For a generation, unionist parties competed on who looked toughest. The Garvaghy Road standoff suggests that has changed. Jon Burrows has made restraint look like strength, and the DUP now faces pressure from both sides. A game-theory look at how the three unionist parties responded.
Gavin Robinson’s call for unionist electoral co-operation looks back to a past that no longer exists. After the muted response to Drumcree, a growing pro-union constituency wants delivery, consensus and a working Good Friday Agreement rather than “circle the wagons” pacts. This piece asks why the UUP would tie itself to the DUP and TUV.
Casement Park is demolished and unbuilt, and the SDLP is fighting a sitting MLA in its own ranks. The nationalist vote has barely moved since 1998, even as unionism has declined. Now Jon Burrows is talking up Northern Ireland’s future and challenging Michelle O’Neill to debate it. Nationalism talks up an imminent border poll but has no policy map to get there.
The latest LucidTalk poll gets read as unionism in decline. Look at the blocs instead: unionism’s problem is fragmentation, nationalism’s is quieter and harder, and both the DUP and Sinn Féin are both paying for a partnership that delivers nothing.
My dad died two days before Christmas in 2023. On the day of his funeral rain poured from the heavens. We waded through thick mud to get to his grave. “Christ,” my brother remarked, “it’s like the f**king Somme.” In Northern Ireland, protestant burials are often small, private affairs. Only close family go and you must be invited to attend. When we arrived, we expected a small number of people. To our surprise, there was a crowd. My dad was …
Northern Ireland’s unionist parties face a reckoning — caught between reactive politics and the collaborative vision of the Good Friday Agreement. Without a credible strategy or genuine commitment to its three strands, political unionism risks permanent decline.
David McNarry, former advisor to FM David Trimble and a former Strangford MLA for UUP/UKIP argues Unionism’s fractured political landscape may have found its wildcard — but will Nigel Farage’s Reform UK have the courage to play it? It is true that in ceding political primacy to nationalist and republicans, unionists have paid a heavy price. Cringeworthy is the woeful state of unionist representation in the NI Assembly, Belfast City Council and across local councils. And yet the divided party …
As calls for Unionist unity and electoral pacts resurface ahead of the 2026 elections, Terry argues that political unionism is trapped in a “mental bloc.” The movement is failing to engage a new generation of pro-union voters who value cultural hybridity over old denominational structures. Is unionist re-alignment a path to renewal, or merely the final throes of a tired ritual?
Within minutes of starting, the 220 seats in the Crowne Plaza ballroom were nearly full of Ulster Unionist members and conference observers. (The back row filled first.) The defeated Slovakian football team had spent the night in the hotel, and at times it felt like the UUP delegates will similarly tired and jaded. While the attendance will have pleased organisers – who followed the SDLP pattern of not streaming the conference online – and the morning’s smorgasbord of speakers were …
Mike Nesbitt MLA is the Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, ahead of the party conference he writes for Slugger On the week of the 2025 Ulster Unionist Party Conference, I offer some thoughts to Slugger readers, inspired by the movie, 4 Weddings and a Funeral (I hope you don’t have to look it up, but, in fairness, it’s as old as the 1994 ceasefires and my children don’t remember that either). Irony One is that the biggest obstacle to …
The UUP conference began with a closed session that was supposed to ratify Mike Nesbitt as their new leader. The suggestion that he’d rather wait until he could address the members in person seemed to be ignored, and a vote to ratify him went ahead. It was one of a number of semi-chaotic moments. The agenda stretched from eleven o’clock to half past three, with a series of panels and speeches, a long lunch break, and a guest speaker slot …
UUP plan to have new leader in place by 14 September at an extraordinary general meeting pic.twitter.com/8z1JgR1oSb — Jayne McCormack (@BBCJayneMcC) August 20, 2024 David McCannDavid McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs
Elections are won by the party (or coalition of parties) which can attract the most support and agree a common programme. This applies whether you have a two-party state or a multi-party state. Sinn Fein have faced this in the Dail where they have been the equal-largest party, but Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael would rather set aside their historic differences and work together than form a coalition with Sinn Fein. In US politics, where the bell curve of left …
Representatives from the five main parties gathered at UTV today in the first local debate ahead of the General Election on July 4th. John Finucane for Sinn Fein, Colum Eastwood for the SDLP, Naomi Long for the Alliance Party, Robbie Butler for the UUP, and Gavin Robinson for the DUP. The debate was divided into three themes: influence at Westminster, Executive finances and a border poll. An interesting aspect of the debate was some of the participants’ different and laid-back …
David McCann and Peter Donaghy look at how the proposed new constituency boundaries could impact the next election results in Northern Ireland David McCannDavid McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs
Doug Beattie is the Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party As we move into the second week of September and Westminster have a week under their belt, following recess, the problems facing Northern Ireland mount. Education is facing major problems, our health and social care lurches from crisis to crisis and the Police Service of Northern Ireland is in turmoil. Politicians must take their fair share of responsibility for the mess we find ourselves in. In just one month the …
Slugger TV 14th July 2023 from Northern Visions NvTv on Vimeo UUP Leader, Doug Beattie chats with me about pacts, unionism and the future of the UUP. David McCannDavid McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs
Slugger TV 26th May 2023 from Northern Visions NvTv on Vimeo. Slugger TV looks at LE23 with Brendan Hughes and Sarah Creighton David McCannDavid McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs
We are back! The Slugger Party Election Broadcast Review has returned to give its assessment of the party election broadcasts of the 2023 local elections. A valuable public service to election nerds and people who have devoted hours and days of effort to create these three minute wonders. A bit like the Eurovision Song Contest, high scores aren’t any indication of likely success at the ballot box. It’s a somewhat tongue-in-cheek look at the aesthetics and impact of one aspect …
Sam McBride, Gareth Gordon, Mark Carruthers and myself looked at the battle within Unionism for the upcoming Local Elections. You can watch the segment from The View last night but to listen to the full thing visit the BBC Red Lines website. David McCannDavid McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs
