- Ulster Says No
Ulster Says No was the name of a slogan, campaign and mass protest against perceived interference by the
Republic of Ireland in the internal affairs of theUnited Kingdom , specifically that ofNorthern Ireland . It was led by Unionist leaderIan Paisley in the mid 1980s. [cite web | url=http://www.wesleyjohnston.com/users/ireland/past/history/19841993.html | title=History of Ireland, 1984-1993]After the signing of the 1985
Anglo-Irish Agreement byPrime Minister Margaret Thatcher andTaoiseach Garret FitzGerald , Unionist leaders stated that the agreement to allow the Republic's government such privileges needed to be put before the people in a referendum and organised a vote in the Northern Ireland Assembly to that effect. [ [http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/aia/chron.htm Anglo Irish Agreement Chronology, CAIN website] ] Republican partySinn Féin also objected (albeit for different reasons). [ [http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/aia/reaction.htm Reactions to the AIA] ] In the Irish Parliament, the main opposition party,Fianna Fáil also voted against. [ [http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/aia/chron.htm Anglo Irish Agreement Chronology, CAIN website] ]A large rally, protested the move at
Belfast City Hall . The numbers attending were estimated as at least 100,000 [ [http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/aia/chron.htm Anglo Irish Agreement Chronology, CAIN website] ] while Unionist sources estimated over 200,000 in attendance [ [http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/aia/taskforcereport87.htm Task force report 1987, Historical background] ] Paisley and all the other Unionist MPs resigned from theBritish House of Commons in protest, but all bar one were subsequently re-elected in the resultant by-elections.References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.