Uniting UK is a unionist campaign in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, campaigning for a more united Northern Ireland in a more united UK.

Background

The campaign was founded in 2020 by Philip Smith and John Hanna. The campaign launched in December 2020. In February 2024,

Trevor Ringland Trevor Maxwell Ringland, (born 13 November 1959) is a Northern Irish solicitor, former rugby union player and unionist politician. From June 2013 to July 2014, he served as co-chairman of the NI Conservatives. After attending Larne Grammar Sch ...

joined the campaign team.

Campaigning

The campaign has been the subject of a

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

programme, taken part in a debate hosted by

Féile an Phobail Féile an Phobail (''The Community's Festival''), also known as the West Belfast Festival is a community arts organisation known for its ''August Féile'' (Festival). The organisation is prominent for its promotion of Irish and international cu ...

, presented at conferences, ran

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meetings, and contributed to newspaper articles from Japan's

Chunichi Shimbun The is a Japanese daily "broadsheet" newspaper published in mostly Aichi Prefecture and neighboring regions by Based in Nagoya, one of the three major Japanese metropolitan areas, it boasts the third highest circulation after the group newspa ...

to the UK's

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

. Media outlets continue to seek the campaign's perspective as a counterpoint to that of the

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

and

separatist Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, regional, governmental, or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seekin ...

campaign

Ireland's Future Ireland's Future is a civic nationalist Ireland, Irish non-profit company formed in 2017 to campaign for new constitutional arrangements on the island of Ireland. History As part of its campaigning, Ireland's Future wrote a series of open let ...

. Writing in the

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

Emma DeSouza Emma DeSouza is an Irish writer, political commentator, and campaigner. Family reunion law case DeSouza took forward a lengthy court challenge against the British Home Secretary over her right under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement to be a ...

assessed the campaign's approach:

"The pro-union group makes the case for Northern Ireland as an integral component of the United Kingdom and does so with slick graphics and refreshing honesty. Unafraid to acknowledge the failures associated with unionism, and with a clear aim of appealing to the growing middle ground, the fledgling group is effective in its efforts, and a welcome addition to Northern Ireland’s political landscape."

The group have two active programmes. The Young Leaders programme is for young people in Northern Ireland and the Beldon Fellowship is for young professionals from Northern Ireland who work in national roles across the UK. In January 2024, the campaign published their 2024-29 corporate strategy.

Policy

The campaign holds that Northern Ireland is economically, socially, and politically better off in the UK. Uniting UK seek to celebrate the diversity of Northern Ireland and the diversity of the United Kingdom. Since 12 July 2024, the campaign have been calling for "unionist realignment".

Impact

The campaign was the first to use the "a Union of people" slogan, which the

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded as the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it l ...

later used as a slogan under the leadership of

Doug Beattie Douglas Ricardo Beattie (born 13 October 1965) is a Northern Irish politician and former member of the British Army, who was leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) between 27 May 2021 and 28 September 2024. He has been a Member of the North ...

and

Mike Nesbitt Michael Nesbitt, Member of the Legislative Assembly (Northern Ireland), MLA (born 11 May 1957) is a Northern Irish politician and former broadcaster

. The campaign launched a consultation called Vision2031 on 3 May 2021, the 100th anniversary of the creation of Northern Ireland. The campaign's research from the consultation was featured in the

News Letter The ''News Letter'' is one of Northern Ireland's main daily newspapers, published from Monday to Saturday. It is the world's oldest English-language general daily newspaper still in publication, having first been printed in September 1737. The ...

References

{{reflist Unionism in Ireland Political campaigns