Thread by @hayward_katy

Interesting things afoot in political attitudes in N.Ireland.

The majority of people say they are #Neither Unionist nor Nationalist.
This has risen from 1/3 to ½ since 1998.

Here's a thread summarising my paper at the ‘constitutional futures’ conference @ucddublin today.
1/5

'Neithers' are likely to have a mix of both British & Irish identities.

This compares to ½ Unionists having exclusively British identities & 72% of Nationalists exclusively Irish identities.

So some 'Neithers' are only British, some only Irish & some ‘other’, i.e. mixed!
2/5

This slide shows we can’t read directly across from a #Neither identification to a particular view on NI’s constitutional status.

The majority say they'd vote to remain in the UK but also - notably - ¼ would not vote at all in a border poll.
#context
3/5

As noted in earlier tweets (H/T @CathalPMc), from 2017 to 2018 there's been a drop in those identifying as Unionist and a corresponding rise in those designating as ‘Neither’ unionist nor nationalist.*
Why is this so?

*+a few 'Don’t knows' not inc. in this pie chart).
4/5

There has been a notable change 2017 to 2018 in terms of Protestants moving from 'Unionist' to 'Neither'.
Compares to v.little change among Catholics & those of No Religion.

We can only speculate as to why.
Perhaps pro-#Remain Protestants knocking against pro-Leave Unionism?
5/5