Robert

Although I am a great supporter of the Ulster Democratic Unionist Party (DUP; leader Ian Paisley; 4th Largest Party by seats in Westminster, with 9 seats.). I think that as people in Northern Ireland are so set in there ways, with much of the electorate being Nationalist, the best way to try and gather support is to start a new independent party in Northern Ireland, and it could be affiliated with UKIP, so it is not actually UKIP, as I pointed out much of the electorate are Nationalist, and would automatically vote against a unionist party or one that relates itself to the UK.

Perhaps this idea should be discussed with thoughs in the NEC, putting Northern Irish people in parliment, but with a direct link to UKIP and its policies and views. Having an intermediate, secular right wing party in Northern Ireland could start to raise some movement eventually, but note to gain the optimum number of the electorate to vote for the party, it must not come across as either Unionist, but with unionist views, or nationalist, with nationalist views.

What do people think???

One Londoner

UKIP is registered with the Electoral Commission in Northern Ireland, but has never contested seats in NI. There used to be an informal alliance with Robert McCartney's UK Unionist Party - I don't know if this still applies.

Tom Collier

You could be onto something Robert. Very exciting and I would love to see UKIP forge links. It seems unfair how N. Ireland has been sectioned off.

My gut instinct, without having been to Ulster, is that anything linked to UKIP would be naturally seen as Unionist. But it might be seen as genuinely unionist rather than Orange men - specific to Northern ireland- type Unionist. Also, you wouldn`t be an occassional prop for the Tories.

One thing to consider would be to go for a one issue anti EU alliance that allowed constituency variation on the Nat/Unionist divide while making plain it isn`t the main issue. It was touted that UKIP could once have been UKIP-Labour in a Labour seat and UKIP-Tory in a Tory seat. I am glad that we didn`t go for the one issue line but it is one way to fight it and may be pertinent to where you are from. I don`t hold with the idea that at Stormont you must declare which tradition you are from (what utter c@*p) but unless you are one or two issue based, you may well get asked about it by constituents I`m afraid!

So lots to ponder. Keep at it mate. Maybe Lechlade will have a ryanair away day in Belfast one day (that would be a laugh riot).

C_steam

You build it, they will come. I promise. (subject to decent numbers, of course!)

Independence Now!

There is certainly a need. I think that every British political party should allow the people of NI to have membership and every party over here should campaign there. After all, is NI a part of the United Kingdom or not? It is and so the impression given at the moment by parties not allowing membership to our fellow British citizens in NI or not campainging there is not only undemocratic but has been one of the factors encouraging the IRA (and others) in the past to believe that this 'semi-detached' part of the UK could be bombed out of it.

Johnny Hates Jazz

Let Scotland have Northern Ireland

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Independence Now!

Why? Don't you know that English settlers settled there also? I think the Protestant population's ancestry is something like 60% Scottish/ 40% English and 100% BRITISH

Anway, they are a part of the United Kingdom and that is the most basic reason why every British political party which is countrywide should campaign there and allow the people of NI to become members.

Britannist

Independence Now wrote on 11.3.2006 at 7.11 pm: "I think the Protestant population's ancestry is something like 60% Scottish/ 40% English and 100% BRITISH. Anway, they are a part of the United Kingdom and that is the most basic reason why every British political party which is countrywide should campaign there and allow the people of NI to become members."

My response: Just a gentle reminder that the whole of the population of Northern Ireland (N.I.) are British. They've all got British passports and ain't going to give 'em up - including the Roman Catholics. I am a Roman Catholic and know that at least a third of Northern Ireland's Catholics have said in opinion polls/studies that they are not going to vote (in any referendum) for N.I. to join the neighbouring Irish Republic. Research by Trinity College in Dublin and Queen's University in Belfast also found that only 1 in 3 Catholics in N.I. could be relied on to vote in a referendum to join the Irish Republic - the other 67% would either for No or not vote at all.

I believe that is important to remember the decent 'unionist' Roman Catholics in Northern Ireland who want N.I. to stay in the UK - before insinuating that the only reason it (N.I.) should be in the UK is because its people are primarily protestant. I would want Northern Ireland to remain fully in the UK even if 100% of her people were Roman Catholics.


Rather than UKIP campaigning in Northern Ireland and setting up branches would it not be better for the party (UKIP) to forge a formal link with the existing Unionist parties in N.I.? Dr. Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is the biggest anti-EU party in the Commons with 9 MP's (and the eurosceptic Ulster Unionist Party has 1 MP). The official link between the Conservative Party and the Unionists was broken (by Tebbit when Conservative Chairman) in 1985. Any offers from UKIP to utilise that link with the UK's fourth largest party (the DUP) instead? A party (the DUP) which has one of the hardest working anti-EU MEP's?

We need to support the people of Northern Ireland. They are, at least, as anti-EU as the mainland British public if not more so (N.I. gave the lowest 'Yes' vote in the UK in the 1975 'In or Out' EEC/EU referendum). Their enemy is our enemy - namely the europhile 'elite' and their friends in the Northern Ireland Office (ministry) and the UK Foreign Office who would sell out Ulster and sell out the UK to republicanism and to the EU fanatics.

ChrisB

My thoughts exactly. I have absolutely zero knowledge of the situation, but don't the Northern Irish people feel completely left out of things? Their votes don't seem to matter at all - whoever they vote for, they're not going to get a majority.

Keeping in mind my complete lack of understanding of anything in this area, but wouldn't a "Vote for them, and your vote is wasted. Vote for us, and you're influencing who runs the country" message work? Granted, it'd have to be when UKIP has any chance of getting a number of MPs elsewhere...

Hm, perhaps a UKIP <-> unionist party merger would be feasible? Then we give NI a chance of having a proper say, AND we instantly have MPs in Westminster, to launch ourselves from in the rest of Britain.

Independence Now!

Yes, I am aware of those recent opinion polls in Northern Ireland and I am not insinuating that Northern Ireland's Catholic population can't be Unionists or loyal citizens of the UK (unlike those who unfortunately vote for Sinn Fein/IRA) I am glad there are people like that in Northern Ireland. I also agree with you that we on the mainland certainly do need the support of the many anti-EU people in the Province if we are to succeed in any future referendums to stop any more power going to Brussels or to withdraw the whole United Kingdom from the EU.