(Re) Constructing ulster loyalism? Political responses to the ‘peace process’

This paper attempts to analyse and understand loyalist reactions to the ‘peace process’ in Northern Ireland since the summer of 1994. It highlights the strategically insecure position of the Unionist community and the variety of attempts which have been produced from within this community to respond to a changing political context - albeit on the basis of a political philosophy not free from internal contradictions. These attempts are based on re-statements of Unionist fundamentals; while there are indications of new forms of self-questioning within the Unionist community, particularly in its working class, these are vulnerable to etoliation by the dominant Unionist discourse.