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 Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, (6 April 1926 – 12 September 2014) was a Northern Irish loyalist politician and Protestant religious leader who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 1971 to 2008 and Firs ...

, then leader of the

Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by ...

(DUP), to create an Ulster loyalist '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,

Newry Newry (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Clanrye river in counties Armagh and Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry was founded in 1144 alongside a Cistercian monastery, although ...

, and

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

. 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 Roy ...

(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 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. In May 1987, in revenge for the killing of former UDR soldier Charles Watson, a

(RUC) officer who had just attended Watson's

wake Wake or The Wake may refer to: Culture *Wake (ceremony), a ritual which takes place during some funeral ceremonies *Wakes week, an English holiday tradition * Parish Wake, another name of the Welsh ', the fairs held on the local parish's patron s ...

fired several shots into a restaurant in

Castlewellan, County Down Castlewellan () is a small town in County Down, in the south-east of Northern Ireland close to the Irish Sea. It is beside Castlewellan Lake and Slievenaslat mountain, southwest of Downpatrick. It lies between the Mourne Mountains and Slieve C ...

, 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