The Alliance party and the Green party attract some cross-community support.

The two communities tend to vote along separate lines, with parties such as the Democratic Unionist party and the Ulster Unionist party attracting the support of loyalists, while nationalists usually voting for the SDLP (Social Democratic and Labour Party) or for Sinn Féin. They sometimes refer to Northern Ireland as the 'six counties', a reference to the fact that the territory covers six of the nine counties of Ulster. Historically they have mostly been Catholic.

Republicans, also called nationalists, believe in a united and independent Ireland. Historically they have mostly been Protestants, and often refer to the area of Northern Ireland as Ulster – one of Ireland’s traditional provinces whose territory it partially covers. Unionists, also called loyalists, are loyal to the union between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. The divisions in Northern Ireland have long been along political lines about how it should be governed, and by whom, and also along religious faultlines.

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