The Contested Identities of Ulster Protestants [Hardcover]

This study explores the idea voiced by journalist Henry McDonald that the Protestant, Unionist and Loyalist tribes of Ulster are '&the least fashionable community in Western Europe'. A cast of contributors including prominent politicians, academics, journalists and artists explore the reasons informing public perceptions attached to this community.Introduction  Paul Burgess and Gareth Mulvenna 1. Beginning to talk to 'Billy': Revising Southern Stereotypes of Unionism; Eoghan Harris 2. Investigating the Protestant 'Kaleidoscope'; Henry McDonald 3. Lost in Translation: Loyalism and the Media; Malachi O'Doherty 4. Typical Unionists? The Politicians and their People, Past and Present; James Greer 5. 'Doing Their Bit': Gendering the Constitution of Protestant, Unionist and Loyalist Identities; Fidelma Ashe and Caireen McCluskey 6. The Re-invention of the Orange Order: Triumphalism or Orangefest?; Brian Kennaway 7. Loyalism on Film and Out of Context; Stephen Baker 8. This Sporting Life: Anything to Declare? Community Allegiance, Sports and the National Question; Thomas Paul Burgess 9. No-One Likes Us, We Don't Care: What is to be (un) done about Ulster Protestant Identity?; Robbie McVeigh 10. Celebration and Controversy in America: At Home with the Scots-Irish Diaspora; John Wilson and Alister McReynolds 11. Convergence; Graham Reid 12. Labour Aristocracies, Triumphalism and Melancholy: Misconceptions of the Protestant Working Class and Loyalist Community; Gareth Mulvenna 13. To the Beat of a Different Drum; Loyalist Youth and the Culture of Marching Bands; Sam McCready and Neil Symington 14. Blood Sacrifice for Queen and Country: Paramilitarism and Political Manoeuvrings; Billy Hutchinson

'Confident societies tend not to obsess about identity. But Northern Ireland does. The identity which is most debated at present is that of northern Protestants. Contested Identities is a timely and thought-provoking series of essays exploring the valˆ