Category Archives: Protestantism, unionism and loyalism

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

Don’t the DUP realise they are hanging on to the Union by their fingertips?

Posted on Tuesday, 1 December, 2020 by andypollak

22 years ago, in the months after the Good Friday Agreement, there was a real feeling of hope in Northern Ireland. Seamus Mallon had sensed it when he talked to people in the streets of Omagh, Ballymoney and Poyntzpass after … Continue reading →

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

Could the Irish language be a tool for reconciliation in Northern Ireland?

Posted on Friday, 1 May, 2020 by andypollak

Tá beagán Gaeilge agam. Tá me ag foghlaim. Is teanga an-deachair í ach tá rún daingean agam leanúint ar aghaidh. I have been learning Irish for two and a half years, and finding it tough going at my relatively advanced … Continue reading →

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

Fear of Irish nationalism is now the main obstacle to a united Ireland

Posted on Friday, 3 January, 2020 by andypollak

Fear is the main obstacle to the age-old dream of a peaceful united Ireland becoming a reality: unionists’ fear of Irish nationalism. In the first week of what many nationalists hope will  be a momentous decade, marking major movement towards … Continue reading →

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

Are the Unionists in the last chance saloon, or will Alliance come to the rescue?

Posted on Tuesday, 17 December, 2019 by andypollak

I was delighted to see the centre ground, represented by the SDLP and Alliance, doing so well in last week’s British general election in Northern Ireland: the former giving Sinn Fein and the DUP a drubbing in Foyle and South … Continue reading →

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