The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist,loyalist,British nationalist and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley,who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by Jeffrey Donaldson,it is the second largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly,and is the fifth-largest party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The party has been described as centre-right to right-wing and socially conservative,being anti-abortion and opposing same-sex marriage. The DUP sees itself as defending Britishness and Ulster Protestant culture against Irish nationalism and republicanism. It is also Eurosceptic and supported Brexit.
Ballymoney was a local government district with borough status in Northern Ireland. It was headquartered in Ballymoney. Other towns in the borough included Dervock,Dunloy,Cloughmills and Rasharkin. The borough had a population of 31,224 according to the 2011 census.
James Hugh Allister is a British Unionist politician and barrister in Northern Ireland. He founded the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) political party in 2007,leading the party since its formation. Allister has served as a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for North Antrim since 2011,and is the TUV’s only representative in the Assembly.
North Antrim is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Ian Paisley Jr of the DUP.
Ballymoney is a town and civil parish in County Antrim,Northern Ireland. It is within the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council area. The civil parish of Ballymoney is situated in the historic baronies of Dunluce Upper and Kilconway in County Antrim,as well as the barony of North East Liberties of Coleraine in County Londonderry. It had a population of 11,048 people at the 2021 Census.
Samuel Wilson is a Northern Irish politician,serving as Chief Whip of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in the House of Commons since 2019. Wilson has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for East Antrim since 2005. He served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Belfast East from 1998 to 2003 and for East Antrim from 2003 until 2015. He served as Lord Mayor of Belfast from 1986 to 1987 and again from 2000 to 2001,the first person from the DUP to hold the office. He has also served as Minister of Finance and Personnel and Minister of the Environment in the Northern Ireland Executive.
Armoy is a village and civil parish in County Antrim,Northern Ireland. It is 5.5 miles (9 km) southwest of Ballycastle and 8 miles (13 km) northeast of Ballymoney. According to an estimate in 2013 by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency it had a population of 1,122.
Edwin Poots is a British politician in Northern Ireland who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from May to June 2021. He was first elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in 1998. Poots is the DUP's Spokesperson for Institutional Reform and Hard to Reach Communities.
Robert Coulter was a Northern Irish politician,a member of the Ulster Unionist Party and a prominent proponent of unionism.
DaithíGerard McKay is a newspaper columnist and former Irish politician. He was the Chair of the Finance Committee in the Northern Ireland Assembly and a Sinn Féin MLA for North Antrim for 9 years. He brought forward legislation that led to the introduction of a Carrier Bag Levy in Northern Ireland and the abolishment of rates for Community Amateur Sport Clubs.
Philip McGuigan is an Irish Sinn Féin politician who has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for North Antrim since 2016,having previously served from 2003 to 2007. He was a Ballymoney Borough Councillor for the Bann Valley DEA from 2001 to 2014.
James Seymour Leslie was a Northern Irish unionist politician who served as an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for North Antrim from 1998 to 2003.
The Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. In common with all other Northern Irish unionist parties,the TUV's political programme has as its sine qua non the preservation of Northern Ireland's place within the United Kingdom. A founding precept of the party is that "nothing which is morally wrong can be politically right".
Events during the year 2008 in Northern Ireland.
Joe Gaston was a Unionist politician in Northern Ireland.
Causeway Coast and Glens is a local government district covering most of the northern part of Northern Ireland. It was created on 1 April 2015 by merging the Borough of Ballymoney,the Borough of Coleraine,the Borough of Limavady and the District of Moyle. The local authority is Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council.
The 2010 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland occurred on 6 May 2010 and all 18 seats in Northern Ireland were contested. 1,169,184 people were eligible to vote,up 29,191 from the 2005 general election. 57.99% of eligible voters turned out,down 5.5 percentage points from the last general election.
The Caleb Foundation,created in 1998,is a creationist pressure group in Northern Ireland. It also lobbies on a range of social policy issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage from an evangelical Protestant perspective,and has been particularly influential with Democratic Unionist Party ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive. The organisation has described its mission as "promoting the fundamentals of the historic evangelical Protestant faith".
Stephen Ronald Aiken is a politician,who serves as a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for South Antrim for the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). Roles served include that of Chief Whip (2017-2019) and Party Leader (2019–21).
Patricia O'Lynn is a Northern Irish academic,educator,and politician who was an Alliance Party Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from 2022 to 2023. She was elected as an MLA in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election for North Antrim.
