Major Ronald Terence Bunting (1924–1984) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer and unionist political figure in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. Bunting was commissioned into the

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

and Down

Army Cadet Force The Army Cadet Force (ACF), generally shortened to Army Cadets, is a national youth organisation sponsored by the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence and the British Army. Along with the Sea Cadet Corps and the Air Training Corps, the ACF mak ...

in May 1946 and resigned in March 1950 when he transferred to the

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is a corps of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's Professional Engineers". History Prior to REME's for ...

as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

. He was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in 1952 and retired with the honorary rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in 1960. After leaving the army he worked as a mathematics lecturer in the Belfast College of Technology. Bunting's first involvement with politics was as election agent to

Republican Labour Party The Republican Labour Party (RLP) was a political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1964, with two MPs at Stormont, Harry Diamond and Gerry Fitt. They had previously been the sole Northern Ireland representatives of the Socialist R ...

Gerry Fitt Gerard Fitt, Baron Fitt (9 April 1926 – 26 August 2005) was a politician in Northern Ireland. He was a founder and the first leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), a social democratic and Irish nationalist party. Early year ...

,David Boulton, ''The UVF, 1966-73: An Anatomy of Loyalist Rebellion'', Gill and Macillan, 1973, p. 71 although he broke from Fitt and became a close associate of

Ian Paisley Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, (6 April 1926 – 12 September 2014) was a Northern Irish loyalist politician and Protestant religious leader who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 1971 to 2008 and First ...

, playing a leading role in Paisley's campaigns against the

Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association ) was an organisation that campaigned for civil rights in Northern Ireland during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Formed in Belfast on 9 April 1967,

, as well as running unsuccessfully for the

Protestant Unionist Party The Protestant Unionist Party (PUP)Not to be confused with the Progressive Unionist Party. was a unionist political party operating in Northern Ireland from 1966 to 1971. It was the forerunner of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and emerged ...

in the Northern Ireland general election of 1969 in Belfast Victoria. Bunting had his own

Ulster loyalist Ulster loyalism is a strand of Ulster unionism associated with working class Ulster Protestants in Northern Ireland. Like other unionists, loyalists support the continued existence of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom, and oppose a uni ...

strong-arm group which he dubbed the ''Loyal Citizens of Ulster''. The LCU, which existed between 1968 and 1969, was little more than another name for the East

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

arm of the

Ulster Protestant Volunteers The Ulster Protestant Volunteers was a Ulster loyalism, loyalist and Reformed fundamentalism, Reformed fundamentalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. They were active between 1966 and 1969 and closely linked to the Ulster Constitution Def ...

. As head of this group, Bunting led the protests against many civil rights marches, most notably the 1969

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

march organised by People's Democracy, which resulted in a particularly bloody confrontation at Burntollet. In a fiery court case in 1969, Bunting was sentenced to three months' imprisonment along with Paisley for his role in the disturbances."On This Day"
''The Times'', 28 January 1969. Bunting's son

Ronnie Ronnie may refer to: *Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name * "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe *"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album '' Load'' *Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadium ...

would go on to serve as a member of the

Official Irish Republican Army The Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA (OIRA; ) was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary group whose goal was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a "socialist state, workers' republic" en ...

and the

Irish National Liberation Army The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA, ga, Arm Saoirse Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group formed on 10 December 1974, during the 30-year period of conflict known as "the Troubles". The group seek ...

before he was shot dead by the

Ulster Defence Association The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalism, Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and Timeline of Ulster Defence Association act ...

(UDA) in 1980. Following his son's death, Major Bunting took no further role in politics but later told an inquest he felt his son was killed because of his belief in

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

.Martin Dillon (1991), ''The Dirty War''. Routledge (re-released 17 March 1999), p. 270; /

References

External links

Ronald Bunting
at RTÉ archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Bunting, Ronald 1924 births 1984 deaths Army Cadet Force officers Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers officers Politicians from Northern Ireland 20th-century politicians from Northern Ireland British politicians convicted of crimes Date of birth missing Date of death missing Place of birth missing Place of death missing Ulster Protestant Volunteers members