries-expenses.html
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7976508.stm
-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/uk_politics/vote_2005/northern_ireland/4509109.stm
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4702410.stm
- BBC NEWS | Northern Ireland | Row over 'repulsive gays'
comment
- http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-6919.html
- http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-6900.html
-
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/extra-funding-for-gay-pride-from-a-dup-ministry-13438338.html
- BBC NEWS | Northern Ireland | 'Gay counselling' call
rejected
- http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-8684.html
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7517500.stm
-
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/first-minister-peter-robinson-backs-wifes-view-that-gays-are-an-abomination-14023693.html
- http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1987/Uksi_19870463_en_1.htm
- http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-10609.html
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