Glenn Barr

Glenn Barr OBE [ [http://www.ofmdfmni.gov.uk/birthday-2005-honours-list Birthday 2005 Honours List] ] (born 1932 in Derry) was a Northern Ireland politician and advocate of Ulster nationalism.

Initially a member of a general Trade union, Barr went on to join the Loyalist Association of Workers in the early 1970s and from there became involved in the Ulster Defence Association. Around this time Barr also became involved in politics by joining the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party and was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly set up under the Sunningdale Agreement in 1973. [H. McDonald & J. Cusack, "UDA – Inside the Heart of Loyalist Terror", Dublin, Penguin Ireland, 2004, p. 66] He soon became a leading figure in the opposition to Sunningdale agreement and effectively led the Ulster Workers Council Strike that brought the new power-sharing government down. [H. McDonald & J. Cusack, "UDA – Inside the Heart of Loyalist Terror", Dublin, Penguin Ireland, 2004, p. 75]

After the collapse of Sunningdale, Barr remained a leading figure in the Vanguard, and had risen to the position of joint leader by the time it fell apart in 1978. Following the collapse of the Vanguard, Barr drifted back to the UDA, becoming involved in the New Ulster Political Research Group (which formed the basis for the Ulster Democratic Party). Whilst here Barr took a leading role in the production of "Beyond the Religious Divide", a document which sought to set out a framework for a move towards eventual independence for Northern Ireland. [H. McDonald & J. Cusack, "UDA – Inside the Heart of Loyalist Terror", Dublin, Penguin Ireland, 2004, p. 105] Barr had become increasingly disillusioned with what he saw as the callousness of unionist politicians towards their electorate, and the blind loyalty of that electorate. He commented: "They could have sent a donkey with a Union Jack tied to its tail up the Shankill Road, and we would have voted for it." However, the UDA failed to recommend the proposals to its members and as a result Barr drifted away from the NUPRG, leaving politics altogether in 1979 to return to community work in Derry.

Barr briefly emerged from his political retirement in 1994 when he joined his old friend from the strike Andy Tyrie in heading up an initiative to gain funding for the Ulster Democratic Party. [P. Taylor, "Loyalists", London: Bloomsbury, 2000, p. 232] He appeared set for a more active return in 1998 when he took up a seat on the Parades Commission, a move roundly condemned by nationalists given Barr's UDA past, and one that saw resignations from the board in protest. [ [http://republican-news.org/archive/1998/February26/26par.html 'Legal challenge to Parades Commission'] from An Phoblacht] Ultimately, however, Barr himself resigned on the 24 April 1998, along with loyalist Tommy Cheevers not long after the Commission had banned an Apprentice Boys parade from the Nationalist Lower Ormeau Road. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/northern_ireland/latest_news/82568.stm 'Commission members resign amid parades row'] from bbc.co.uk] No longer involved in politics, Barr continues to work on community projects in Derry, running the Maydown Youth Training Project Ltd, which seeks to alleviate the high levels of unemployment amongst the young in the city. [ [http://www.community-relations.org.uk/services/community-relations-groups/?alpha=M 'Community Relations Groups'] ]

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