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Unionism in Ireland is a political ideology that favours the continuation of some form of political union between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain and which attaches particular importance to the concept of loyalty to the person of the British monarch. Since the partition of Ireland, unionism in Ireland has focused on maintaining and preserving the place of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom. In this context, a distinction may be made between the unionism in the province of Ulster and unionism elsewhere in Ireland. Today in Northern Ireland, Unionist ideology is expressed in a number of different ways: through preferences for particular newspapers or sports team, participation in local unionist subculture and by voting for political candidates who espouse unionism. Irish nationalism is opposed to the ideology of unionism. Most unionists come from Protestant backgrounds; most nationalists come from a Roman Catholic background. Exceptions to these generalisations exist; there are Protestant nationalists and there are Catholic unionists. Additionally, some recent immigrants and their descendants are not Christians. ==History== The political relationship between England and Ireland dates from the 12th century with the establishment of the Lordship of Ireland. After almost four centuries of the Lordship, the declaration of the independence of the Church of England from papal supremacy and the rejection of the authority of the Holy See required the creation of a new basis to legitimise the continued rule of the English monarch in Ireland. In 1542, the Crown of Ireland Act was passed by both the English and Irish Parliaments. The Act established a sovereign Kingdom of Ireland with Henry VIII as King of Ireland. Both parliaments later passed the Act of Union 1800 by which a new state was created - the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922, twenty-six counties of Ireland gained autonomy from the U.K. as the Irish Free State; in 1949, the State was declared to be a Republic and the last vestiges of royal power were abolished. The Republic of Ireland left the Commonwealth of Nations organisation. The remaining six counties of the island of Ireland constituted the territory of Northern Ireland. In 1927, the realm, consisting of combined territories of Northern Ireland and Great Britain, was renamed the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". Today, unionism is almost exclusively an issue for Northern Ireland. It is concerned with the governance of and relationship between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. In the Republic of Ireland today, there is scant support for unionists who would advocate the state rejoining the UK. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Unionism in Ireland」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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