Also the main
sentiment of the people of
Northern Ireland. This political opinion is espoused by a rag-tag group of
parties that range from the fairly
moderate Ulster Unionist Party, through to the extremely
hard core Democratic Unionist Party (think
Ian Paisley) through to the political wings of
loyalist terroristgroups like the
PUP (it stands for
Peoples Unionist Party). Like the
republicans and
nationalists, these people stake their political
futures ( and in many cases their lives) on the fact that they are totally comitted to one ideal future for Northern Ireland. In this case they wish it to remain in the
United Kingdom with the severance of all constitutional links to the
Republic of Ireland.
Like it or not, most of the people in Northern Ireland do agree with them, which is why they seem to do well in elections, and most of their policies ( apart from the fringe parties) seem fairly sensible. Very much like the Nationalist SDLP's. Northern Ireland is to be fair, a silly place ( I live here, I should know!), but despite my own political opinions I think most people here like living in the United Kingdom and bear no particular malice to anyone, even people in the so called other community.
They just tend to get stroppy when they feel like their identity is being attacked. Anyway, please feel free to add to this remarkably incomplete node.