The PUP added a cosmopolitan touch to its annual conference in east Belfast, with signs welcoming visitors in German, French and Ulster-Scots.
This sophistication didn't impress everybody. "I'm a Shankill Road man. I can hardly speak Northern Irish never mind anything else," said Robert. "You try and read them bloody signs, they're confusing. That Ulster-Scots is like Gaelic back-to-front," complained another member.
About 200 delegates were at the conference on Saturday. The age-profile was very different from that of other unionist party conferences, with many delegates in their 20s and 30s. Only Sinn Fein has a stronger youth turn-out.
But the PUP resembled its republican counterpart in other ways. There were visitors from Nicaragua, Mozambique and South Africa. Billy Hutchinson introduced them with pride as "former combatants". They received warm applause from a community getting used to making friends in unlikely places.
The new loyalism was also looking health-conscious with smoking banned in the conference hall. After every speech, a huge chunk of delegates trundled out to the car-park for a smoke.
Inside, Mr Hutchinson was forecasting that the Ulster Unionists, practitioners of "high politics", would not be able to deal with post-agreement Northern Ireland and the PUP would give republicans a run for their money in terms of grassroots activism.
But the PUP had something in common with the Sinn Fein of 15 years ago, in that journalists were allowed in only for the major speeches and were barred from all the debates. "Some of our people are a wee bit nervous of the media," explained one nice woman.