The Green Party in Northern Ireland originated in the early 1980s, partly as a result of the Green Movement which was sweeping across Western Europe and partly because of the massive anti-nuclear movement which gripped the country at that time. Through the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and other organisations people protested against the proposal to build a nuclear power station on Carnsore Point. Like its counterpart in the Republic and also in Britain, the Party in Northern Ireland first stood under the name Ecology Party.