Democratic Unionist Party

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP ) is currently (2012 ) most radical Protestant and Unionist Party in Northern Ireland.

Founder is Rev. Ian Paisley, is chaired by Peter Robinson.

The DUP occurs politically for the status quo, ie, for a province of Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom. She is committed to the vote of the majority in Northern Ireland. This is Protestant, unlike the majority of Christians in the Republic of Ireland - a small Evangelical Free Church, the Free Presbyterian Church, was founded as a spin-off from the dominant Presbyterian Church of Paisley itself. It is usually unionist, that is advocates the continuation of the constitutional order in Northern Ireland. Therefore refers to the union between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.

In the regional elections of November 2003 succeeded the DUP for the first time to exceed the UUP in favor of the voters. Observers see this as a radicalization of the majority population of Northern Ireland; others see more of a personal vote of confidence in Paisley. In the general election on 6 May 2010, the party won 25 % of the vote and 8 ( of 18) seats in Northern Ireland. You now represents almost half of the Northern Irish contingent in the House. From the Northern Irish state elections in March 2007, the DUP went as expected as the strongest party and won 36 of the 108 seats. In the subsequent Northern Irish state elections in 2011 it reached 38 mandates.

The DUP calls, in particular the disarmament of the IRA. At the same time it calls on the Irish republican party Sinn Féin, to distance themselves from armed violence and therefore by the IRA.