In the 1980s, the DUP was involved in setting up the loyalist paramilitary movements Third Force[17][18][19] and Ulster Resistance,[20] the latter of which helped smuggle a large shipment of weapons into Northern Ireland.

Paisley declared: "This is a small token of the men who are placed to devastate any attempt by Margaret Thatcher and Charles Haughey to destroy the Union".

Both unionist parties resigned their seats in the British House of Commons, suspended district council meetings, and led a campaign of mass civil disobedience.

[45] On 10 November 1986, a rally was held in which DUP politicians Paisley, Robinson and Ivan Foster announced the formation of the Ulster Resistance Movement (URM).

[47] DUP press officer Sammy Wilson spoke positively of the document, calling it a "valuable return to reality" and lauded the UDA for "contemplating what needs to be done to maintain our separate Ulster identity".

On 27 October 2006, the DUP issued a four-page letter in the Belfast Telegraph newspaper asking "Are the terms of Saint Andrew's a basis of moving forward to devolution?

Paisley later released a statement through the press office stating that he did in fact imply that if Sinn Féin supported policing and the rule of law, he would go into a power-sharing government with them.

MP Gregory Campbell warned on 6 April 2007 that his party would be watching to see if benefits flow from its agreement to share power with Sinn Féin.

[58] In the 2010 general election, the party suffered a major upset when its leader, Peter Robinson, lost his Belfast East seat to Naomi Long of the APNI on a swing of 22.9%.

[62] Additionally, issues were raised about the continued existence of the BBC (as the DUP, UKIP and Conservatives had made a number of statements criticising the institution)[63] and support for same-sex marriage.

Two days before the UK Brexit referendum, held on 23 June 2016, the DUP paid £282,000 for a four-page glossy wrap-around to the free newspaper Metro, which is distributed in major towns and cities in the British mainland, but not Northern Ireland, advocating a 'Leave' vote.

In return, he would let Westminster pass Irish language law for Northern Ireland, which the DUP had earlier agreed to implement by signing the New Decade, New Approach agreement.

[93] Jeffrey Donaldson was ratified as DUP leader on 30 June 2021, and said his top priority was to get rid of the Northern Ireland Protocol, the post-Brexit trade arrangements.

[98] However, the DUP said they will not allow the election of a Speaker until their issues with the Northern Ireland Protocol are dealt with; meaning the Assembly cannot continue its business and a new Executive cannot be formed.

[105] During Donaldson's leadership, the DUP has developed a 5-point plan "to build a better Northern Ireland within the Union", this includes "supporting and boosting [the] National Health Service, growing [the] economy and creating jobs, tackling the cost of living crisis, securing a better education system and negotiating the removal of the Irish Sea Border.

[130] Speaking as a member of the European Parliament in 1991, then leader Ian Paisley set out the DUP's Eurosceptic position: I wish to have no part whatsoever in the rebuilding of this Tower of Babel.

[131]Later in 1991, speaking at the DUP annual conference Paisley compared Chancellor of Germany Helmut Kohl to Kaiser Wilhelm II and Adolf Hitler.

[131] East Antrim MP Sammy Wilson caused controversy in March 2016 during a BBC Spotlight episode discussing the implications of the EU referendum, when he was recorded agreeing with a member of the public who said that they wanted to leave the European Union and "get the ethnics out".

The DUP consistently voted against the Labour government, including by voting against reducing of the age of consent for gay sex from 18 to 16 in June 1998[150] (and again in February 2000[151]), against a motion for a gender-neutral Civil Registration Bill in October 2001,[152] against allowing unmarried gay and straight couples to adopt children in November 2002,[153] against the Gender Recognition Bill 2004,[154][155] against the Civil Partnership Act 2004,[156] for an amendment opposing the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007,[157] and against same-sex female couples and single mothers accessing in vitro fertilisation in January 2008.

[160][161] Former DUP minister Jim Wells called the issue a "red line" for power-sharing talks, adding that "Peter will not marry Paul in Northern Ireland".

[162] In August 2012, in the wake of a council debate on same-sex marriage, Magherafelt DUP councillor Paul McClean called for homosexuality to be made illegal again in Northern Ireland.

Her remarks were widely condemned by other parties and by the Northern Ireland Gay Rights Association,[167] with SDLP MP Alasdair McDonnell saying her comments "create space for all sorts of homophobic attacks".

[170][171] In July 2021, deputy leader Paula Bradley expressed an apology for the "absolutely atrocious" statements made by the party's politicians about LGBT people and added "there have been some very hurtful comments and some language that really should not have been used.”.

[175] Party members have campaigned strongly against any extension of abortion rights to Northern Ireland, unanimously opposing a bill by Labour MP Diana Johnson to protect women in England and Wales from criminal prosecution if they ended a pregnancy using pills bought online.

[176] The DUP is in favour of keeping the "triple lock" for pensions,[129] the Winter Fuel Allowance,[130] and greater spending in Northern Ireland for services such as health.

[184] Though the party has never had official links to any major paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland, multiple DUP members have had associations with loyalist groups, or expressed support for their actions, particularly during the Troubles.

In 1972, William McCrea issued a press statement, saying, "We call on all Loyalists to give their continued support to the Ulster Defence Association as it seeks to ensure the safety of all law-abiding citizens against the bombs and bullets of the IRA.

[190] That same year, the UDA drafted a document – the ‘Doomsday scenario’ – which declared that in the event of a British withdrawal from Northern Ireland, the organisation's aim would be to "establish an ethnic Protestant homeland" within which the Catholic population would be "expelled, nullified or interned."

Wilson praised the document, describing it as a "very valuable return to reality" which "shows that some loyalist paramilitaries are looking ahead and contemplating what needs to be done to maintain our separate Ulster identity".

[194] In January 2023, DUP councillor and former Mayor of Lisburn Paul Porter took part in a march to mark the 25th anniversary of the shooting dead of UDA member Jim Guiney by the INLA.