The unionist people are far ahead of unionist politics. I've written
here that for all the madness there is much normality in Northern Ireland - there are
Two Worlds in Northern Ireland. Alex Kane
wrote that "people in Northern Ireland are much more liberal, laid back and genuinely cosmopolitan than the main unionist parties realise." Newton Emerson
wrote:
"The political orphaning of moderate unionism has been a particular source of wonder and despair.
What party represents the vast majority of unionists — those who are not Orangemen, bandsmen, gunmen, Bible-bashers, flag-flyers, bonfire-builders or all the other overlapping little constituencies that unionist politicians never dare to disappoint? What party can represent the 400,000 “garden centre” Protestants who refuse to vote, or appeal to any Catholic “economic unionists” who might just accept a British province that treated them with respect? How has such a substantial need for representation not been met for almost a century?"
