Neither/Nor: The rejection of Unionist and Nationalist identities in post-Agreement Northern Ireland

Abstract

Since 2006, according to the Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, the largest portion of people in Northern Ireland identify themselves as neither Unionist nor Nationalist but as 'Neither'. This fact is difficult to tally with the patterns of polarised election results and the narratives of a 'culture war' that dominate most analyses of contemporary Northern Ireland. This article examines the existence of this large portion of the population in Northern Ireland who reject the identities upon which the 1998 Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement is centred. We find that those identifying as Neither Unionist nor Nationalist are predominantly female, they come from all religious backgrounds, all age groups, all national identities (though predominantly both British and Irish). The clear majority of those who identify as Neither Nationalist nor Unionist appear to be rejecting what is on offer from the political parties in Northern Ireland. The article concludes that the 1998 Agreement has created the conditions for a growing number of people to identify as Neither Unionist nor Nationalist, but at the same time it makes the emergence of any strong alternative, 'third way' type of politics difficult to envisage.

The institutional history of Milan metropolitan area

“…Finally, three commentaries on Agnew's paper offered by Katy Hayward, Anand Menon and Alan Wager, and Michael Keating provide plenty of food for thought. Hayward's (2020, in this issue) commentary on the implications for the island of Ireland complements further the sterling academic commentary offered by her and other co-writers on the implications of Brexit for Northern Ireland and the European Union member, the Republic of Ireland (Hayward & McManus, 2019). If many British commentators appeared indifferent or ignorant of the Irish dimension of Brexit, some of the sharpest commentaries about the state of the UK have come from Irish observers online and in print (e.g., Border Irish, 2019;O'Toole, 2019).…”

Staying with trouble

“…Finally, three commentaries on Agnew's paper offered by Katy Hayward, Anand Menon and Alan Wager, and Michael Keating provide plenty of food for thought. Hayward's (2020, in this issue) commentary on the implications for the island of Ireland complements further the sterling academic commentary offered by her and other co-writers on the implications of Brexit for Northern Ireland and the European Union member, the Republic of Ireland (Hayward & McManus, 2019). If many British commentators appeared indifferent or ignorant of the Irish dimension of Brexit, some of the sharpest commentaries about the state of the UK have come from Irish observers online and in print (e.g., Border Irish, 2019;O'Toole, 2019).…”

It’s Not Just the Taking Part that Counts: ‘Like Me’ Perceptions Connect the Wider Public to Minipublics

“…2 However, the debate on constitutional change remains largely focused on broad principles: beyond the binary question of change versus the status quo, little attention has been devoted to what ' change' might (or ought to) constitute. Moreover, in the wake of the Belfast Agreement, a declining proportion of the population define themselves as unionist or nationalist, leaving many citizens who might be open to persuasion on the best way forward (Hayward & McManus 2019).…”