Religion and politics in Northern Ireland

Most Northern Irish people belong to one of two distinct factions: the Unionists or the Nationalists. External media tend to distinguish between these two factions by their main religious affiliation. Most Unionists are Protestants (Protestants) and most Nationalists are Catholics (Catholics). However, not all Catholics support the Nationalists and not all Protestants support the Unionists. Similar to other parts of Europe, the number of Catholics in Northern Ireland has plummeted in recent decades, but this has not diminished the divide between the two factions.

When Northern Ireland was formed in 1920, its geographic location made Unionists the majority there. Unionists were opposed to joining Ireland because they feared their position would be threatened if Northern Ireland did so, but since then the proportion of Catholics has increased and the proportion of Protestants has decreased.

Most Catholics support a merger with Ireland, but opinion polls have proved that there is also considerable support for remaining in the UK, although they continue to support the nationalist parties. Over the last 15 years this minority has been steadily reduced to 20%. Protestants who support a merger with Ireland are about 3 to 5%, but their numbers do not change much. There are also a number of people, especially Catholics, who are not very clear in their answers about the future status of Northern Ireland.

While elections in Northern Ireland are often seen in news reports as polls on the status of Northern Ireland, this view oversimplifies the situation on the ground. Voters often also think of elections as a way to improve their own social status or strengthen their associations.

Parties in Northern Ireland can be divided into two tiers: the nationalist parties are the Social Democratic Labor Party (SDLP), Sinn Féin, and a number of other smaller parties, and the unionist parties are the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), and a number of other smaller parties.

Sinn Fein (Sinn Fein) is theoretically an extreme socialist revolutionary party that aims to establish an all-Ireland socialist **** and state, and it is linked to the Irish **** and Army (IRA). Its constituency has traditionally been drawn mainly from the Catholic working class in the cities and some rural areas. Since the start of the IRA ceasefire in the mid-1990s it has expanded its influence considerably and gained many new supporters from the traditional SDLP electorate. Its experience of participating in government has deprived it of some of its ultra-revolutionary sharp edges, and in the European Parliament it is generally linked to the United Front of the European Left/Nordic Green Left, but is not a member of the Front.

The SDLP is nominally a standard social democratic party which is part of the European Socialist Party and Socialist International. But parties in Northern Ireland are not generally categorized based on social and economic class, so it has a multi-layered electorate, and it also has a middle-class electorate.The SDLP supports Irish integration, but opposes the use of force. The SDLP has lost many supporters over the last decade. There is currently a struggle within the party between the nationalist wing which is more inclined towards Sinn Fein and the renunciation of the nationalist wing.

There is a similar trend amongst the Unionists, with the more extreme DUP having the upper hand for some time over the more traditional UUP, a super-class popular party which was the ruling party in Northern Ireland from its establishment until 1972. From its establishment in the 1970s the DUP's main supporters were the middle classes.The UUP's members in the European Parliament belong to the European People's Party.

The DUP has a very mixed membership, with both devout rural supporters and irreligious urban supporters of workers. It is on the right on controversial issues such as abortion, the death penalty, the European Union and women's rights, and seems to be more enlightened on gay rights.The DUP's politics generally tends to be more helpful to its workers and rural constituents, with things such as free bus rides for the elderly and European Union funding for agriculture.The DUP has gained quite a bit of support in recent years, and it was the only major party to oppose Friday's peace deal. In the European Parliament its members belong to no group, but are closer to Democracy and Plural Europe.

On the whole, the more extreme Sinn Fein and the DUP have grown faster since the Northern Ireland peace process began. But there are also more optimistic people who believe that the issue of Northern Ireland's independence will become less and less important in the European Union.

In the end, Northern Ireland managed to become self-governing.