Can you be pro-Union and not a Unionist?
Shortly after launching NI 21, the leader of the short-lived party, Basil McCrea MLA, insisted in a studio discussion that he was supportive of the retention of the Union but did not describe himself as a unionist. He was treated with derision, bordering on scorn. A few years down the line, and this is no longer generally the case, with a growing constituency identifying as ‘pro-Union’ whilst distancing itself from ‘party political’ Unionism. Are Northern Ireland’s Unionist political parties capable …