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

Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...

politician

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 ...

, then leader of the

Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist, Ulster loyalism, loyalist, British nationalist and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who ...

(DUP), to create an

Ulster loyalist 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 I ...

'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 were purported to be firearms certificates. Rallies were held on hillsides near Gortin,

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, standing on the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Down, Down and County Armagh, Armagh. It is near Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, the border with the ...

, and

Armagh Armagh ( ; , , " Macha's height") is a city and the county town of County Armagh, in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Primates of All ...

. 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 The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the ...

(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 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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

, as well as in response to the murder of Robert Bradford. The group largely disappeared with the emergence of Ulster Resistance. In May 1987, in revenge for the killing of former UDR soldier Charles Watson, a

(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

Sources

* Paul Arthur & Keith Jeffery, ''Northern Ireland Since 1968'', Oxford:

Blackwell Publishers Wiley-Blackwell is an international scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons. It was formed by the merger of John Wiley & Sons Global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business with Blackwell Publish ...

, 1996

External links

Third Force at ''Time'' magazine
Political history of Northern Ireland Paramilitary organisations based in Northern Ireland Political violence in the United Kingdom Ulster loyalist militant groups Third Position {{paramilitary-org-stub