Outside of the population changes the republicans also seem to be gaining popular support for their progressive agenda. Their positions on issues like marriage

Outside of the population changes the republicans also seem to be gaining popular support for their progressive agenda. Their positions on issues like marriage equality and women's rights make them more aligned with younger voters than the unionists. For those who are not familiar, in the Irish context republicans are republican in the sense that they want to reunify the Republic of Ireland, unlike the US GOP they are largely democratic socialist.