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Ulster Workers' Council
The Ulster Workers' Council was a loyalist workers' organisation set up in Northern Ireland in 1974 as a more formalised successor to the Loyalist Association of Workers (LAW). It was formed by shipyard union leader Harry Murray and initially failed to gain much attention. However, with the full support of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) the UWC became the main mobilising force for loyalist opposition to power-sharing arrangements. Formation The group had been mooted in late 1973 when Harry Murray, a shop steward at Harland & Wolff, and other loyalist trade unionists had met at the Hawthornden Road headquarters of the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party (VPUP) to discuss setting up a more formal version of the LAW The formation of the group was announced in the April 1974 edition of ''Ulster Loyalist'', a publication of the UDA, with the announcement promising that workers would be central to the political future of Northern Ireland and that these workers were preparing to m ...
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Ulster Loyalism
Ulster loyalism is a strand of Unionism in Ireland, Ulster unionism associated with working class Ulster Protestants in Northern Ireland. Like other unionists, loyalists support the continued existence of Northern Ireland (and formerly all of Ireland) within the United Kingdom, and oppose a united Ireland independent of the UK. Unlike other strands of unionism, loyalism has been described as an ethnic nationalism of Ulster Protestants and "a variation of British nationalism". Loyalists are often said to have a conditional loyalty to the British state so long as it defends their interests.Smithey, Lee. ''Unionists, Loyalists, and Conflict Transformation in Northern Ireland''. Oxford University Press, 2011. pp. 56–58 They see themselves as loyal primarily to the Protestant Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarchy rather than to British governments and institutions, while Garret FitzGerald argued they are loyal to 'Ulster' over 'the Union'. A small minority of loyalists ha ...
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Secretary Of State For Northern Ireland
The secretary of state for Northern Ireland (; ), also referred to as Northern Ireland Secretary or SoSNI, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the Northern Ireland Office. The officeholder is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The incumbent secretary of state for Northern Ireland is Hilary Benn. The officeholder works alongside the other Northern Ireland Office ministers. The corresponding shadow minister is the shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland. History Historically, the principal ministers for Irish (and subsequently Northern Ireland) affairs in the UK Government and its predecessors were: * the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland ( 1171–1922); * the Chief Secretary for Ireland (1560–1922); and * the Home Secretary (1922–1972). In August 1969, for example, Home Secretary James Callaghan approved the sending of British Army soldiers to Northern Ireland. Scotland and Wales were represente ...
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Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reunification and bring about an independent republic encompassing all of Ireland. It was the most active republican paramilitary group during the Troubles. It argued that the all-island Irish Republic continued to exist, and it saw itself as that state's army, the sole legitimate successor to the original IRA from the Irish War of Independence. It was List of designated terrorist groups, designated a terrorist organisation in the United Kingdom and an unlawful organisation in the Republic of Ireland, both of whose authority it rejected. The Provisional IRA emerged in December 1969, due to a split within Irish Republican Army (1922–1969), the previous incarnation of the IRA and the broader Irish republican movement. It ...
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Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention (NICC) was an elected body set up in 1975 by the United Kingdom Labour Party (UK), Labour government of Harold Wilson as an attempt to deal with constitutional issues surrounding the status of Northern Ireland. Formation of the Constitutional Convention The idea for a constitutional convention was first mooted by the Northern Ireland Office in its white paper ''The Northern Ireland Constitution'', published on 4 July 1974. The paper laid out plans for elections to a body which would seek agreement on a political settlement for Northern Ireland. The proposals became law with the enactment of the Northern Ireland Act 1974 later that month. With Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, Lord Chief Justice Robert Lowry, Baron Lowry, Robert Lowry appointed to chair the new body, elections were announced for 1 May 1975. The elections were held for the 78-member body using the single transferable vote system of proportional representatio ...
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Volunteer Political Party
The Volunteer Political Party (VPP) was a loyalist political party launched in Northern Ireland on 22 June 1974 by members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). The Chairman was Ken Gibson from East Belfast, an ex-internee and UVF chief of staff at the time.Coogan, p. 209 The success of the Ulster Workers Council Strike had shown some UVF leaders the political power they held and they sought to develop this potential further. The UVF had been banned by the Government of Northern Ireland in 1966, but was legalised at the same time as Sinn Féin by Labour Secretary of State Merlyn Rees in April 1974 to encourage a political path for Loyalist and republican paramilitary groups. It launched its manifesto "The Volunteer Political Party - a progressive and forward thinking unionist party" at a press conference on 27 September. Influenced by the thinking of the Northern Ireland Labour Party, it opposed internment without trial and the idea of independence for Northern Ireland and ...
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Harry West
Henry William West (27 March 1917 – 5 February 2004) was a Northern Irish unionist politician who served as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 1974 until 1979. Career to Stormont West was born in County Fermanagh and educated at Portora Royal School in Enniskillen. He worked as a farmer, taking an interest in local government, but it was not until 1954 that he entered Stormont as member for the Enniskillen seat, succeeding Thomas Nelson. In 1960 he was appointed Minister of Agriculture in the government of Lord Brookeborough, which he was to retain under the leadership of Terence O'Neill. He became one of a number of Stormont MPs critical of O'Neill's conciliatory approach towards Nationalists and in 1969 he had the whip withdrawn, along with William Craig. In 1971 the whip was restored under the new Ulster Unionist leader and Prime Minister of Northern Ireland Brian Faulkner. West became Minister of Agriculture once more and retained that position until th ...
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Ulster Nationalism
Ulster nationalism is a minor school of thought in the politics of Northern Ireland that seeks the independence of Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom without joining the Republic of Ireland, thereby becoming an independent sovereign state separate from both. Independence has been supported by groups such as Ulster Third Way and some factions of the Ulster Defence Association. However, it is a fringe view in Northern Ireland. It is neither supported by any of the political parties represented in the Northern Ireland Assembly nor by the government of the United Kingdom or the government of the Republic of Ireland. Although the term Ulster traditionally refers to one of the four traditional provinces of Ireland which contains Northern Ireland as well as parts of the Republic of Ireland, the term is often used within unionism and Ulster loyalism (from which Ulster nationalism originated) to refer to Northern Ireland. History Craig in 1921 In November 1921, during ne ...
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John Taylor, Baron Kilclooney
John David Taylor, Baron Kilclooney, PC (NI) (born 24 December 1937), is a Northern Irish unionist politician who was deputy leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 1995 to 2001, and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Strangford from 1983 to 2001. Lord Kilclooney has sat as a crossbench life peer in the House of Lords since 2001. He was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Strangford from 1998 to 2007. Kilclooney also served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Northern Ireland from 1979 to 1989. Early life John Taylor was born in Armagh in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. He was educated at The Royal School, Armagh, and Queen's University Belfast, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree. Political career Taylor's political career began as MP for South Tyrone in the Northern Ireland House of Commons between 1970 and 1972, and he served in the Government of Northern Ireland as Minister of State at the Ministry of Ho ...
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Ian Paisley
Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, (6 April 1926 – 12 September 2014) was a loyalist politician and Protestant religious leader from Northern Ireland who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 1971 to 2008 and First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2007 to 2008. Paisley became a Protestant evangelical minister in 1946 and remained one for the rest of his life. In 1951 he co-founded the Reformed fundamentalist Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster and was its leader until 2008. Paisley became known for his fiery sermons and regularly preached anti-Catholicism, anti-ecumenism and against homosexuality. He gained a large group of followers who were referred to as Paisleyites. Paisley became involved in Ulster unionist/loyalist politics in the late 1950s. In the mid-late 1960s he led and instigated loyalist opposition to the Catholic civil rights movement in Northern Ireland. This contributed to the outbreak of the Troubles in the late 1960s, ...
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Ernest Baird
Ernest Baird (1930 – September 2003) was a Northern Irish pharmacist and unionist politician. Background Early life Baird was born in County Donegal in the Irish Free State but moved with his family to Belfast at an early age. Career A pharmacist and political unionist, Baird became the deputy leader of the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party. He was elected at the 1973 Northern Ireland Assembly election for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, and won a seat in the same constituency on the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention. When William Craig, the leader of Vanguard, proposed forming a coalition government with the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party, Baird led the majority of Vanguard in leaving to form the United Ulster Unionist Movement. Baird became the leader of the new grouping, which initially pursued a policy of uniting all unionist groups to form a new party. When this proved impossible, it instead constituted itself as the United Ulster Unionist Pa ...
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Short Brothers
Short Brothers plc, usually referred to as Shorts or Short, is an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aeroplanes. It was particularly notable for its flying boat designs manufactured into the 1950s. In 1943, Shorts was Nationalization, nationalised and later denationalised, and in 1948 moved from its main base at Rochester, Kent to Belfast. In the 1960s, Shorts mainly produced turboprop airliners, major components for aerospace primary manufacturers, and missiles for the British Armed Forces. Shorts was primarily HM Government, government-owned until being bought by Bombardier Inc., Bombardier in 1989 and, in 2007, was the largest manufacturing concern in Northern Ireland. In November 2020, Bombardier sold its Belfast operations to Spirit AeroSystems. The company's products include aircraft components, engine nacelles and aircraft flight control systems for Bomba ...
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Portrush
Portrush () is a small seaside resort town on the north coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It neighbours the resort of Portstewart in County Londonderry. The main part of the old town, including the Portrush railway station, railway station as well as most hotels, restaurants and bars, is built on a –long peninsula, Ramore Head. It had a population of 6,150 people at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. The town is well known for its three sandy beaches, the West Strand, East Strand and White Rocks, as well as the Royal Portrush Golf Club, the only golf club outside Great Britain which has hosted The Open Championship – in 1951 Open Championship, 1951 and 2019 Open Championship, 2019, and it returns on July 2025. History A number of flint tools found during the late 19th century show that the site of Portrush was occupied during the "Larnian" (late Irish Mesolithic) period; recent estimates date this to around 4000 BC. The site of Portrush, with its excelle ...
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