Not What It Seems? Articulations of Northern Nationalism in the Post-Brexit Age

In the years following Brexit, conversations regarding Irish Reunification have been occurring with increasing frequency within academia, politics, and the media. This has been exacerbated by shifts in the demographic makeup of the region (with Catholics outnumbering Protestants for the first time, detailed by the 2021 Census), as well as at the three levels of government (local governments, devolved Assembly, Parliament). Both may suggest a preference for nationalist politics over unionist politics for the first time. While, on the surface, a picture of a united, increasingly energised nationalist community exists, it distorts when one digs deeper. Census data and election data complicates when assessed with nuance, and opinion polling suggests support for reunification is low. As such, a gulf exists between what is understood broadly about northern nationalism in the contemporary age, and what is being experienced at ground level.
This research aims to explore the articulations of northern nationalism at all levels of society, and investigate disjunctures that exist between the aspirations of the nationalist electorate and the aspirations of nationalist political figures. This research is in the early stages; therefore, this paper will focus on what has been established by desk-based research, the proposed methodology, and presenting hypotheses.