A border poll may be harder for republicans to win than they think, but it is up to unionism to create a society people want to live in
In response to Sinn Fein’s call for a border poll following its southern success, the DUP have said there is no demand for it here as the nationalist vote has dropped from 42% to 38% since 2001.
They are right to point this out but what they avoided mentioning is that the explicit unionist vote dropped from 52% to 42% in the same period.
In addition, a LucidTalk survey has shown that most people here under the age of 45 would vote for a united Ireland. The trend is obvious.
I sense a collective head from political unionism being buried in the sand.
For a hundred years they have had the luxury of a safe in-built pro union majority leading to unimaginative governance.
Political unionism’s main reason for existing is the Union, yet its brand is toxic to many of the very people it needs to persuade of its merits, indeed it may even be putting people off.
Despite this a border poll may be harder to win than republicans think.
It will be up to pro Union voters themselves to decide what other political parties they think are best at creating a society most people want to live in and thus giving value to the Union because unfortunately I do not see such leadership coming from unionist political parties.
Thomas Stewart, Belfast BT4