Ahead of national elections for the UK on 4 July the bishops in Northern Ireland are calling on citizens to engage with the political process and on politicians to “restore hope and civility”.
The history of Northern Ireland means there is a tense relationship between local politics and the governing powers over in London’s Westminster. Northern Ireland voters don’t usually support the main British parties, and the latest polls show the traditionally Protestant DUP Party and the traditionally Catholic Sinn Féin Party – which doesn’t sit in the UK Parliament when elected, due to its nationalist views – leading the polls locally. But the bishops have decided to speak out on the tendency in NI to shun Westminster, given the pressing issues at stake for the country, especially drug use, and the fact that, as in the US, social cohesion increasingly appears to be fraying.
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