Ulster loyalism is a strand of 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".Ignatieff, Michael. Blood and Belonging: Journeys into the New Nationalism. Vintage, 1994. p. 184.John McGarry and Brendan O'Leary. Explaining Northern Ireland. Wiley, 1995. pp. 92–93. 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. 56–58Cochrane Feargal. Unionist Politics and the Politics of Unionism Since the Anglo-Irish Agreement. Cork University Press, 1997. p. 67 They see themselves as loyal primarily to the Protestant British monarchy rather than to British governments and institutions,Alison, Miranda. Women and Political Violence. Routledge, 2009. p. 67. while Garret FitzGerald argued they are loyal to 'Ulster' over 'the Union'.Cochrane, Feargal. Unionist Politics and the Politics of Unionism since the Anglo-Irish Agreement. Cork University Press, 2001. p. 39. A small minority of loyalists have called for an independent Ulster Protestant state, believing they cannot rely on British governments to support them (see Ulster nationalism). The term 'loyalism' is usually associated with paramilitarism.Bruce, Steve. The Red Hand: Protestant Paramilitaries in Northern Ireland. Oxford University Press, 1992. p. 15.Glossary of terms on the Northern Ireland conflict . Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN)
Ulster loyalism emerged in the late 19th century, in reaction to the Irish Home Rule movement and the rise of Irish nationalism. Ireland had a Catholic majority who wanted self-government, but the province of Ulster had a Protestant and unionist majority, largely due to the Plantation of Ulster.Gillespie, R. (2019). The 'Mere Irish' and the Colonisation of Ulster, 1570–1641. Irish Economic and Social History, 46(1), pp. 172–174. Although not all unionists were Protestant, loyalists emphasised their British Protestant heritage. During the Home Rule Crisis (1912–14), loyalists founded the paramilitary Ulster Volunteers to prevent Ulster from becoming part of a self-governing Ireland. This was followed by the Irish War of Independence (1919–21) and partition of Ireland: most of Ireland became an independent state, while most of Ulster remained within the UK as the self-governing territory of Northern Ireland. During partition, communal violence raged between loyalists and Irish nationalists in Belfast, and loyalists attacked the Catholic minority in retaliation for Irish republican activity.
Northern Ireland's unionist governments discriminated against Catholics and Irish nationalists. Loyalists opposed the Catholic civil rights movement, accusing it of being a republican front. This unrest led to the Troubles (1969–98). During the conflict, loyalist paramilitaries such as the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and Ulster Defence Association (UDA) often attacked Catholics, partly in retaliation for republican paramilitary actions. Loyalists undertook major protest campaigns against the 1973 Sunningdale Agreement and 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement. The paramilitaries called ceasefires in 1994 and their representatives were involved in negotiating the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. Since then, loyalists have been involved in protests against perceived threats to their cultural identity. Sections of the loyalist paramilitaries have attacked Catholics, taken part in loyalist feuds, and withdrawn support for the Agreement, although their campaigns have not resumed.
In Northern Ireland there is a tradition of loyalist Protestant marching bands, who hold numerous parades each year. The yearly Eleventh Night (11 July) bonfires and The Twelfth (12 July) parades are associated with loyalism.
History The term loyalist was first used in Irish politics in the 1790s to refer to Protestants who opposed Catholic Emancipation and Irish independence from Great Britain.
Ulster loyalism emerged in the late 19th century, in response to the Irish Home Rule movement and the rise of Irish nationalism. At the time, all of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom. Although the island had a Catholic majority who wanted self-government, the northern province of Ulster had a Protestant majority who wanted to maintain a close union with Britain, a political tradition called Unionism. This was largely due to the Plantation of the province. Eastern Ulster was also more industrialised and dependent on trade with Britain than most other parts of Ireland. Although not all Unionists were Protestant or from Ulster, loyalism emphasised Ulster Protestant heritage. It began as a self-determination movement of Ulster Protestants who did not want to become part of a self-governing Ireland, believing it would be dominated by Catholic Irish nationalists.
Home Rule crisis and Partition
The British government's introduction of the Third Home Rule Bill in 1912 sparked the Home Rule Crisis. Ulster unionists signed the Ulster Covenant, pledging to oppose Irish home rule by any means. They founded a large paramilitary force, the Ulster Volunteers, threatening to violently resist the authority of any Irish government over Ulster. The Ulster Volunteers smuggled thousands of rifles and rounds of ammunition into Ulster from Imperial Germany. In response, Irish nationalists founded the Irish Volunteers to ensure home rule was implemented. Home rule was postponed by the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. Both loyalists and nationalists fought in the war, with many Ulster Volunteers joining the 36th (Ulster) Division.
By the end of the war, most Irish nationalists wanted full independence. After winning most Irish seats in the 1918 general election, Irish republicans declared an Irish Republic, leading to the Irish War of Independence between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and British forces. Meanwhile, the Fourth Home Rule Bill passed through the British parliament in 1920. It would partition Ireland into two self-governing polities within the UK: a Protestant-majority Northern Ireland, and a Catholic-majority Southern Ireland. During 1920–22, in what became Northern Ireland, partition was accompanied by violence both in defence of and against partition. Belfast saw "savage and unprecedented" communal violence, mainly between Protestant loyalist and Catholic nationalist civilians.Lynch, Robert. The Partition of Ireland: 1918–1925. Cambridge University Press, 2019. pp. 11, 100–101 Loyalists attacked the Catholic minority in reprisal for IRA actions. Thousands of Catholics and "disloyal" Protestants were driven from their jobs, particularly in the shipyards, and there were mass burnings of Catholic homes and businesses in Lisburn and Banbridge.Lynch (2019), pp. 90–92 More than 500 were killed in Northern Ireland during partitionLynch (2019), p. 99 and more than 10,000 became refugees, most of them Catholics.Lynch (2019), pp. 171–176 See: The Troubles in Ulster (1920–1922).
In 1926, about 33–34% of the Northern Ireland population was Roman Catholic, with 62% belonging to the three major Protestant denominations (Presbyterian 31%, Church of Ireland 27%, Methodist 4%).
The Troubles
The Unionist governments of Northern Ireland discriminated against the Irish nationalist and Catholic minority. A non-violent campaign to end discrimination began in the late 1960s. This civil rights campaign was opposed by loyalists, who accused it of being a republican front.Maney, Gregory. "The Paradox of Reform: The Civil Rights Movement in Northern Ireland", in Nonviolent Conflict and Civil Resistance. Emerald Group Publishing, 2012. p. 15 Loyalist opposition was led primarily by Ian Paisley, a Protestant fundamentalist preacher. They held counter-protests, attacked civil rights marches, and put pressure on moderate unionists. Loyalist militants carried out false flag bombings that were blamed on republicans and civil rights activists.Jim Cusack & Henry McDonald. UVF. Poolbeg, 1997. p. 28 This unrest led to the August 1969 riots. Irish nationalists/republicans clashed with both police and with loyalists, who burned hundreds of Catholic homes and businesses.Coogan, Tim Pat. The Troubles: Ireland's Ordeal and the Search for Peace. Palgrave Macmillan, 2002. p. 106 The riots led to the deployment of British troops and are often seen as the beginning of the Troubles.
The beginning of the Troubles saw a revival of loyalist paramilitaries, notably the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and Ulster Defence Association (UDA). Their stated goals were to defend Protestant areas, to fight those they saw as "enemies of Ulster" (namely republicans),Tonge, Jonathan. Northern Ireland. Polity Press, 2006. pp. 153, 156–158 and thwart any step towards Irish unification. The Provisional Irish Republican Army waged a paramilitary campaign to force a British withdrawal from Northern Ireland. Loyalist paramilitaries attacked the Catholic community as alleged retaliation for IRA actions, and the vast majority of their victims were random Catholic civilians.Troubled Geographies: A Spatial History of Religion and Society in Ireland. Indiana University Press, 2013. p. 185 During the Troubles there were incidents where British security forces colluded with loyalist paramilitaries,"Loyalist paramilitaries admit collusion with army and RUC" . The Irish Times, 6 March 1999. such as the attacks by the Glenanne group.
Signed in 1973, the Sunningdale Agreement sought to end the conflict by establishing power-sharing government between unionists and Irish nationalists, and ensuring greater co-operation with the Republic of Ireland. In protest, loyalists organised the Ulster Workers' Council strike in May 1974. It was enforced by loyalist paramilitaries and brought large parts of Northern Ireland to a standstill. During the strike, loyalists detonated a series of car bombs in Dublin and Monaghan, in the Republic. This killed 34 civilians, making it the deadliest attack of the Troubles. The strike brought down the agreement and power-sharing government."Sunningdale and the 1974 Ulster Workers” Council strike" . History Ireland, Volume 15, Issue 3 (May/June 2007).
Loyalists were involved in the major protest campaign against the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement. They saw it as a breach of sovereignty, because it gave the Republic an advisory role in some Northern Ireland affairs. The many street protests led to loyalist clashes with the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), whom loyalists accused of enforcing the Agreement and betraying the Protestant community. This caused a rift between loyalists and the police, and there were numerous loyalist attacks on police officers' homes during the protests.Weitzer, Ronald. Policing Under Fire. State University of New York Press, 1995. p. 115
From the late 1980s, there was a rise in loyalist paramilitary violence, partly due to anger over the Anglo-Irish Agreement.Richard English & Charles Townshend (editors). The State: Historical and Political Dimensions. Routledge, 2012. p. 194 It also resulted from loyalist groups being re-armed with weapons smuggled from South Africa, overseen by British Intelligence agent Brian Nelson.Jeffrey Sluka (editor). Death Squad: The Anthropology of State Terror. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010. p. 139 From 1992 to 1994, loyalists carried out more killings than republicans. The deadliest attacks during this period were the Greysteel massacre by the UDA and Loughinisland massacre by the UVF.