Unionist Identity, External Perceptions of Northern Ireland, and the Problem of Unionist Legitimacy

Pasts, Futures, and Connections between Scotland, Ulster, and Ireland: a critique of some historiographical tendencies

“…This is objectionable on the grounds that is close to affirming crude stereotypes of the Catholic Irish as garrulous deceivers, ethnically programmed to be skilful in the dark arts of media manipulation, a stereotype that impedes political dialogue in Northern Ireland. 47 It may in any case be argued that self-congratulatory Scotch-Irish and Ulster-Scots narratives have historically been propagated powerfully, backed by socially and politically privileged agencies, in ways that altered the course of Irish history. 48 In the present context, however, the main criticism that can be made of recent articulations of the Ulster-Scots idea is not that they have a political agenda, but that that agenda is far too weak to influence the future of either Northern Ireland or Scotland.…”