Ulster nationalism

In November 1921, during negotiations for the Anglo-Irish Treaty, there was correspondence between David Lloyd George and Sir James Craig, respective prime ministers of the UK and Northern Ireland.

[2] Ulster nationalism has its origins[disputed – discuss] in 1946 when W. F. McCoy, a former cabinet minister in the government of Northern Ireland,[citation needed] advocated this option.

[3] He wanted Northern Ireland to become a dominion with a political system similar to Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the then Union of South Africa, or the Irish Free State prior to 1937.

Some members of the Ulster Vanguard movement, led by Bill Craig, in the early 1970s published similar arguments, most notably Professor Kennedy Lindsay.

John McMichael, as candidate for the UDA-linked Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party, campaigned for the 1982 South Belfast by-election on the basis of negotiations towards independence.

However, McMichael's poor showing of 576 votes saw the plans largely abandoned by the UDA soon after, although the policy was still considered by the Ulster Democratic Party under Ray Smallwoods.

Ulster Third Way contested the West Belfast parliamentary seat in the 2001 general election, although candidate and party leader David Kerr failed to attract much support.

[6] Its leadership and members have all been unionists and have tended to react to what they viewed as crises surrounding the status of Northern Ireland as a part of the United Kingdom, such as the moves towards power-sharing in the 1970s or the Belfast Agreement of 1998, which briefly saw the UIM become a minor force.

In such instances it has been considered preferable by the supporters of this ideological movement to remove the British dimension either partially (Commonwealth realm status) or fully (independence) to avoid a united Ireland.