William Drennan returned to Belfast in 1807 and founded the Belfast magazine which continued the battle for democratic reform, the Rights of Man and Catholic emancipation. However he was becoming alarmed at the increasing influence of the so-called Catholic interest which had no desire to work for reform with progressive Protestants. What Drennan was witnessing was the first stirrings of the rift that would lead to the partition of this island more than 100 years later.

After graduating from Glasgow, Hutcheson, Bruce and Drennan senior established a presbyterian academy in Dublin in 1719 which attempted to emulate the school at Killyleagh. Hutcheson’s Dublin school prepared young men for entry to Glasgow and ultimately for the Presbyterian ministry. Hutcheson, Bruce and Rev. Drennan collaborated in forming a study circle which, between 1720 and 1730, published radical material including Hutcheson’s own works and controversial republican writers such as Edmund Ludlow

Currently, there is no political party attempting to explain why their ideological goals should be preferred to the others, of what benefits would accrue to all or just a significant portion of the other community’s members.