Protestant Backers Sign Unity Letter as Belfast Group Defies Sectarian Norms

Karen Sethuraman, a Baptist minister, displayed two bottle-green T-shirts featuring a map of Ireland in a Belfast coffee shop. The garments, created by a man named Terry from west Belfast, mark the public identity of a group of Protestant women who have embraced a vision of a New Ireland. The shirts were produced just days before the women gathered with friends to show off their new merchandise.

Sethuraman, Linzi McLaren, and Claire Mitchell form a core group known as The Happy Lundys. They are part of a wider circle of individuals from a Protestant background who have publicly supported Irish unity over the past year. Mitchell noted that joining the group eased the isolation of holding these views in a unionist environment. The term lundy, a slang for a traitor to one's own side, had to be looked up by Sethuraman a decade ago, but it has since become a badge of identity for the group.

The group has faced consistent online threats and physical security concerns. One member received a warning from the Ulster Defence Association to check under her car, while others have moved houses or installed security measures. Sethuraman received private messages with the threat Boom RIP. These experiences made the women reluctant to engage with media until the recent dispute in Portadown compelled them to act.

The conflict centered on an Orange Order march scheduled to take the nationalist Garvaghy Road for the first time in 28 years. On September 27, the women drove from Belfast to Co Armagh to meet residents opposed to the march. McLaren, a former PSNI officer, stood near police Land Rovers facing thousands of protesters. She served 18 years in the force before retiring in 2022 due to work-related injuries.

Five days into the stand-off, the group released an open letter urging the Orange Order to end the impasse for the benefit of the entire community. They initially targeted 20 to 30 signatories from the Protestant community. Within three days, more than 1,500 people signed what became known as The Protestant Letter. The document was sent to the British and Irish governments.

Signatories included doctors, nurses, social workers, farmers, evangelical Christians, teachers, classroom assistants, and lawyers. Orangemen and a member of a loyalist flute band also added their names, though they were not publicly identified. The volume of support surprised the initiators, who laughed about the final count in the coffee shop.

Linda O’Neill, a resident of Garvaghy Road and community centre manager, remarked that such a letter could not have happened 30 years ago. On day six of the standoff, McLaren read the letter on stage to a rally of 15,000 people. She noted that Gerry Adams was in her line of sight during the reading. McLaren is now running as an SDLP candidate in next year’s Assembly election.

Mitchell described the event as a visible political shift that had been developing beneath the surface for some time. She said the letter made this change apparent for a few days before the group returned to a lower profile due to the risks of living openly in unionist areas. Messages continue to arrive from people asking to add their names to the list.

As the women prepared to leave, keys labeled Grá, meaning love, fell from Sethuraman’s hoodie. McLaren produced her own keyring with the same inscription, noting she is learning Irish. The group described themselves as being all about the grá these days, reflecting their current focus on the new political alignment.

The women represent a segment of the Protestant community that is moving away from traditional sectarian divisions. Their public stance has attracted both threats and a steady stream of new supporters. The group continues to receive inquiries about the letter and maintains its presence in the ongoing conversation about Irish identity.