Catholic Unionist
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A Catholic Unionist is an Irish/ Northern Irish Roman Catholic who supports continuing ties between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Northern Ireland is a constituent country of the United Kingdom, consisting of the north-eastern portion of the island of Ireland.
Among those who vote for mainstream Unionist parties Catholic Unionists usually support the more moderate Ulster Unionist Party, as opposed to the Democratic Unionist Party because of the latter party's involvement in some contentious Orange Order parades and because of the anti-Catholic religious doctrine of DUP Party leader Ian Paisley. Many Catholic Unionists vote for mainstream Catholic Nationalist parties[citation needed] such as the Social Democratic and Labour Party or for the non-aligned Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, notwithstanding the former's support for a United Ireland.
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[edit] Catholic Unionists
- Richard Doherty, author, military historian and RUC reservist from County Londonderry.
- Sir John Gorman, a Catholic Ulster Unionist Party delegate.
- General Sir John Winthrop Hackett. Known as 'Shan' Hackett, he was born in Australia to Irish Catholic parents. Hackett was a professional soldier in the British Army. He served as Commander in Chief of the British Army of the Rhine and later as Commander of the Northern Army Group for NATO. He also wrote the best seller The Third World War, a work of fiction that laid out a "what if" scenario of a possible conflict between NATO and the Warsaw Pact during the 1980s. He had a home in County Donegal.
- Edward Haughey, Baron Ballyedmond, OBE. Educated by the Irish Christian Brothers in Dundalk; self-made pharmaceutical tycoon who served as a nominee of Taoiseach Charles Haughey in Seanad Éireann.
- Sir Denis Henry, was born in County Londonderry in 1864. A son of prosperous Catholic businessman, he was elected MP for South Londonderry in 1916 and later served as Solicitor-General for Ireland and then as the First Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland.
- William Mulholland,[citation needed] a Belfast born engineer who later emigrated to the United States of America.
- Sir Oliver Napier, was the first leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland[1]
- John Cushnahan, former leader of the Alliance Party1.
[edit] Irish Unionists in the Republic of Ireland
- Stan Gebler Davies (deceased) - a journalist for the Irish Independent, who stood as a Unionist for the Dáil in 1987.
- Conor Cruise O'Brien, former member of the UK Unionist Party and the Irish Labour Party.
[edit] See also
[edit] Voting trends
Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey's 2005 poll results suggest that a quarter of Northern Irish Catholics favour Northern Ireland remaining as part of the United Kingdom.[2] The NILT results also suggest that 5% of Roman Catholics would vote for the nominally unionist Alliance Party, but none would support any of the mainstream or 'hardline' Unionist parties. Similarly, the poll results suggested that 7% of Protestants would vote for the Alliance Party, while 2% of Protestants would vote for the moderate nationalist SDLP.[3]
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ The Alliance Party is not, as such, a Unionist party. Although they support the union, they only do so as long as those are the wishes of the people of Northen Ireland. Many of its members would not regard themselves as Unionists in the conventional sense.
- ^ Northern Ireland Life and Times survey 2005 (question: "Do you think the long-term policy for Northern Ireland should be for it…" followed by options listed).
- ^ Northern Ireland Life and Times survey 2005 (question: "Which Northern Ireland political party would you support?" followed by options listed).
[edit] See also
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
- Unionism (Ireland)
- West Briton
- Protestant Nationalist
