PROFESSOR Peter Shirlow can easily be described as a 'face' among the north's commentariat and he's far from reticent. Yet the Lambeg-born academic is in many ways an archetypal ‘shy unionist’, part of that significant demographic which is uncomfortable with traditional unionism’s reactionary tendencies but unable to find a party that truly represents it – hence the tendency not to vote.
Raised during the Troubles in a working class, “non-sectarian” Protestant household, schooled by the Quakers, and married to a Catholic, his perspective very much reflects his background and circumstances. His children Aoife (28) and Ruiri (24), like their dad, are both Linfield fans.
The 56-year-old describes his years at Friends school in Lisburn as “very formative”. There he mixed with “Catholic, Protestants and Hindus” and had classmates who were born in Hyderabad and Kuala Lumpur.
“The Quakers gave us a very liberal education, based on pluralism and respect for diversity,” he says.
“They encouraged you to do something with your life - there was a strong ethos – but you were also taught to help the less fortunate.”
His father was a van driver, while his mother worked in Gilmore’s electrical store on Belfast’s Lisburn Road. The latter in particular encouraged her children to be seek opportunities and broaden their minds through travel – though on leaving school her son chose the closest university to home.
During his time at Queen’s studying politics and geography, an exchange programme took him to the University of Iowa for a year. Joining students from other conflict zones across the world, including Nicaragua, Palestine and apartheid South Africa, was to help shape a career that couples academic authority with a strong belief in social agency.
After graduating he moved across the Irish Sea to the University of Liverpool, where he wrote a PhD on the pre-Celtic Tiger expansion of the Shannon Free Zone.
To coincide with becoming Professor Peter Shirlow in 1993, he got married to Oonagh, a special needs teacher from Derry, before returning to Queen’s to teach geography and “ending up in the School of Law”.
Six years ago he was appointed Blair Chair at the University of Liverpool where he is director of the Institute of Irish Studies. He’s undertaken a host of other roles, focused mostly around reconciliation and work with former prisoners, publishing numerous books and papers along the way.
Last autumn, the Institute of Irish Studies published the results of a poll showing the protocol was just a minor concern for people, who prioritised public services over the DUP's major preoccupation. While these inconvenient truths can't have gone down well with political unionism, the institute's affable director has yet to be subjected to any McCarthyist condemnation, or branded a 'Lundy'.
"People see me as a straight bat and I've a good relationship with most political parties," he says.
"I've always tried to be consistent and fair, and use evidence as the reason for the things that I think. I've never gone down the line of finger pointing."
Professor Shirlow classifies himself “pro-union” rather than a unionist, the latter label being “more toxic” and conveying the idea that “if you support the union you’re somehow denying other people rights”.
He regards himself as both British and Irish – his role in Liverpool encapsulating an affinity with both.
“If you ask me what my identity is, it’s supporting and developing the Good Friday Agreement,” he says.
“That document, which is about parity of esteem and mutual respect, is my politics.”
For now, he says he's happy with the constitutional status quo.
“I don’t think we’re ready for constitutional change. I don’t think we’ve had a proper conversation,” he says.
“It comes down to questions of economics and the fact that nationalism-republicanism has failed to produce a project that is attractive.”
Yet he insists his support for the union isn’t at the expense of his Irishness. He backs an Irish language act and says he "spends everyday promoting Irish culture and identity”.
“My Britishness is the Left or multiculturalism, and I believe a lot of people who come from my background think the same way – they don’t have an identity that is awkward or difficult and against things,” he says.
“If we had a proper debate about the constitutional issues there’s a lot the pro-union community could offer that would break down many of the preconceptions about who they are. In a way I think we’re stuck here in that there’s still a misreading in sections of our society.”
A key theme that recurs with Prof Shirlow is why up to half those who identify themselves as pro-union don’t vote. One explanation he offers is that “they’re not going to vote simply to keep the other side out”.
He argues that the north’s Protestants were secularised ahead of their Catholic counterparts, becoming more liberal in the process and “more connected to the world we live in new and interesting ways”.
“That clarion call saying we must all stand together because we’re Protestants; Orangeism; the idea that you just show allegiance by doffing your cap – that’s all gone.
“Those who support the union need to become more cognitive, more thoughtful - I’m not going to turn up and vote, as my parents did, for someone who does nothing for me, and who doesn’t represent my values. That’s a crisis in itself.”
