Ulster Unionist Council

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Ulster Unionist Council, created during 1904–5 as a unifying organization for northern unionism. After the defeat of the second home rule bill in 1893, Ulster unionism was threatened by internal division in the form of T. W. Russell's campaigns on the land issue, and by the widely ranging populism of the Independent Orange Order. In an effort to regain the local initiative, and to counter the threat created by the devolution issue, younger unionist leaders such as William Moore, C. C. Craig, and John B. Lonsdale urged a reform of party organization: this pressure resulted in the creation of the Ulster Unionist Council, which was launched in Belfast on 3 March 1905.

The functions of the UUC were defined as uniting the local unionist associations, binding Ulster Unionist MPs and their constituents, contributing to the formulation of parliamentary policy, and expressing the opinions of the broader movement. Aided by the re‐emergence after 1906 of the home rule threat, the UUC was able to achieve a reactivation of local unionism in Ulster. More broadly, it contributed to the localization of the Ulster unionist movement through annexing powers which had formerly been exercised by the Irish Unionist parliamentary party. The UUC, and its standing committee, were central to the successful mobilization of popular Unionism in opposition to the third home rule bill (1912–14).

Subsequent modifications to the council's structure created a more representative as well as a more diffuse institution. The UUC was enlarged in 1911, in 1918, 1921, 1929, and again in 1944. The resultant, highly unwieldy structure was reformed through the party constitution of 1946, which created, in the form of the executive committee and its attendant subcommittees, a new, high‐level tier of representation. However, it is hard to escape the conclusion that—certainly for the Stormont period—the intricate elaboration of the UUC constitution has diverted attention from its comparative insignificance. Indeed, before 1972 the presence of a cohesive body of representative unionists at Stormont undermined the essential purpose of the UUC. Since the Belfast Agreement of 1998 (see peace process), well‐publicized debates within the council over critical leadership and policy issues have given it an apparently renewed significance.

Bibliography

Harbinson, John , The Ulster Unionist Party, 1882–1973: Its Development and Organisation (1973)

Alvin Jackson

Ulster Workers' Council (UWC), a loyalist grouping established in Northern Ireland early in 1974 to oppose the Sunningdale agreement. Its leadership was associated mainly with the Ulster Vanguard movement, but it also had low‐key support from the other unionist parties opposed to Sunningdale. It drew strong grass‐roots support from the paramilitary Ulster Defence Association (UDA). In May 1974 the council called a ‘constitutional stoppage’ or general strike. Widespread Protestant hostility to Sunningdale, reinforced significantly by UDA intimidation and by the British government and army's apparent inability to operate the power stations, brought the province to a standstill. The crisis was ended only by the resignation of the Northern Ireland executive and the collapse of the agreement. The UWC attempted to mount a second action in 1977, but the issues were less clear‐cut: only the Paisleyite (see democratic unionist party) wing of unionism supported it, and it quickly petered out.

A. C. Hepburn

Ulster Unionist Council. Created in 1904–5 as a representative body for Ulster unionism. Comprising originally 200 members (100 representing the local unionist associations, 50 representing the Orange order, and 50 co-opted members), the council was subsequently expanded and restructured: it was governed by a standing committee of 30. A new constitution was accepted in 1946. This gave belated recognition to the political institutions created by the partition settlement of 1920; it also provided for an enlarged standing committee and a new tier at the pinnacle of the representative pyramid, the executive committee. Although the representative significance of the UUC was overshadowed by the Unionist parliamentary party in the Northern Ireland House of Commons, since 1972 its strategic importance has been restored.

Alvin Jackson

Ulster Unionist Council Created in 1904–5 as a representative body for Ulster unionism. Comprising originally 200 members (100 representing the local unionist associations, 50 representing the Orange order, and 50 co‐opted members), the council was subsequently expanded and restructured: it was governed by a standing committee of 30. A new constitution was accepted in 1946. Although the representative significance of the UUC was overshadowed by the Unionist parliamentary party in the Northern Ireland House of Commons, since 1972 its strategic importance has been restored.