Heather Humphreys: An Ulster woman from a minority background in the Republic can bring significant advantages where relations on the island are concerned. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA
An unusual feature of the current presidential election campaign is the Presbyterian background of candidate Heather Humphreys. Ireland has never had a Presbyterian president or indeed candidate for the office.
Presbyterians are the largest Protestant denomination in Northern Ireland, numbering about 210,000, or almost 10 times the 22,699 in the Republic (according to the 2022 census).
North of the Border, where this presidential election campaign is being observed with interest due to Humphreys’s candidature, Presbyterians are the backbone of unionism, with many also members of the Orange Order.
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