I’ve a piece in Saturday’s News Letter, as part of that paper’s focus on Unionism in 2021. At its core, I argue that Unionists, and Nationalists for that matter, in Northern Ireland have been living vicariously off the virtues of their own ideas of their mother state for years, but that:
Increasingly, our politics will be about being good in government, and making strong coherent choices that enhance rather than blight the future.
As 2021 dawns, our choices should be a great deal richer than those we have today.
Whilst I don’t expect political unionism to collapse, it should by then have developed a more urbane and relaxed mein towards a constitutional matter that ultimately is more likely to be decided by deliberation rather than bloody revolution.
And unionists may, by then, be in the enviable position of deciding for themselves which way they vote on the basis of what’s good for the people of Northern Ireland.
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty
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