The Ulster Movement for Self-Determination was a minor Ulster nationalist political movement 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 ...

. The UMSD was formed in 1986, after emerging from the

Ulster Clubs The Ulster Clubs was the name given to a network of Unionist organisations founded in Northern Ireland in November 1985. Emerging from an earlier group based in Portadown, the Ulster Clubs briefly mobilised wide support across Northern Ireland an ...

. The group took as its emblem a map of the nine

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

and, in contrast to other strains of

Ulster nationalism Ulster nationalism is a minor school of thought in the politics of Northern Ireland that seeks the independence of Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom without joining the Republic of Ireland, thereby becoming an independent sovereign s ...

that have developed, felt that independence for Northern Ireland should be accompanied by

repartition Repartition (russian: передел, translit=peredel) was a practice in the Russian Empire of the periodic redistribution of the peasant's arable land by the village community. The traditional household did not permanently hold a particular a ...

, creating the historic Ulster as an independent state by also incorporating the counties of

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Bally ...

Donegal Donegal may refer to: County Donegal, Ireland * County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster * Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland * Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...

and

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It also provides the name of its Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish and Monaghan (barony), barony. The population of the town as of the 2016 census was 7 ...

from the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

. This position was confirmed by an anonymous UMSD spokesman who described the three counties as "our rightful heritage" in an interview with John Coulter of the ''Sunday News'' in 1987. In a further interview the following year Coulter said that the spokesman suggested either the Reverend Hugh Ross or

David Trimble William David Trimble, Baron Trimble, (15 October 1944 – 25 July 2022) was a British politician who was the first First Minister of Northern Ireland from 1998 to 2002, and leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) from 1995 to 2005. He was ...

as a potential leader for the proposed independent state. The UMSD, which grew out of

Ulster loyalism 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 ...

but never had the backing of any paramilitary group (or indeed, even minor support), failed to gain any foothold in Northern Irish politics and was gone by 1994. The actual fate of the group is unclear, although it has been suggested that it formed the basis of the

Ulster Independence Committee The Ulster Independence Movement was an Ulster nationalist political party founded (as the Ulster Independence Committee) on 17 November 1988. The group emerged from the Ulster Clubs, after a series of 15 public meetings across Northern Ireland ...

and was thus effectively replaced by the higher profile

Ulster Independence Movement The Ulster Independence Movement was an Ulster nationalist political party founded (as the Ulster Independence Committee) on 17 November 1988. The group emerged from the Ulster Clubs, after a series of 15 public meetings across Northern Ireland ...

.McPhilemy, ''The Committee'', p. 30

References

Defunct political parties in Northern Ireland Political parties established in 1986 Ulster nationalism 1986 establishments in Northern Ireland {{NorthernIreland-party-stub