Democratic Unionist Party

The DUP evolved from the Protestant Unionist Party and has historically strong links to the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster, the church Paisley founded. During the Troubles, the DUP were opposed to power-sharing with Irish nationalists or republicans as a means of resolving the conflict, and likewise rejected attempts to involve the Republic of Ireland in Northern Irish affairs. It campaigned against the Sunningdale Agreement of 1973, the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985, and the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. In 2006, the DUP co-signed the St Andrews Agreement and agreed to share power with the republican party Sinn Fein who agreed to support the Police Service, courts, and rule of law.