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Unionists
ULSTER UNIONIST PARTY
Formed in 1905 in oppostion to the Irish Home Rule movement this is the largest and oldest Unionist party in Northern Ireland, it's leader is the Rt. Hon. David Trimble and Party President is Rev. Martin Smyth.
Since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement the party has seen it's support slip. Anti-Agreement Unionists were very close to getting a majority of Unionist seats in the Assembly which would have frustrated its work but the UUP and other pro agreement Unionists held on. In the recent Westminster elections the UUP lost ground to the DUP with two high profile DUP candidates stealing seats from long standing UUP MPs. Nigel Dodds romped to victory over the elderly Cecil Walker. Indeed David Trimble needed the re-designation of some members of the Women's Coalition and Alliance Party as Unionists to ensure his re-election to the post of First Minister after two UUP Assembly members defected.
Members of the Unionist community have been very critical of the Ulster Unionist Party for going into government with Sinn Fein before decommissioning which many said would never happen but when in Autumn the IRA put the first of its weapons beyond use David Trimble was able to claim a victoy which has shored up some support. Also the UUP have lost support because of the changes made to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) which is now the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI)
The UUP have looked like a divided party for some time now with the party sorely divided into two camps. The majority, not a huge one, led by party leader David Trimble and the vocal minority led by Jeffrey Donaldson. In my view it's the divison in the party that has led to its drop in support, if the UUP were to unite behind the Agreement I believe the Agreement's popularity within the Unionist community would improve.
David Trimble
The Upper Bann MP David Trimble has led the Ulster Unionist Party throughout the negotiations leading up to the signing of the GFA and beyond. A great political survivor he has faced many leadership contents and has had his hands tied on occasion by the Ulster Unionist Council but has managed to survive. When he first took over as leader of the party many nationalists viewed him with suspicion as he appeared to be quite a hardliner, who could forget his memorable march hand in hand with Ian Paisley but has since shown he can compromise. After the signing of the Good Friday Agreement he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with John Hume for their efforts but peace and stable government were'nt as sure as they looked. A deadlock emerged between the UUP and Sinn Fein with Trimble saying "No guns no government", however Trimble eventually climbed down and allowed Sinn Fein into government but made pre-dated resignation letters which helped to win over some hardliners. However when the date approached and there were no guns the then Northern secretary Peter Mandelson suspended the institutions. The IRA agreed to make contact with the Decomissioning Body and Trimble went back into government with no pre-dated resignation letters and a lot less support from his party's ruling council. The government and the UUP lurched from one crisis to another with decommissioning usually the centre point until extreme pressure from Trimble, the Americans and the two governments eventually pushed the IRA into giving up some arms and agreeing a process for giving up the rest.
However at this point David Trimble's reputation had taken quite a beating from anti-agreement Unionists but he's confident that the Executive can now bed down and people will soon be able to see the benfits of devolution and when the next Assembly elections come around the UUP's popularity will have regined its lost ground. I, however, am not so sure. Many Unionists feel that they have given up a lot for this process without getting anything in return. There is still Republican murders and violence, the IRA have only given up a token amount of arms so far. If the IRA have not fully decommissioned by the time the elections roll around and if the violence hasn't ceased at least somewhat then I feel the DUP will romp home and the Assembly will lie in tatters. So hopefully enough pressure is put on the IRA and Sinn Fein to decommission.
Jeffrey Donaldson
The "unofficial" leader of the No camp, Jeffrey Donaldson, is the Ulster Unionist MP for Lagan Valley. He has been a big player in the Ulster Unionist Party for years but first came to real international attention when he walked out of negotiations for the Good Friday Agreement, his support was seen as crucial for getting the younger members of the Unionist community to vote for the GFA but Jeffrey refused to go along with party leader David Trimble and found himself as the prominent voice in the UUP's "No" camp. When the Assembly elections came around Trimble refused to let Donaldson run, fearing he might not obey the party whip. As time went on Donaldson became more and more vocal in his oppostiton of Trimble and his policies. He continually put forward his own proposals for what he felt should be done to get the IRA to decommission. He has been invited back by Trimble into his negotiating team on a few occasions and recently Gerry Adams commended him saying "he put across Unionist concerns with great eloquence". Donaldson has been approached by the DUP about switching his allegience to them but he's not as hardline as the DUP. He increased his first preference vote considerably at the last general election and has been touted as a future leader of the party, no doubt if the Agreement does finally collapse Jeffrey Donaldson will be the man to oust Trimble. He has the backing of high proportion of his party and has a close alliance with fellow UUP MP David Burnside.
People seem to respond to Donaldson's energy and strenght of his convictions, if there were more Unionists like him in the "Yes" camp support for the process would be greater.
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