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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'.Fergal Cochrane. 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 Paramilitary.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 Irish 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 , 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.
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 Irish 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.
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
In 1926, about 33–34% of the Northern Ireland population was Catholic Church, with 62% belonging to the three major Protestant denominations (Presbyterian 31%, Church of Ireland 27%, Methodist 4%).
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 United Ireland. 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 gang.
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.
The main loyalist paramilitary groups called a ceasefire in 1994, shortly after the Provisional IRA's ceasefire and beginning of the Northern Ireland peace process. This ceasefire came under strain during the Drumcree dispute of the mid-to-late 1990s. The Protestant Orange Order was blocked from marching its traditional route through the Catholic part of Portadown. Catholic residents held mass protests against the yearly march, seeing it as triumphalist and Supremacism, forcing police to halt the march.Kockel, Ullrich. Re-Visioning Europe:Frontiers, Place Identities and Journeys in Debatable Lands. Springer Publishing, 2020. pp. 16–20 Loyalists saw this as an assault on Ulster Protestant traditions, and held violent protests throughout Northern Ireland. In Portadown, thousands of loyalists attacked lines of police and soldiers guarding the Catholic district. A new UVF splinter group, the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), attacked Catholics over a two-year period before calling a ceasefire.
Since the Agreement, loyalist paramilitaries have been involved in riots, Loyalist feud, organised crime, vigilantism such as punishment shootings, and racist attacks. "The complex rise in Northern Ireland racist hate crime" . BBC News, 11 September 2014.Chrisafis, Angelique. "Racist war of the loyalist street gangs" . The Guardian, 10 January 2004. Some UDA and LVF brigades broke the ceasefire and attacked Catholics under the name Red Hand Defenders, but the paramilitary campaigns did not resume.
The 2001 Holy Cross protests drew world-wide condemnation as loyalists were shown hurling abuse and missiles, some explosive, others containing excrement, at very young Catholic schoolchildren and parents. Loyalist residents picketed the school in protest at alleged sectarianism from Catholics in the area. Many other loyalist protests and riots have been sparked by restrictions on Orange walk, such as the 2005 Whiterock riots. The widespread loyalist flag protests and riots of 2012–13 followed Belfast City Council voting to limit the flying of the Union Flag from council buildings. Loyalists saw it as an "attack on their cultural identity". Q&A: Northern Ireland flag protests BBC News, 8 December 2012
The Loyalist Communities Council was launched in 2015 with the backing of the UVF and UDA. It seeks to reverse what it sees as political and economic neglect of working-class loyalists since the Good Friday Agreement. "Loyalists 'left behind' since Good Friday Agreement" . BBC News, 13 October 2015. In 2021, it withdrew its support for the Agreement, due to the creation of a trade border between Northern Ireland and Britain as a result of Brexit. The fall-out over this partly fuelled loyalist rioting that Spring.
During the Troubles, their stated goals were to combat Irish republicanism – particularly the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) – and to defend Protestant loyalist areas.Doherty, Barry. Northern Ireland since c.1960. Heinemann, 2001. p15 However, the vast majority of their victims were Irish Catholic civilians, who were often killed at random in sectarianism attacks. Whenever they claimed responsibility for attacks, loyalists usually claimed that those targeted were IRA members or were helping the IRA.Kentucky New Era, 14 April 1992 M.L.R. Smith wrote that "From the outset, the loyalist paramilitaries tended to regard all Catholics as potential rebels".Smith, M.L.R. Fighting for Ireland?. Psychology Press, 1997. p. 118 Other times, attacks on Catholic civilians were claimed as "retaliation" for IRA actions, since the IRA drew most of its support from the Catholic community.Tonge, Jonathan. Northern Ireland. Polity, 2006. p. 157 Such retaliation was seen as both collective punishment and an attempt to weaken the IRA's support; some loyalists argued that terrorising the Catholic community and inflicting a high death toll on it would eventually force the IRA to end its campaign. According to then Prime Minister Tony Blair, "The purpose of loyalist terrorism was to retaliate, to dominate or to clear out Catholics." An editorial in the UVF's official magazine Combat explained in 1993:
Loyalist paramilitaries were responsible for 29% of all deaths in the Troubles, and were responsible for about 48% of all civilian deaths. (choose "organization summary" and "status summary" as the variables) Loyalist paramilitaries killed civilians at far higher rates than both Republican paramilitaries and British security forces. Soldiers from the locally recruited Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) and police officers from the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) colluded with loyalist paramilitaries, such as taking part in loyalist attacks (e.g. the Glenanne gang), giving weapons and intelligence to loyalists, not taking action against them, and hindering official investigations. "UK agents 'worked with NI paramilitary killers'" , BBC News, 28 May 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2015. "Pat Finucane murder: 'Shocking state collusion', says PM" , BBC. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
The modus operandi of loyalist paramilitaries involved assassinations, mass shootings, bombings and kidnappings. They used submachine gun, assault rifles, , (including homemade grenades), , booby trap bombs and . Bomb attacks were usually made without warning. However, gun attacks were more common than bombings. In January 1994, the UDA drew up a 'doomsday plan', to be implemented should British troops be withdrawn from Northern Ireland. It called for ethnic cleansing and re-partition, with the goal of making Northern Ireland wholly Protestant.Wood, Ian S. Crimes of Loyalty: A History of the UDA. Edinburgh University Press, 2006. pp. 184–185.
Some loyalist paramilitaries have had links with far-right and Neo-Nazism groups in Britain, including Combat 18,Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas. Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism, and the Politics of Identity. NYU Press, 2003. p. 45. the British Movement,Goodrick-Clarke, pp. 40–41. and the National Front.Wood, Ian S. Crimes of Loyalty: A History of the UDA. Edinburgh University Press, 2006. pp. 339–340. Since the 1990s, loyalist paramilitaries have been responsible for numerous racist attacks in loyalist areas. "Racist war of the loyalist street gangs" . The Guardian, 10 January 2004. Retrieved 21 October 2012. A 2006 report revealed that 90% of racist attacks in the previous two years occurred in mainly loyalist areas. "Loyalists linked to 90 per cent of race crime" . The Guardian. 22 October 2006.
In the 1990s, the main loyalist paramilitaries called . Following this, small breakaway groups continued to wage violent campaigns for a number of years, and members of loyalist groups have continued to engage in sporadic violence.
A telephone poll conducted in March 1993 by the News Letter, a Belfast-based newspaper with a unionist editorial stance, sought the view of the Protestant community on a recent upsurge in loyalist paramilitary violence. Belfast News Letter, 1 April 1993. The poll found that 42 per cent of callers responded "Yes" to the question: "Do you support loyalist paramilitary violence?" Over 50 per cent of callers chose "Yes" in response to the question "Do you believe there are any current circumstances in which loyalist paramilitary violence is justified?"
Fraternities and marching bands
In Northern Ireland there are a number of Protestant fraternity and marching bands who hold yearly parades. They include the Orange Order and Apprentice Boys of Derry. These fraternities, often described as the "Loyal Orders", have long been associated with unionism/loyalism.Tonge, Johnathan. Northern Ireland. Polity, 2006. pp. 24, 171–173. Yearly events such as the Eleventh Night (11 July) bonfires and The Twelfth (12 July) parades are strongly associated with loyalism. A report published in 2013 estimated there were at least 640 marching bands in Northern Ireland with a total membership of around 30,000, an all-time high. "Loyalist band numbers at new high" The Newsletter According to the Parades Commission, a total of 1,354 loyalist parades (not counting funerals) were held in Northern Ireland in 2007.All information in this section from the Parades Commission website. The Police Service of Northern Ireland uses different statistics, and recorded a total of 2,863 parades in 2007. Of these, 2,270 (approximately 80%) were held by loyalist marching bands.
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