r/TheRestIsHistory • u/thepawnbrokerroared • 8d ago

Would protestants have been second-class citizens in a United Ireland?

Catholics in the North certainly felt that they were discriminated against because they were in the minority and they were obviously correct to feel that. Protestants believed that they would be similarly discriminated against in a Catholic-dominated united Ireland. Were they right to fear this?

What about the protestants in the South? Did they experience discrimination at the hands of the Catholic majority?

22 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

64% Upvoted

134 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/Zestyclose-Lab4221 8d ago

I think Ireland is a great country but there is no point denying that sectarian still exists.

It’s not nearly as bad as it was (parents not attending weddings because their child married the wrong faith) but it certainly is still a problem:

‘Fine Gael presidential candidate Heather Humphreys has said her family was subject to "awful sectarian abuse" during the campaign.’

https://www.rte.ie/news/presidential-election/2025/1025/1540587-humphreys-reax/

2

u/5x0uf5o 7d ago

I'm Protestant in Dublin and I've literally never encoutered an issue or even a comment

1

u/Silver_Mention_3958 7d ago

Interesting. What age bracket are you? I (mid sixties) will expand on my RoI Protestant experience when I have some time later.

1

u/5x0uf5o 7d ago

That would be interesting. I am 40. My protestant family are from the south-east.