Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland)

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The Nationalist Party † (NP) - was the continuation of the Irish Parliamentary Party, and was formed after partition, by the Northern Ireland based members of the IPP.

The Nationalist Party didn't enter the House of Commons of Northern Ireland until 1924, having won six seats in the general election of 1921. In 1965 it agreed to become the official opposition party in the House of Commons. The party became involved in the Derry Civil Rights march in October 1968 which ended in violence amidst allegations of police brutality. As a result the NP withdrew from their role as official opposition on 15 October 1968 following the controversy two weeks earlier. [1]

The party developed a reputation for being heavily disorganised and being little more than a collection of elected members with their own local machines. Many calls were made for the party to develop an overall organisation but it fell apart in the late 1960s [2]. Earlier many members had formed the National Democrats after attempts at reform failed. The NDs merged into the Social Democratic and Labour Party at that party's foundation in 1970 and many remaining nationalists followed them. One of the Nationalist Party's last electoral contests was the 1973 election for the Assembly created as part of the Sunningdale Agreement. The lack of success in that election meant that the writing was on the wall, although a handful of councillors were elected to Omagh District Council and Derry City Council (then Londonderry CC) in 1973 and 1977. In October 1977 [3] the party merged with Unity to form the Irish Independence Party which also included non-aligned republicans but it too soon faded from view.

[edit] Leaders

[edit] Notes

† The Longman handbook of Modern Irish History since 1800 (2005) incorrectly gives the party name as National Party of Northern Ireland.