The Ulster Third Way was the
Northern Ireland branch of the
Third Way and was organised by
David Kerr, who had previously campaigned as an 'independent
Unionist' (chairing the small North Belfast Independent Unionist Association) as well as for the
British National Front. It followed an
Ulster nationalist
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 s ...
ideology.
Policies
As well as sharing the Third Way's aims U3W (as it is sometimes shortened to) was committed to securing
independence for Northern Ireland from both the
United Kingdom and
Ireland. U3W tended to focus its attentions on trying to build up grass-roots support in
loyalist
Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...
areas, emphasising
Ulster-Scots Ulster Scots, may refer to:
* Ulster Scots people
The Ulster Scots ( Ulster-Scots: ''Ulstèr-Scotch''; ga, Albanaigh Ultach), also called Ulster Scots people (''Ulstèr-Scotch fowk'') or (in North America) Scotch-Irish (''Scotch-Airisch'') ...
and the
Battle of the Boyne commemorations and has its main office in the
Shankill area of
Belfast. It advocated the creation of an "all-Northern Ireland" identity as a basis for independence and as a solution to
the Troubles. During the 1990s it also advocated Protestants learning the
Irish language
Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...
. Despite concentrating its efforts on the Protestant community U3W remained a very minor force in Northern Irish politics.
The group published a journal ''Ulster Nation'', as well as irregular books and pamphlets about Ulster nationalism. The group compared its aims with those of
Neo-Confederate in the
Southern United States and declared its support for the re-establishment of the
Confederate States of America. However, in an interview conducted for
Cornell University in 2003 Kerr confirmed that, despite the group taking this position, U3W had established no formal links with any Neo-Confederate groups.
Elections
The party largely confined its activities to
the Belfast West constituency, campaigning only there in the
2001 general election (with Kerr winning 116 votes for a 0.3% share).
[West Belfast elections](_blank)
/ref> As well as in the west of Belfast U3W also offered candidates in north Belfast in the 2001 local elections. The unsuccessful 2001 campaign was conducted entirely online by the party. Kerr represented the party in West Belfast again in the 2003 assembly election.
Deregistration
The party deregistered on 8 December 2005. The name "National Liberal Party Ulster Third Way" was registered by the UK's National Liberal Party,[Registration Search on Electoral Commission website, accessed 13 May 2014.] a group closely linked to Third Way.
References
External links
Ulster Nation webpage
{{Defunct political parties in Northern Ireland
Defunct political parties in Northern Ireland
Ulster nationalist parties
Eurosceptic parties in the United Kingdom
Third Position