Any Takers? The Isolation of Northern Ireland

Abstract

This article challenges the traditional assumptions prevalent within the two main communal blocs in Northern Ireland. I argue that the orthodox unionist and nationalist views of the external political environment are seriously flawed to the point that both camps have become oblivious to the shifting political universe which surrounds them. Unionist and nationalist analyses of political dynamics within both Britain and the Irish Republic are misconceived. The domination of a romantic historical inheritance over intellectual rationalism has led to assumptions within both unionism and nationalism, central to the general strategy of both ideologies, which do not withstand examination.