The impact of last week’s referendum result in the Republic to repeal the eighth amendment has made its way to Downing Street and beyond with many questioning why Northern Ireland is now the part of the British Isles with the most regressive laws in regard to abortion.

Many have blamed the DUP and their socially conservative fundamentalism but perhaps more worrying for people like me, a unionist, many have blamed Unionism as a whole and specifically bemoaned the lack of a ‘liberal’ Unionist alternative.

This is part of a wider problem Unionism has on so-called social issues. All evidence available points to the fact that the majority of people in Northern Ireland are in favour of equal marriage and liberalising our abortion laws. In fact, a University of Ulster study published in June 2017 showed that Protestants were more likely to be in favour of the latter than their Catholic neighbours in cases of fatal foetal abnormality or if a woman had become pregnant due to being raped or the victim of incest. Yet, in the same month 36% of the electorate endorsed the DUP at the Westminster election and therefore presumably had no issue with their staunchly pro-life and anti-equal marriage positions.

It is nonsensical to think that all of those who voted for the DUP are pro-life and anti-equal marriage, they are not. However, the reality is, they are more concerned about keeping Sinn Féin out than anything else. This allows many within Unionism to be out of step with wider society on social issues. In doing this they are condemning themselves to losing an entire generation of support. More and more young people from traditional Unionist families, particularly in urban areas east of the Bann, are simply turned off by Unionist politics and Unionist politicians.

As Unionists approach the centenary of the creation of Northern Ireland we must think about what we want the next century to look like and create a vision that will not only ensure the Union’s survival but bring more converts to the cause. If we cannot reflect the basic rights that are available to every other citizen across the UK and the Republic of Ireland then we face a huge challenge in doing that. Quite simply, Unionism must evolve to prosper and do it quickly.