Category Archives: Protestantism, unionism and loyalism

The Orange Order is part of Ireland and will be part of a united Ireland – we need to build bridges to it, not demonise it

Posted on Monday, 29 September, 2025 by andypollak

The Mail on Sunday (Irish edition) is not everybody’s idea of a truth-telling newspaper (that’s an understatement). They had a front-page ‘exclusive’ earlier this month entitled ‘Humphreys Husband’s Secret Orange Order Past’ about the Fine Gael presidential candidate Heather Humphreys’ … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Northern Ireland, Protestantism, unionism and loyalism | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Is it fanciful to imagine that Donegal might serve as a model for a harmonious united Ireland?

Posted on Thursday, 24 July, 2025 by andypollak

Is it totally fanciful to imagine that Donegal might serve as a model for a harmonious united Ireland? I have just returned after a week’s cycling in that beautiful northernmost county, where this unlikely notion was among my passing thoughts … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Protestantism, unionism and loyalism, Republic of Ireland, The island environment | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

My home town of Ballymena is a citadel of racism and bigotry

Posted on Friday, 13 June, 2025 by andypollak

Ballymena is my home town. I left it as a small child when my parents took me to London, and I have lived for most of the past 50 years in Dublin. But, for better or worse, it still has … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Northern Ireland, Protestantism, unionism and loyalism | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Four wise voices from moderate nationalism and sensible unionism

Posted on Monday, 28 October, 2024 by andypollak

Moderate, sensible, cautionary voices from Irish nationalism and Ulster unionism are rare enough. But they are still out there. In the past month I have been reading or listening to four of them: a former Tánaiste, a Southern Protestant, a … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Protestantism, unionism and loyalism | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Talking to a Northern Protestant woman who is passionate about Irish language and culture

Posted on Wednesday, 2 October, 2024 by andypollak

Catherine Pollock (no relation – different spelling) from Derry is an unusual and remarkable woman. From a working class unionist background, she now works for the Irish language and cultural organisation Cultúrlann. She says of herself: “I’m not a unionist, … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland, Protestantism, unionism and loyalism | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Why not a loyalist woman as the symbol of the ‘new Ireland’? Why not Bessie Burgess?

Posted on Thursday, 3 August, 2023 by andypollak

I was in Galway last month to see the brilliant production by the Druid theatre company of Sean O’Casey’s classic play set during the 1916 Rising: The Plough and the Stars. This is the tragic story of Jack Clitheroe, who … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland, Protestantism, unionism and loyalism, Republic of Ireland | 3 Comments

Talking to a broad-minded sporting unionist who defies all the Southern stereotypes

Posted on Thursday, 9 March, 2023 by andypollak

Brian Dougherty is a unionist. This Derry community worker says he is more determined in his unionism than he has ever been. Yet in every other way he goes against the narrow stereotype that most people in the South have … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Northern Ireland, Protestantism, unionism and loyalism | 2 Comments

A united Ireland will have to include unionists – so let’s get on with the difficult task of including them

Posted on Monday, 16 January, 2023 by andypollak

I will be surprised if I see a united Ireland in my lifetime (I am in my early seventies). But the direction of travel is unmistakable. The history-changing reasons have been well rehearsed: the growth of the Catholic population – … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Irish reunification, Northern Ireland, Protestantism, unionism and loyalism | 8 Comments

Ulster loyalism feeling abandoned, betrayed and in perpetual crisis

Posted on Thursday, 8 December, 2022 by andypollak

Ulster loyalism is in crisis – but then when in recent years has it not been in crisis? Opinion in working class and rural areas has hardened against the Northern Ireland Protocol, which has given DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Northern Ireland, Protestantism, unionism and loyalism | 4 Comments

Unionism unloved and unbowed, and the rise and rise of Alliance

Posted on Monday, 28 February, 2022 by andypollak

“Unwanted and unloved, Unionists are unbowed…but Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal is just the latest example of many in Britain kicking unionism and then being loved even more strongly in return”. That was the headline above a Belfast Telegraph column by … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Northern Ireland, Protestantism, unionism and loyalism | 1 Comment