Earlier this month, a big change took place in Belfast: Protestants lost political control of the city, which was founded by English and Scottish settlers more than 200 years ago as a bulwark against the Catholic Irish. It was another sign of political power slipping away from Northern Ireland's unionists. The power-sharing administration in Stormont is headed by a unionist first minister but includes the IRA'S political wing, Sinn Fein, as well as the moderate nationalist SDLP, their joint vote now repeatedly over 42%. Census findings due next year are expected to show that Northern Ireland's Protestant majority has shrunk to vanishing point.
展开▼
