(Q1) What Are The Main Differences of Beliefs Between Nationalists/Republicans and Unionists/Loyalists

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(Q1) What Are The Main Differences of Beliefs Between Nationalists/Republicans and Unionists/Loyalists?

There are many differences between the beliefs of Nationalists/Republicans and Unionists/Loyalists. The differences I will be referring to are the religious, political/national, economic/social, cultural and geographic beliefs of both groups. I will begin with religion.

Religion plays a very important role in the beliefs of both groups. In general, we can say that the majority of Protestants in Northern Ireland tend to be unionists and favour union with Britain, whereas Catholics tend to be predominantly Nationalists and favour union with Ireland. There is also the issue that unionists consider themselves British, even though they live in Northern Ireland. Nationalists consider themselves Irish because they do not favour union with Britain.

When it comes to election time, unionists usually vote for unionist political parties and Nationalists tend to vote for Nationalist political parties. Most unionists follow the Stormont Government and trust it's leadership but some highly distrust the Irish Government. Nationalists generally support the Irish Government; but most Catholics have a high distrust of the Stormont Government. The distrust in the Governments has increased due to events such as Bloody Sunday where the British