Unionism in Ireland

Unionism in Ireland is a political tradition that professes loyalty to the crown of the United Kingdom and to the union it represents with England, Scotland and Wales. It is the overwhelming sentiment of Ireland's Protestant minority and mobilised in the decades after Catholic Emancipation in 1829 to oppose restoring a separate Irish parliament. Presbyterian Liberals and Anglican, Orange Order allied Conservatives joined against the Irish Home Rule Bills of 1886 and 1893, and on the eve of the First World War the opposition concentrated in Belfast as Ulster unionism, with the Ulster Volunteers. After the partition of 1921 its goal has been to keep Northern Ireland as a devolved region within the United Kingdom and to resist an all-Ireland republic. Unionists divided over power sharing during the Troubles, accepted joint office under the 1998 Belfast Agreement, and since February 2024 serve in an executive with a Sinn Fein First Minister.