Abstract
The paper examines the contention that an unagreed representation of place—a dilemma that reflects a confusion of identity—is a signal characteristic of Ulster Protestants. Paralleling a contested spectrum of political discourses, Protestants support a mutually conflicting array of representations of place, linked, however, by their rejection of the Catholic ethos of the traditional iconography of Irish nationalism. While this latter ideology is now being substantially challenged, those Protestants—almost all according to recent surveys—who can be described as unionists continue to share a determination that Northern Ireland should not be located culturally within a wider Ireland. However, the link with Britain is largely denned by political allegiance alone rather than cultural identity, inducing—an as yet unresolved—tension into the unionist cause. Historically, it is argued that this dilemma undermined the legitimacy of unionism as an expression of Protestant interests and the effective reproduction of a Northern Ireland state. It is also seen as a fundamental impediment to the negotiation of a framework for the future government of Ireland. Unionists in particular, but also Protestants in general, need to know who chey are rather than who they are not.
Published Version
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