NORTHERN Ireland is twice as bourgeois as it was during the Troubles, at least as a Marxist would describe it.

The number of small business owners and self-employed people, the usual definition of the petite bourgeoisie, has doubled since the 1970s to 140,000. Their share of the workforce has also doubled to 14%.

Growth took off in the 1990s, suffered a setback during the financial crash, but has risen again every year since 2015.

One in eight working-age adults now belongs to this key socio-economic group, traditionally the bedrock of centre-right politics across the world.

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There are considerably more of them than the total votes won by the UUP, SDLP or Alliance.

Yet even as their ranks have swelled, party political interest in them in Northern Ireland has disappeared.

In the last three elections, covering Westminster, the Assembly and councils, the UUP did not mention the self-employed once in its manifestos, while Sinn Féin referenced them only in the context of tackling “bogus self-employment”.

Alliance and the DUP each gave the self-employed one mention, promising help with pensions and retirement.

The SDLP referred only to helping foster carers avoid having to register as self-employed. It is as if parties were wishing these people........

© The Irish News