The cross-community Alliance appears a more likely beneficiary of pro-status quo Catholic votes than the DUP.

BBC: The Robinson strategy to widen DUP appeal

The pro-status-quo vote held sway in working-class Labor seats and in rural Australia.

ECONOMIST: Australia mislays its republic

But while they try to persuade pro-status quo Catholics to cross the political divide, unionists will resist setting in train what could, under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, become a rolling process of border polls to be held on a seven yearly basis.

BBC: The Robinson strategy to widen DUP appeal