Special supplement on the Ulster Covenant

This document, brainchild of Lord Edward Carson and others within the Ulster Unionist Council, saw the Protestant community in the northern section of Ireland pledge to resist the implementation of Home Rule in the country, “by whatever means necessary.”

The decade between 1912-1922 in Ireland still bristles with resonance to this day. It saw civil war loom as a real possibility on the island and the formation and arming of the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Irish Volunteer Force.

Only the intervention of the First World War and the subsequent slaughter in the trenches of the 36th Ulster Division and the Irish Division prevented catastrophic internecine warfare in Ireland. In the mist of the war, Irish republicans also staged the Easter Rising of 1916, that would lead to the Irish War of Independence and the eventual partition of the island.

In Londonderry, thousands flocked to the many registration centres in the city to sign the Covenant within a period of great flux and indeed violence. Thousands in the city, in Donegal and in Limavady also flocked to join the UVF.

On September 28, 2012, it will be 100 years since the Covenant was signed on what was known as Ulster Day. In examining this, the next edition of the Londonderry Sentinel, September 19, 2012, will produce a special 12 page supplement on how the events of the time effected this city.

Interviews with members the unionist political parties, the UUP and DUP, the Apprentice Boys of Derry and the Orange Order, and contributions from local historians such as Trevor Temple and Tony Crowe will mean this is an edition that cannot be missed by anyone with an interest in the events of the time.