Based on over sixty in-depth interviews with a wide range of northern Protestants, Susan McKay presents an uncompromising and clear-eyed examination of her own people – the Protestants of Northern Ireland. My response to that is: the book promises to hold up a mirror to Northern Protestants and that's exactly what it delivers.

This is simply an important read for anyone who takes an interest in the Irish Question, particularly in the context of Brexit. There have been a series of great recent works that address this complexity such as Kerri ní Dochartaigh's *Thin Places* (2022) and Gail McConnell's *Sun Is Open* (2021). Her latest book follows a similar format to that previous tome, in that it attempts – primarily from a series of interviews - to paint a portrait of Northern Irish Protestantism through the words of more than 60 members of that community. This is a compulsive read with views being expressed by Church leaders, community activists, young people, Irish speakers, LGBQT, radical thinkers and many victims. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products.This is particularly important given how so many of her interview subjects appear to be trying to recover from some level of trauma, whether that be from the sectarian violence of The Troubles or from the addiction and gangsterism that are endemic in many working-class Loyalist estates. It is a fascinating time in Northern Ireland given Brexit looming before them along with an election that placed Sinn Fein in power. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. As usual, the politicians, especially of an unionist ilk, are far behind the people when it comes to change and the feeling on the ground.

There has been little peace dividend in the working class estates or the deep rural interior of Ulster. The presence of a range of female voices was particularly welcome, though the lack of progressive voices from a male, explicitly loyalist or faith-based perspective doesn't necessarily reflect my experience. Towards the end of the decade, as civil rights protesters demanded an end to a political system designed to disempower Catholics, that unionist rallying cry grew louder and more strident in its opposition to the same. The is a truly enlightening and thought provoking read that opens a new perspective on the shifting identity of the Northern Irish protestant community. In the centenary year of the founding of the Northern Ireland state, McKay finds Unionist and Loyalist politics demoralised and intellectually moribund, without the confidence to articulate the merits and benefits of the union they profess to defend, and on a perpetual hunt for traitors, sell-outs and “Lundys”.

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Ties in to topical debates around identity in the context of Brexit and the centenary of the foundation of the NI state.Forged from a partnership between a university press and a library, Project MUSE is a trusted part of the academic and scholarly community it serves. It is a potentially transformative narrative for anyone who takes the time to read it and reflect on the many experiences, commentaries and stories of the contributors. What I mean by that is that there are vast swathes of Ulster Protestantism that have been without meaningful political representation for a long time. The sense of grief, betrayal and loss is palpable alongside the optimism and hope of a new generation. We want normal politics,” says Kenny McFarland, who happens to be chair of the Londonderry Bands Forum.

This book offers us a glimpse into the Protestant identity and we would do well to understand their fears and aspirations. Amongst the people interviewed, there seems to be a deep desire to be seen as the underdog, a lot of whataboutery and a tendency for people to define themselves negatively in terms of what they are not (Catholics/nationalists) rather than positively in terms what they are. It was more - red top for number 52, make sure Mrs Murphy at 16 pays you for the cream from last week. She is the author of four books: 'Sophia’s Story', 'Northern Protestants: An Unsettled People', 'Without Fear: A History of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre' and 'Bear in Mind These Dead'. It follows the same format, of using extensive interviews to weave together an evocative impression of the tensions and hopes that lie below the surface of the still-dominant (at least in some respects) community in Northern Ireland.England has a responsibility to undo its mess but it washes its hands like Pontius Pilate and blames the result on the barbarous and factionalist Irish. But as many Ulster Protestants will denounce this book as an indictment of their people,I found myself warming to many of the people in the book and found their perspective refreshing. More than that, though, it has made manifest Northern Ireland’s otherness within the UK, amplifying the anxiety of belonging that has always been a component of unionist identity, existing alongside, and in stark contrast to, the certitude and the bombast. That may ultimately prove untenable given the rapidly shifting demographics but, for now, it represents the kind of paradigm shift in political thinking that is needed for real progress to be made. This updated edition includes a new introduction, and provides the backdrop to her new title ‘Northern Protestants – On Shifting Ground’.