The Third Force was the name given to a number of attempts by

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

politician Ian Paisley, then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), to create an

Ulster loyalist Ulster loyalism is a strand of Ulster unionism associated with working class Ulster Protestants in Northern Ireland. Like other unionists, loyalists support the continued existence of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom, and oppose a u ...

'defensive militia'. The best known example was the Third Force rallies on 1 April 1981. At a number of these rallies, large groups of men displayed what purported to be firearms certificates. Rallies were held on hillsides near

Gortin Gortin () is a village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is ten miles (16 km) north of Omagh in the valley of the Owenkillew river, overlooked by the Sperrins. It had a population of 360 at the 2001 Census. History ...

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Armagh, Armagh and County Down, Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry ...

, and Armagh. On 3 December 1981, Paisley said that the Third Force had between 15,000 and 20,000 members.CAIN Web Service
- Abstracts on Organisations - 'T' At Gortin the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) were attacked and two vehicles overturned. The group was established by Paisley as a complement to the security forces (Paisley had previously been associated with the

Ulster Protestant Volunteers The Ulster Protestant Volunteers was a loyalist and Reformed fundamentalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. They were active between 1966 and 1969 and closely linked to the Ulster Constitution Defence Committee (UCDC) and Ulster Voluntee ...

loyalist paramilitary group). It grew from opposition to the increasing pace of co-operation between the governments of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

, as well as in response to the murder of Robert Bradford. The group largely disappeared with the emergence of

Ulster Resistance Ulster Resistance (UR), or the Ulster Resistance Movement (URM), is an Ulster loyalism, Ulster loyalist Ulster loyalism#Paramilitary and vigilante groups, paramilitary movement established by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in Northern Irela ...

. In May 1987, in revenge for the killing of former UDR soldier Charles Watson, a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officer who had just attended Watson's wake fired several shots into a restaurant in Castlewellan, County Down, with a Third Force armband on his person.''Irish Independent'', 26 May 1987

References

* Paul Arthur & Keith Jeffrey, ''Northern Ireland Since 1968'', Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1996

External links

third Force at Time Magazine
History of Northern Ireland Paramilitary organisations based in Northern Ireland Political violence in the United Kingdom Ulster loyalist militant groups {{paramilitary-org-stub