Northern Ireland Unionist Party
The
Northern Ireland Unionist Party (
NIUP) is a small
political party operating in
Northern Ireland. The NIUP was formed in
January 1999 as a splinter party from the
UK Unionist Party (UKUP). This split was caused by disagreement between the five UKUP members of the
Northern Ireland Assembly. Four of the members diagreed with UKUP leader
Robert McCartney's policy of resigning from the Assembly should
Sinn Féin become part of the power sharing executive. The four other assembly members, Cedric Wilson, Patrick Roche, Norman Boyd and Roger Hutchinson disagreed with McCartney, wanting to remain in the Assembly to challenge unionists in favour of the
Belfast Agreement. McCartney disciplined these members in their absence, and in response they left the UKUP and formed the NIUP. The NIUP, led by Wilson, argued that they had the support of the grass-roots membership of the UKUP, but McCartney disputed this.
Subsequently Hutchinson left the NIUP on 30th November 1999, sitting as an independent Unionist for a period before joining the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). He then left the DUP and unsuccessfully contested the Northern Ireland Assembly Election, 2003 as an independent Unionist.
The NIUP opposes the Belfast Agreement and opposed the reformation of the Royal Ulster Constabulary to the Police Service Northern Ireland. They describe their position as "principled unionism".
In the Northern Ireland Assembly Election, 2003 the NIUP won no seats at all.
External Link
- NIUP Website