The ‘moderate unionist’. The ‘liberal unionist’. The ‘small-u unionist’.

All terms used to describe those who don’t quite fit in that restrictive, descriptive little box that unionist politicians are instructed to squeeze within.

There are those who, if brave enough, ignore the box and try to operate outside of it.

Some will test the waters by dipping a toe ever so tentatively but jump back when they realise it’s cold.

Linzi McLaren: Is there actually such a thing as ‘moderate unionism’?

Denis Bradley: After all the reports and all the money, our drink and drugs crisis is worse than ever

Some will start to swim, but hold on tight to a lifeline that can reel them back in if and when things get choppy.

And then there are some who dive right in, come hell or high water. That bravery, however, is punitively met with labels of radicalism. 

How do we manage to function in a democratic society where one’s political ideology, based on respect, tolerance and equality, is a stick to be beaten with and not a gauge to be measured against?

Perhaps this is where we have always gone wrong, and why we can’t get a single bill across the line without opposing parties putting the brake on.

The concept that even polarised constitutional views could possibly be rooted in deference is beyond the comprehension of those who refuse to move an inch from the stagnant politics of blame, hatred and division. 

Unionism is a broad church. So........

© The Irish News