ABSTRACT
The distinction between national/regional and state structures in post-devolution UK has highlighted the existence of ethno-national identities alongside civic citizenship. That is, as well as being ‘British’, citizens are now arguably more likely to draw upon national or regional (or indeed ‘ethnic’ or ‘cultural’) identity categories (e.g. Jeffery, 2004). However, conceptualising what a devolved ‘Northern Irish’ identity category might mean, let alone its relationship to a sense of Britishness, is far from straightforward. In the first instance, as pointed out by McCrone (2002: 309, 317), the ascription of a British identity in Northern Ireland (NI) is inherently politicised. Moreover, Northern Ireland lacks an agreed national ideology or national identity (Graham, 1998), while those who do define themselves as British (broadly, unionists) have traditionally been seen as endorsing a civic, or state-centred ideology, which left little room for ethno-nationalist expression (Aughey, 1989, 1995, but cf. Finlayson, 1996).
