Are Northern Ireland's unionists about to hand Sinn Fein victory?

‘Ulster stands at the crossroads,’ Northern Ireland’s prime minister Terence O’Neill famously declared in 1968 as the Troubles began to take hold. A crossroads moment is once again looming into view. If current polling is to be believed, Sinn Fein will be returned as the largest party following Thursday’s assembly election. Such a victory would pose an existential problem for Northern Ireland’s unionists – and the governments in London and Dublin.

Unionists only have themselves to blame for this crisis. While what they stand for – the preservation of the Union – is obvious, the means by which they want to achieve it is anything but. The critical question for the movement is how they will hold things together in Northern Ireland, and it is one it has failed to convince voters it has the answer to. As a result, it risks playing a key role in delivering Sinn Fein the role of First Minister.