Máire Braniff

Northern Ireland's political system is dominated by an Irish Catholic nationalist versus British Protestant unionist faultline, based upon the long-running argument over whether the region should remain part of the United Kingdom or form part of a United Ireland. Yet the largest category of elector in Northern Ireland says they are neither a unionist nor a nationalist and the third most popular political party is now Alliance, which is not aligned to either of the two traditional constitutional positions. Drawing upon a unique in-depth survey of its members, this volume analyses the history and contemporary rise of Alliance and the surge of a centrist party in Northern Irish politics which is challenging the old order. How has a party which eschews ethnic bloc politics, has no constitutional preference, and contains a mix of Catholics, Protestants, and many of no religion come to prominence in a polity whose political institutions are framed upon an old binary divide? The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland undertakes an extensive membership survey analysing the role of a non-ethnic party in an ethnic system, assessing Alliance identities, politics, and futures. Can Alliance integrate Northern Irish society through shared education and housing or will continuing polarisation thwart the Party's project? Would Alliance take a position in the event of a constitutional referendum on Northern Ireland's future - and what might that stand be? These and other key questions form part of a novel study of the party of Northern Ireland's often overlooked centre ground. The volume is essential reading for those wanting to understand how non-ethnic parties can survive and even thrive within an ethnic party system.

The Ulster Unionist Party: Country Before Party? uses unprecedented access to the party that dominated Northern Ireland politics for decades to assess the reasons for its decline and to analyse whether it can recover. Having helped produce the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) struggled to deliver the deal amid unease over aspects of what its leadership negotiated. Paramilitary prisoner releases, policing changes, and power-sharing with the republican 'enemy' were all controversial. As the UUP leader won a Nobel Peace Prize, his party began to lost elections. For the UUP leadership, acceptance of change was the right thing to do for Northern Ireland - a case of putting country before party. The decades since the peace agreement have seen the UUP eclipsed by the rival Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) even though most of what the UUP agreed in 1998 has remained in place. This book examines the travails of the UUP in recent times. It draws upon the first-ever survey of UUP members and a wide range of interviews, including with the five most recent leaders of the party, to analyse the reasons for its reverses and the capacity to revive. The volume assesses why the UUP's (still sizeable) membership remains loyal and discusses what the UUP and unionism means to those members, in terms of loyalty, policy, national and religious identity, views of other parties and what a shared future in Northern Ireland will constitute. Amid Brexit and talk of a border poll, crises of devolved government, rows with republicans and intra-unionist tensions, how secure and confident does the UUP membership feel about Northern Ireland's future? Written by the same expert team that produced an award-winning book on the DUP, this book is indispensable to understanding parties and political change in divided societies.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has moved from a religion-dominated protest party to a pragmatic party of government in Northern Ireland, the most popular in the region, with more votes, Assembly seats, and MPs than any of its rivals. This book draws upon the first-ever survey of the party's members, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, along with over one hundred interviews, to analyse their views on the transformation undergone by the DUP. The book analyses what categories of individual make up the DUP, ranging from religious fundamentalists or moderates, detailing the religious composition of the party. How Free Presbyterian or Orange is the modern DUP and how is its membership changing? What identity do those members hold? The book then assesses the attitudes of members to the contemporary power-sharing arrangements in a divided society. How comfortable is the DUP to sharing political spoils with the republican 'enemy'? How supportive are members of the Executive and Assembly in Northern Ireland and what progress do they think has been made? The book also dissects the modern fears of DUP members, ranging from the dilution of religious fervour to continuing fears over security and opposition to policing reforms. Attitudes to unity with other Unionist groups are explored, as are the prospects of capturing support from Catholic supporters of Northern Ireland's place in the United Kingdom. Drawing upon unprecedented access to a party traditionally suspicious of outsiders, this book offers a unique insight into how an opposition party grounded in religious principles has accommodated change and broadened its appeal, whilst retaining most of its traditional hardcore membership.