Ulster Independence Movement

Led by Hugh Ross, a Presbyterian minister from Dungannon, County Tyrone, the UIC sought to end what it saw as the tyranny of rule from London (and potentially Dublin) and instead set up an independent Northern Ireland.

The UIC initially had a network of 11 branches and first entered the political arena in 1990 when Ross stood in a by-election for the Upper Bann constituency following the death of sitting MP Harold McCusker.

Mooney did not turn up but Kerr and Agnes McLeister of the Ulster Party[2] agreed to pool resources and join forces with Ross' movement.

[3] With every seat contested as well as the regional list (which was headed by Ross)[4] Kerr was placed as a candidate in North Belfast[5] with McLeister in North Antrim,[6] whilst other candidates who had or would go on to have a higher profile included Willie Frazer in Newry and Armagh[7] (who subsequently organised Families Acting for Innocent Relatives and Love Ulster) and Kenny McClinton and Clifford Peeples in West Belfast[8] (a pastor who was later jailed for possession of explosives[9]).

Seeing their chances becoming increasingly diminished, the UIM formally abandoned their role as a political party in January 2000 and instead reconstituted as a 'ginger group'.