By 1972 the situation in Northern Ireland had deteriorated considerably , and on 30 January thirteen civilians on a Civil Rights march in Derry were killed by the Parachute Regiment on Bloody Sunday . Three months later the Parliament of Northern Ireland and government were suspended , and later abolished , and replaced by Direct Rule . Within Unionism , Ian Paisley had entered electoral politics and quickly merged his Protestant Unionist Party into the new Democratic Unionist Party with former UUP MPs Desmond Boal and John McQuade . The new party quickly began to win support from the UUP , and since 1975 polled at least 10 % of the vote at elections
Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday (1972)
Unionism in Ireland