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| Britain’s Election: What the D.U.P. Is, and What It Wants | Britain’s Election: What the D.U.P. Is, and What It Wants |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| The surprise result of Britain’s snap election that backfired on Prime Minister Theresa May and weakened her Conservative Party may have stunned no one more than the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland, which now holds the unlikely role of kingmaker. | The surprise result of Britain’s snap election that backfired on Prime Minister Theresa May and weakened her Conservative Party may have stunned no one more than the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland, which now holds the unlikely role of kingmaker. |
| After the disastrous snap election on Thursday, Mrs. May turned to the D.U.P. to shore up her leadership position and her party, even as word came on Saturday that two of her top aides, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, had quit or had been pushed out. | After the disastrous snap election on Thursday, Mrs. May turned to the D.U.P. to shore up her leadership position and her party, even as word came on Saturday that two of her top aides, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, had quit or had been pushed out. |
| Before the polls opened on Thursday morning, the D.U.P. — socially conservative, fundamentalist Protestant and fiercely loyal to dreams of Britain’s lost empire — was merely the largest party in a small, inward-looking and mainly neglected backwater of the United Kingdom. | Before the polls opened on Thursday morning, the D.U.P. — socially conservative, fundamentalist Protestant and fiercely loyal to dreams of Britain’s lost empire — was merely the largest party in a small, inward-looking and mainly neglected backwater of the United Kingdom. |
| Yet, on Friday morning, the D.U.P.’s 10 members of Parliament — three more than in the last election — found themselves holding the winning ticket. Their prized seats were now crucial to Mrs. May’s attempt to cling to power and gave her depleted Conservative Party the majority needed to form a minority government. | Yet, on Friday morning, the D.U.P.’s 10 members of Parliament — three more than in the last election — found themselves holding the winning ticket. Their prized seats were now crucial to Mrs. May’s attempt to cling to power and gave her depleted Conservative Party the majority needed to form a minority government. |
| Now the D.U.P., led by Arlene Foster, 46, is in the co-pilot’s seat for Mrs. May’s negotiations to take Britain out of the European Union, a process known as Brexit. As the world strives to make sense of the election and its implications for Europe and beyond, the tiny D.U.P. has become an improbable factor in global geopolitics. All over Europe, dusty books on Irish history are coming off the shelves. | Now the D.U.P., led by Arlene Foster, 46, is in the co-pilot’s seat for Mrs. May’s negotiations to take Britain out of the European Union, a process known as Brexit. As the world strives to make sense of the election and its implications for Europe and beyond, the tiny D.U.P. has become an improbable factor in global geopolitics. All over Europe, dusty books on Irish history are coming off the shelves. |
| Robin Wilson, a commentator on Northern Ireland and European affairs, has a stark vision of the D.U.P. as bigoted, xenophobic, homophobic, isolationist and corrupt. | Robin Wilson, a commentator on Northern Ireland and European affairs, has a stark vision of the D.U.P. as bigoted, xenophobic, homophobic, isolationist and corrupt. |
| “Their idea of what Britain is today is so completely out of kilter with modern multicultural Britain and the secular character that it has today,” he said. “They believe that most of the modern world is morally decrepit and degenerate, whether it’s abortion or gay marriage or even just trying to form any kind of relationship with Catholics; they find these things very difficult.” | “Their idea of what Britain is today is so completely out of kilter with modern multicultural Britain and the secular character that it has today,” he said. “They believe that most of the modern world is morally decrepit and degenerate, whether it’s abortion or gay marriage or even just trying to form any kind of relationship with Catholics; they find these things very difficult.” |
| The Democratic Unionist Party was founded in 1971 as a radical, hard-line Protestant political faction in the “Troubles,” a 30-year sectarian conflict fought from 1968 mainly between Catholics who wanted an all-Ireland republic and Protestants determined to keep Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom, along with Scotland, England and Wales. | The Democratic Unionist Party was founded in 1971 as a radical, hard-line Protestant political faction in the “Troubles,” a 30-year sectarian conflict fought from 1968 mainly between Catholics who wanted an all-Ireland republic and Protestants determined to keep Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom, along with Scotland, England and Wales. |
| At least 3,532 people, most of them civilians, lost their lives to paramilitary killings and terrorist bombings, with the violence at times spilling over into England and the Republic of Ireland. | At least 3,532 people, most of them civilians, lost their lives to paramilitary killings and terrorist bombings, with the violence at times spilling over into England and the Republic of Ireland. |
| The party’s founder was Ian Paisley, a self-made evangelical preacher whose virulently sectarian speeches, and sometimes violent demonstrations, helped stoke interfaith tensions in the early years of the Troubles. | The party’s founder was Ian Paisley, a self-made evangelical preacher whose virulently sectarian speeches, and sometimes violent demonstrations, helped stoke interfaith tensions in the early years of the Troubles. |
| Yet, for all Mr. Paisley’s anti-Catholic rhetoric (which moderated later in life), the religious conflict that truly defines the birth, growth and eventual triumph of his movement is not the struggle between Protestant and Catholic, but the bitter local rift between rival Protestant traditions. | Yet, for all Mr. Paisley’s anti-Catholic rhetoric (which moderated later in life), the religious conflict that truly defines the birth, growth and eventual triumph of his movement is not the struggle between Protestant and Catholic, but the bitter local rift between rival Protestant traditions. |
| The patrician Ulster Unionist party, which ruled Northern Ireland after its creation in 1922, was dominated by wealthier, gentrified members of the Church of Ireland, the local Anglican Communion. But Mr. Paisley’s supporters came from dissenter stock: Presbyterians, Methodists and evangelical Protestants whose British ancestors colonized Catholic Ireland during the 17th-century wars of religion. | The patrician Ulster Unionist party, which ruled Northern Ireland after its creation in 1922, was dominated by wealthier, gentrified members of the Church of Ireland, the local Anglican Communion. But Mr. Paisley’s supporters came from dissenter stock: Presbyterians, Methodists and evangelical Protestants whose British ancestors colonized Catholic Ireland during the 17th-century wars of religion. |
| Uncompromisingly hostile to “papism” and liberalism, resentful of the Church of Ireland’s ruling class, which had discriminated against their dissenter ancestors, yet fervently loyal to the military myths of the fading British Empire, these rank-and-file Protestants became increasingly out of sympathy with the more moderate Ulster Unionists and with the British government, which sought compromise among all factions. | Uncompromisingly hostile to “papism” and liberalism, resentful of the Church of Ireland’s ruling class, which had discriminated against their dissenter ancestors, yet fervently loyal to the military myths of the fading British Empire, these rank-and-file Protestants became increasingly out of sympathy with the more moderate Ulster Unionists and with the British government, which sought compromise among all factions. |
| In 1971, Mr. Paisley, who had already broken with the mainstream Presbyterians to found his own fundamentalist and evangelical Free Presbyterian Church, stepped in to fill the void. (He died in 2014.) | In 1971, Mr. Paisley, who had already broken with the mainstream Presbyterians to found his own fundamentalist and evangelical Free Presbyterian Church, stepped in to fill the void. (He died in 2014.) |
| Years later, the D.U.P. proved to be the main beneficiary of the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, which ended the Troubles. This deal stipulated that the largest Protestant and Catholic parties should jointly share power in Northern Ireland. But it soon became apparent that this would push voters from both sides to the political extremes, for fear of losing local influence to religious rivals. | Years later, the D.U.P. proved to be the main beneficiary of the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, which ended the Troubles. This deal stipulated that the largest Protestant and Catholic parties should jointly share power in Northern Ireland. But it soon became apparent that this would push voters from both sides to the political extremes, for fear of losing local influence to religious rivals. |
| The process appeared to reach a completion last week, when the Democratic Unionists took the last Westminster seats held by the rival Ulster Unionists. (Sinn Fein, the political wing of the disbanded Irish Republican Army, finished off the moderate nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party.) | The process appeared to reach a completion last week, when the Democratic Unionists took the last Westminster seats held by the rival Ulster Unionists. (Sinn Fein, the political wing of the disbanded Irish Republican Army, finished off the moderate nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party.) |
| For some, this was a poor outcome to a quarter-century of building peace in Northern Ireland. | For some, this was a poor outcome to a quarter-century of building peace in Northern Ireland. |
| “I think it’s a disaster for Ireland in that we are now back in the old sectarian swamp in the north, with one party effectively representing Protestants and another representing Catholics, and nothing moderate or nonsectarian in between,” said Andy Pollak, a former director of the Center for Cross Border Studies. | “I think it’s a disaster for Ireland in that we are now back in the old sectarian swamp in the north, with one party effectively representing Protestants and another representing Catholics, and nothing moderate or nonsectarian in between,” said Andy Pollak, a former director of the Center for Cross Border Studies. |
| Others take a more sanguine view of the party. Paul Bew, an emeritus professor of history at Queens University Belfast, said that many senior D.U.P. members and party cadres, including their leader, were Church of Ireland members who once belonged to the Ulster Unionists. For Protestants who want to work in politics in Northern Ireland, he says, the D.U.P. is now the pragmatic choice of party. | Others take a more sanguine view of the party. Paul Bew, an emeritus professor of history at Queens University Belfast, said that many senior D.U.P. members and party cadres, including their leader, were Church of Ireland members who once belonged to the Ulster Unionists. For Protestants who want to work in politics in Northern Ireland, he says, the D.U.P. is now the pragmatic choice of party. |
| “They are not Attila the Hun,” he said. “They’ve been doing deals with Sinn Fein for 10 years now. Some people who are not paying attention think they are as they were 30 years ago. I’m not saying they are now liberals, but they’ve come a long way since then.” | “They are not Attila the Hun,” he said. “They’ve been doing deals with Sinn Fein for 10 years now. Some people who are not paying attention think they are as they were 30 years ago. I’m not saying they are now liberals, but they’ve come a long way since then.” |
| “They still have a religious base in various parts of the countryside, and they don’t want to alarm it,” he added, “but a lot of the people who are in the party are pragmatic, urban people.” | “They still have a religious base in various parts of the countryside, and they don’t want to alarm it,” he added, “but a lot of the people who are in the party are pragmatic, urban people.” |
| Since 2015, the D.U.P. has vetoed attempts to bring same-sex marriage legislation into effect in Northern Ireland, after a successful referendum in the Republic of Ireland that year to legalize gay marriage. | Since 2015, the D.U.P. has vetoed attempts to bring same-sex marriage legislation into effect in Northern Ireland, after a successful referendum in the Republic of Ireland that year to legalize gay marriage. |
| A similar law was passed in Westminster in 2013, but the D.U.P. blocked it in Northern Ireland. The party has also blocked attempts to extend Westminster’s 1967 Abortion Act — which legalized abortion in the rest of the United Kingdom — to Northern Ireland. | A similar law was passed in Westminster in 2013, but the D.U.P. blocked it in Northern Ireland. The party has also blocked attempts to extend Westminster’s 1967 Abortion Act — which legalized abortion in the rest of the United Kingdom — to Northern Ireland. |
| Although the D.U.P. supported Brexit in last year’s referendum, few Irish observers, north or south, think the D.U.P. really wants a “hard” Brexit, a total separation from European markets and customs unions. | Although the D.U.P. supported Brexit in last year’s referendum, few Irish observers, north or south, think the D.U.P. really wants a “hard” Brexit, a total separation from European markets and customs unions. |
| This would almost certainly require the reintroduction of border controls between northern and southern Ireland, damaging the local economies and perhaps rekindling violence. | This would almost certainly require the reintroduction of border controls between northern and southern Ireland, damaging the local economies and perhaps rekindling violence. |
| Beyond that, the price that the D.U.P. will demand for supporting a new British government remains a matter of pure conjecture. | Beyond that, the price that the D.U.P. will demand for supporting a new British government remains a matter of pure conjecture. |
| “They don’t really need anything,” Professor Bew said. “A bit more investment, maybe.” | “They don’t really need anything,” Professor Bew said. “A bit more investment, maybe.” |
| He added, “Northern Ireland gets £10 billion a year from the U.K. Exchequer, and that needs to continue. Everything else is peanuts.” |