DERRY JOURNAL Editorial: What does unionism fear?

Among its most significant provisions were that the constitutional status of the Six Counties could only be changed by the will of a majority in the North and the amendment of Article 2 of the Irish Constitution.

The acceptance of the consent principle by republicans and the removal of the territorial claim by Dublin were major concessions to unionism - yet the latter has never lost an opportunity to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Twenty-five years on, and with Stormont in seemingly intractable crisis, reunification is becoming more and more foreseeable. Political unionism should consider unity, not as a doomsday scenario, but a conjuncture to its advantage.

The most recent polls (Dáil 2020 and Assembly 2022) demonstrate that, if a speculative political united Ireland was formed tomorrow, the DUP, UUP and Alliance would likely be players in government formation. The DUP, for example, is the fourth largest party on the island.

The popular vote strengths of the major parties are as follows: Sinn Féin: 535,595 votes (Dáil), 250,388 (Assembly) – 785,983 (Total); Fianna Fáil: 484,320; Fine Gael: 455,584; DUP: 184,002; Greens: 155,700 (Dáil), 16,433 (Assembly) - 172,133 (Total); Alliance: 116,681; UUP: 96,390; Labour: 95,588; SDLP: 78,237; PBP: 57,420 (Dáil), 9,798 (Assembly) - 67,218 (Total); TUV: 65,788; Social Democrats: 63,404; Aontú: 40,917 (Dáil), 12,777 (Assembly) - 53,694 (Total).

What does unionism have to fear? The choice is between governing in Belfast and Dublin or continuing to suffer disappointment at the hands of the British government at Westminster.