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. It is currently led by Gavin Robinson,who is stepping in as an interim after the resignation of 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.
The Northern Ireland Assembly,often referred to by the metonym Stormont,is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom,and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive. It sits at Parliament Buildings at Stormont in Belfast.
The Northern Ireland Executive is the devolved government of Northern Ireland,an administrative branch of the legislature –the Northern Ireland Assembly. It is answerable to the assembly and was initially established according to the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 1998,which followed the Good Friday Agreement. The executive is referred to in the legislation as the Executive Committee of the assembly and is an example of consociationalist ("power-sharing") government.
Sir Jeffrey Mark Donaldson is a British politician who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 2021 to 2024 and leader of the DUP in the UK House of Commons from 2019 to 2024. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Lagan Valley since 1997.
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.
Arlene Isobel Foster,Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee,,is a British broadcaster and politician from Northern Ireland who served as First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2016 to 2017 and 2020 to 2021 and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 2015 to 2021. Foster was the first woman to hold either position. She is a Member of the House of Lords,having previously been a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone from 2003 to 2021.
Jim Wells is a Northern Irish unionist politician,formerly of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP),who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for South Down from 1998 to 2022;he was one the longest serving MLAs in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Wells is also a former Deputy Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly,and was a councillor on Down District Council from 2001 to 2011.
Michelle O'Neill is an Irish politician who has served as First Minister of Northern Ireland since February 2024 and Vice President of Sinn Féin since 2018. She has also been the MLA for Mid Ulster in the Northern Ireland Assembly since 2007. O'Neill was previously deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2020 to 2022.
The First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland are the joint heads of government of Northern Ireland,leading the Northern Ireland Executive and with overall responsibility for the running of the Executive Office. Despite the titles of the two offices,the two positions have the same governmental power,resulting in a duumvirate;the deputy First Minister,customarily spelled with a lowercase d,is not subordinate to the First Minister. Created under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement,both were initially nominated and appointed by members of the Northern Ireland Assembly on a joint ticket by a cross-community vote,under consociational principles. That process was changed following the 2006 St Andrews Agreement,such that the First Minister now is nominated by the largest party overall,and the deputy First Minister is nominated by the largest party from the next largest community block.
Paul Jonathan Givan is a Northern Irish unionist politician who served as First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2021 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP),he has served as Minister of Education since 3 February 2024. Givan has been a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Lagan Valley since 2010.
Charles Boucher "Charlie" Poots was a Northern Irish unionist politician and farmer,known for being one of the founding members of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
The 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election was held on 5 May 2022. It elected 90 members to the Northern Ireland Assembly. It was the seventh assembly election since the establishment of the assembly in 1998. The election was held three months after the Northern Ireland Executive collapsed due to the resignation of the First Minister,Paul Givan of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP),in protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland,commonly abbreviated to the Northern Ireland Protocol,is a protocol to the Brexit withdrawal agreement that sets out Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit relationship with both the EU and Great Britain. The Withdrawal Agreement,including the Protocol,came into effect on 1 January 2021. Citing the island of Ireland's "unique circumstances," the Protocol governs unique arrangements on the island between the United Kingdom and the European Union;it regulates some aspects of trade in goods between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.
New Decade,New Approach (NDNA) is a 9 January 2020 agreement which restored the government of the Northern Ireland Executive after a three-year hiatus triggered by the Renewable Heat Incentive scandal. It was negotiated by Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Julian Smith and Irish Tánaiste Simon Coveney.
Events from the year 2021 in Northern Ireland.
The May 2021 Democratic Unionist Party leadership election was triggered by Arlene Foster's resignation from leadership. It was the Democratic Unionist Party's first leadership election since the party's founding in 1971.
The June 2021 Democratic Unionist Party leadership election was triggered by Edwin Poots' resignation from the leadership of the party on 17 June 2021.
A Northern Ireland Assembly election will be held to elect 90 members to the Northern Ireland Assembly by 6 May 2027.
Events from the year 2022 in Northern Ireland.
The Executive of the 7th Northern Ireland Assembly was appointed on 3 February 2024,following the 2022 election to the seventh Northern Ireland Assembly held on 5 May 2022 and the protracted negotiations leading up to the 2024 Northern Ireland Executive formation. The newly elected assembly met for the first time on 13 May 2022. It is led by Michelle O'Neill of Sinn Féin as First Minister and Emma Little-Pengelly of the DUP as deputy First Minister.
