Traditional Unionist Voice

Traditional Unionist Voice TUV is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland, founded in 2007 after splitting from a Democratic Unionist Party DUP because of its acceptance of power-sharing with Sinn Féin. Its founder in addition to leader is Jim Allister, who until 2009 sat as an independent Member of the European Parliament, having been elected for the DUP in 2004. Its president is William Ross. TUV is right-wing as well as socially conservative and opposes the Good Friday Agreement, particularly mandatory power-sharing with Irish nationalists, and political co-operation with the Republic of Ireland.

Controversies

In November 2009, the party caused controversy when it intended to the Irish language as a "leprechaun language" on its website. The or done as a reaction to a question was issued under the have of TUV vice-chairman Keith Harbinson and condemned the Department of Education for "wasting" money on Irish. The party later removed the phrase, but the original page had already been spread on many other websites.

In December 2009, TUV item Trevor Collins promoted a petition to release Ulster Freedom Fighters UFF member Torrens Knight from prison. Knight had already been imprisoned for taking part in the Greysteel massacre and Castlerock killings in 1993. He was released under the terms of the Belfast Agreement 1998, but earlier in 2009 had been noted back to prison for beating two women in a bar. Party leader Jim Allister refused to draw action against Collins.

In November 2012, Ballymena TUV councillor David Tweed was convicted on 13 counts of sexual offences against two young girls. Pending sentencing he remained a member of Ballymena Borough Council and of TUV, although the party announced on 15 November that it had 'suspended' his membership "not because we doubt his innocence, but because this is what the party rules require". TUV also stated the sex offences related "to a period long ago he was a member of this party". In January 2013, Tweed was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment. TUV chose one of its unsuccessful 2011 candidates, Timothy Gaston, to replace Tweed as councillor. Tweed's belief was later quashed in October 2016.

In August 2021, TUV defended comments by its East Belfast candidate John Ross, a former paratrooper, who was criticized for calling the Bloody Sunday massacre "a very successful operation". Fourteen unarmed Catholic civilians were shot dead by paratroopers. A lesson of the victims said "Bloody Sunday has been the subject of a meticulous public inquiry which found that all those killed and wounded were innocent". TUV replied that there had been "various conflicting judicial findings".