The paradox of loyalist prostate paramilitarism

Résumé du document

"The British should realise that we will not accept Dublin interference in our affairs. The potential for Protestant violence is as great now as it always as". These two sentences, taken from an interview of the Loyalist leader John McMichael in 1985, illustrate the contradiction of Loyalist ideology. McMichael was threatening Margaret Thatcher, the British Prime Minister, to use violence although his political engagement would mean that he obeyed to all the British state's decisions, since he made out he was Ulster loyalist. According to Sarah Nelson, loyalists are not "those who gave unequivocal loyalty to governments at Stormont and Westminster" but rather "Protestants who have opposed concessions to the Catholic minority, condemned links between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, and resisted Wesminster's attempts to enforce political change" (p. 9). Actually, Ulster loyalism is divided into two parts: evangelical and paramilitary.

There are two main loyalist paramilitary organisations, the UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force) and the UDA (Ulster Defence Association). The UDA was created in early 1970 to protect Protestant enclaves of Belfast, during the worst of the violence in Northern Ireland. According to the members
of the UVF, this organisation descent from a private army created in 1912 by Sir Edward Carson and Sir James Craig, and its initial purpose was to oppose British authorities' desire of granting "Home Rule" to Ireland. Hence, one can observe that loyalist's termination of British policies which give to Irish Catholic a larger autonomy is not totally new in the 1970s. However, according to Sarah Nelson, in this decade there is a "curious" shift: loyalist groups more and more advocate for an "independent Ulster", which means that some consider themselves more Ulster Protestants than British. Both the UDA and the UVF are characterized by using illegal actions, such as bombing or killing, generally meeting violence with violence. Indeed, they are defensive groups which respond to Provisional or Official IRA's attacks. Even if they claim to revere British law and authority, they break the law if they consider it is necessary.

Extraits

[...] The Ulster Protestant identity is deeply characterized by the hatred against Irish Catholics. Indeed, they increasingly think that British authorities want to give the North to the Irish Republic, after the introduction of direct rule in 19722, the imposition of the Sunningdale agreement in 19743 and the official negotiations with the IRA. Steve Bruce explains that “rather than take the view desired by Unionists that the state should see itself as the protector of those of its citizens who are loyal to it, 3/5 http://en.oboulo.com the British state has often presented itself as a neutral party”. [...]

[...] Loyalist pro-state paramilitaries claim to be loyal to Britain but they consider that they can act against the British state. The loyalist paramilitaries form defensive troops whose the main goal is to take the place of the legal British army if the events make this action necessary. When the British state is perceived to do not be able or, most notably, unwilling to defend itself against its opponents, loyalist paramilitaries decide to intervene. The UVF and the UDA develop a private violence, beyond a legal control, since they are not branches of state's security force. [...]

[...] They would be lazy, religious zealots, violent or even subhuman. Basically, loyalist terrorists consider Catholics as enemies. This distinction between friends and enemies constitutes the essence of Carl Schmitt's political thought. In The Concept of the Political, the German philosopher argues that the notion of politics has to be separated from the state, since the latter presupposes the former, and has rather to be associated with the concept of public enmity. Loyalist terrorists consider that all Catholic Irish people are the Protestant community's enemies, whatever their political opinion. [...]

[...] Instead of killing activist Republicans, their victims are generally ordinary Catholic civilians. The fact that Republicans are illegally and secretly organised and divided into small groups explains why Loyalists encounter difficulties to find suitable targets. On the opposite, the Republicans can easily identify symbols and representatives of the British state. But also this state compete with these terrorist organisations. The UVF and the UDA, in spite of their label of 'pro state' terrorism, are weakened by the state which, trough institutions such as the Army or the Police, is able to propose to young Protestants lucrative means to defend their community. [...]

[...] Actually, Ulster loyalism is divided into two parts: evangelical and paramilitary. There are two main loyalist paramilitary organisations, the UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force) and the UDA (Ulster Defence Association). The UDA was created in early 1970 to protect Protestant enclaves of Belfast, during the worst of the violence in Northern Ireland. According to the members of the UVF, this organisation descent from a private army created in 1912 by Sir Edward Carson and Sir James Craig, and its initial purpose was to oppose British authorities' desire of granting “Home Rule” to Ireland. [...]