Category Archives: Protestantism, unionism and loyalism

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 | 3 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

A brave exploration of the plight of Northern Protestants

Posted on Thursday, 9 September, 2021 by andypollak

Over the summer I have been reading Susan McKay’s new book, Northern Protestants: On Shifting Ground. This is a brave and brilliant book. For those of us who have watched the decline and fall of the unionist monolith, and the … Continue reading →

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

Unionism is running out of both political and demographic road

Posted on Monday, 19 July, 2021 by andypollak

I should start by welcoming Sir Jeffrey Donaldson as the new leader of the DUP, following Edwin Poots’ brief and inglorious reign. Donaldson is the nearest that ultra-dogmatic party gets to a pragmatist: a courteous man from a modest County … Continue reading →

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

Two disturbing videos which show the huge gulf of misunderstanding between the peoples of Ireland

Posted on Thursday, 6 May, 2021 by andypollak

This week I watched two depressing and disturbing videos which reveal the huge gulf of mutual misunderstanding, ignorance and loathing that continue to exist between the peoples of this island. The first was a 46-second clip from the front runner … Continue reading →

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

The loyalist riots and London and Brussels’ ‘cloddish insensitivity’ to Irish concerns

Posted on Monday, 26 April, 2021 by andypollak

Now and again this writer comes across a blog by another author that is so apposite that he takes the liberty of reproducing it in full. I have done this recently with pieces by Paul Nolan and Duncan Morrow. The … Continue reading →

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

Is the UK exit from the EU an opportunity to turn Northern Unionists towards Europe (and Ireland)?

Posted on Friday, 1 January, 2021 by andypollak

So, four and a half years after the fateful Brexit vote the United Kingdom finally left the European Union on New Year’s Eve with a trade deal in place. The sometimes unfathomable Northern Ireland protocol (which is separate from this … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Ireland, Europe and the world, Northern Ireland, Protestantism, unionism and loyalism, Sinn Fein | 2 Comments