Northern Ireland

New loyalist group behind posters opposing Irish Sea border

Posters erected in Markethill, Co Armagh by loyalists who oppose a border in the Irish Sea. Picture by Mal McCann.
Posters erected in Markethill, Co Armagh by loyalists who oppose a border in the Irish Sea. Picture by Mal McCann. Posters erected in Markethill, Co Armagh by loyalists who oppose a border in the Irish Sea. Picture by Mal McCann.

A new loyalist group has claimed its members have put up hundreds of posters across the north in opposition to the Irish Sea border.

The United Unionists of Ulster (UUU) is understood to be an umbrella group set up to oppose the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Organisers claim that around 200 people involved in local groups across the north have now come together.

In addition to posters calling for an end to the post-Brexit border, other banners bearing images of armed and masked men have also been appeared in unionist areas in recent days.

It is not clear who is responsible for those.

Some of those involved with the UUU are believed to be linked to the 2012/13 Union flag protests.

A spokesman said those behind the campaign believe in “peaceful and democratic means” but also called on the Loyalist Communities Council (LCC) “as defenders of the community to stand up and take action”.

The LCC is an umbrella group which represents the main loyalist paramilitary organisations.

In a statement issued to the News Letter, the UUU was described as “a group of the pro-union individuals who seek peaceful and democratic means to achieve what we believe our people within our communities have asked for”.

It said they “have continually watched bit by bit our culture and identity being pulled from under our feet little by little while our elected representatives in our unionist parties make little or no challenge around key issues”.

“We are not a political party nor a militant organisation; we are simply a group that are uniting under one common name and agenda for the good and future of our people and our country. What is clear to us is that our unionist leadership has failed us all," the statement said.

The group said it has called for a ‘unionist convention’ but “as the three main unionist parties have failed in signing up to such a convention we then encourage our local communities to show their elected representatives that they are not listening and that we are not happy, through peaceful non-confrontational means”.

The statement added that its three main objectives are uniting unionists, removing the Northern Ireland Protocol and “full withdrawal of support for the Good Friday Agreement”.