evidence: One must question why Sinn Fein has become so popular in comparison to the likes of the less hard-line Social Democratic Labour Party (SDLP). The SDLP was formerly the biggest Nationalist party in Northern Ireland but have consistently lost votes in recent years. In their 2022 manifesto, the SDLP promised to help tackle cost of living, reduce waiting lists for healthcare and invest in pre-school childcare. The SDLP does mention some issues which are extremely relevant to Gen-Z voters, however the party has struggled due to its position on matters such as abortion which it offers a conscience vote on, allowing MLAs to vote based off their own opinions rather than by what the party believes, this creates issues for many liberal voters, which younger voters tend to be due to a lack of firm position creating disconnect between voters and the party itself. According to the BBC (2023), a lot of younger people care more about socialist issues than simply just the border which are issues Sinn Fein can be seen as attempting to resolve alongside the border issue rather than focusing on one or the other which can arguably be seen in the case of the SDLP. The SDLP has also regularly been seen as a party for ‘Catholic middle-class middle-aged men’ (DeSouza, 2023) which does not help it to gain votes amongst younger voters. [...] Social Democratic Labour Party (2022). 2022 Manifesto. cain.ulster.ac.uk. Available at: https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/issues/politics/docs/sdlp/sdlp_2022-04-27_nia-man.pdf.