Unionism is in crisis in Northern Ireland - and Sinn Fin is becoming an election-winning machine
The Guardian Northern Ireland was created to secure an in-built Protestant and unionist majority. When, in the early 1930s, the Ulster Unionist MP Basil Brooke told his constituents not to employ Catholics, Northern Irelands prime minister, James Craig, commented: I would not ask him to withdraw one word he said.
How times change. Last Saturday, Sinn Fin became the largest party of local government in Northern Ireland. The party now has 144 seats across local councils, as opposed to the Democratic Unionist partys 122. This comes on the back of last years local assembly election when Michelle ONeill, deputy leader of Sinn Fin, became Northern Irelands first minister-designate. The nationalist vote outpolled the unionist vote for the first time. Now, Belfast city council, a traditional unionist stronghold, has only 17 unionist councillors out of 60 seats. Historic is the only word for it.
The results reflect a fact: Northern Ireland is slowly changing beyond recognition. The census results last year show that Catholics outnumber Protestants for the first time. The younger generation are more likely to be from a Catholic, nationalist background and identify as Irish or Northern Irish, rather than British. The unionist support base is older and gradually shrinking. Crucially, there is a growing middle ground full of voters who identify as neither unionist nor nationalist.
