‘Taking the border out of politics’?: The 1973 Northern Ireland border poll and the political character of (de)politicisation

This article examines governing tactics which, prima facie , seek to remove issues from political contestation, yet utilise democracy in doing so. It explores this tension through the case of the 1973 Northern Ireland border poll. In the context of escalating violence and entrenched political conflict, the Heath government announced the poll alongside direct rule to ‘take the border out of politics’. Although the poll was consistently framed in terms of depoliticisation, it was increasingly viewed by both the government and the public as a means to reassure the unionist community of Northern Ireland’s status in the United Kingdom. This attempt to reassure the unionists exposed the political character of the strategy, strengthening the nationalist boycott campaign. However, this article argues that in reconfiguring legitimacy for the United Kingdom, the poll temporarily defused unionist concerns and allowed the UK government to claim Northern Irish citizens had a democratic right to self-determination.