An Ulster Resistance meeting in the 1980s.
By Evan Short
The DUP’s links to loyalist terror have been amongst the party’s history that is being explored in detail for the first time in the London based media.
Ahead of an expected deal between British Prime Minister Theresa May and the DUP – who have enough seats to guarantee the Conservative Party a House of Commons majority – scrutiny is falling on the DUP’s record during the conflict.
Although never officially linked to any outlawed organization, individuals within the DUP have had fraternal links with both the Ulster Defence Association and the Ulster Volunteer Force.
But it is with the shadowy Ulster Resistance that the strongest links to wrongdoing appear.
Ulster Resistance was set up by leading DUP members in 1986 following the introduction of the Anglo Irish Agreement that saw Dublin given a role in the administration of the north.
At a 1986 rally in the Ulster Hall in Belfast, chaired by current East Antrim DUP MP Sammy Wilson, DUP leader Ian Paisley addressed the crowd and the meeting was attended by Peter Robinson who was DUP leader up until 2016.
Paisley and Robinson later appeared in military clothing wearing berets at an Ulster Resistance rally. Police intelligence documents at the time show that leading members of the UDA also attended the rally.
Ulster Resistance were to go on to work with the UVF and UDA to import a large consignment of weapons that significantly increased the capability of loyalist terrorists and were used in massacres like Loughinisland in 1994.
The DUP say they broke ties with Ulster Resistance in 1987 when it became clear they were importing weapons.
The Police Ombudsman report into Loughinisland found that the weapons imported have been linked to scores of murders and attempted murders.
Their investigators found that within a month of the Ulster Hall rally members of Ulster Resistance were in talks with the UVF and UDA about importing weapons. In addition, the RUC were aware of the importation plans.
Leading loyalist Noel Little was later arrested in Paris trying to sell British missile technology to South Africa in return for weapons. His daughter, Emma Little-Pengelly, was elected last week as DUP MP for South Belfast.
Last year, the Belfast Newsletter paper asked the DUP if they would apologize for its role in founding Ulster Resistance they published a response from the party stating: “The party’s stance is consistent, that anyone involved in illegal activity should be investigated and face the full weight of the law.”
