Demographic Changes in Northern Ireland

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-62980394

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-unionist-nightmare-in-ulster.html

This represents a rather noteworthy change in the demographics of Northern Ireland – and at a particularly interesting time. Sinn Fein now holds power which in some respects is the outward expression of this now verified demographic reality.

For the Protestant Unionists of Ulster, this is an hour of unease to be sure. For years the now deceased Ian Paisley (1926-2014) was the firebrand, the militant voice against Republican and Catholic rule and influence in Ulster. But he compromised in 2006 and stunned the Unionist sphere in agreeing to a power-sharing agreement with Sinn Fein. Not everyone went along with that and some viewed him as a near traitor to the cause.

This extreme side of the Unionist spectrum has been given quite a bit of fuel to feed its fire. If it has been dormant, this is the hour of awakening. Brexit as completed under Boris Johnson left Northern Ireland in a lurch and many of the Unionists feel like they've been thrown under the bus. On a de facto basis their territory is becoming more and more part of the Republic and subject to its influences. Now with Sinn Fein (which also exists as a party in the Republic) set to take power in Northern Ireland and with the aforementioned demographic shift, all the nightmare narratives and scenarios of the Unionists going back to the days of The Troubles seem to be coming true. And don't discount the death of the queen – a historical moment that has undoubtedly stirred emotions. And let's just say that Charles III doesn't inspire the same kind of passion or confidence.

The stage is set and with the present economic strains in place – all the conditions exist for a return to violence. The tensions have never really gone away and the news contains more and more stories of low-level violence, paramilitary related criminality, nasty political speech, threats, and the amassing of weapons. Clearly the US is concerned and Washington is already involving itself in the issue.

The one practical hope is that the younger generation won't go for it and won't become radicalised. But economics can play a powerful role as does the old 'stab in the back' narrative. It's not hard to imagine Unionists getting riled up and if they start throwing stones you can be sure the Republican radicals stand ready to take up arms again.

I can only imagine what's coming out of some of the pulpits right now. Let us hope God will raise up voices of Biblical discernment and that the violent legacy of Ian Paisley and those even more extreme than him will be left in the dust.

Northern Ireland has become a rarity in the larger Evangelical world as Evangelicals and Catholics are not at peace or reconciled and they remain at political loggerheads even while in the rest of the Western world these factions have now joined forces in pursuit of larger Right-wing political goals. On the one hand I always find it refreshing that Catholicism is so heartily rejected in Ulster – but it's often in the wrong spirit and more often than not the real divide is over rival political views and goals. Paisley was always fascinating on one level but equally repugnant on another. It's hard to know how the Christian Right in places like the United States will react should The Troubles return.