Can they still be called unionists?

I read the two main unionist parties election manifestos today and I could hardly believe my eyes. The DUP and the UUP both want devolution. According to the DUP, they are "a devolutionist party. We believe in democratic, fair and accountable government."

But the UUP are particularly miffed about direct rule and champion the virtues of devolved government. The UUP's leader Reg Empy gets straight to the point on page 2 of their manifesto. The first line in his message is "It's time for devolution." He then lists some challenges and says "For this to happen we need devolved government... We deserve better than unaccountable Direct Rule government through part-time Ministers not elected by the people." In a further section towards the end of the document, it states "Ulster Unionists believe that standing up for Northern Ireland means securing devolved government for this part of the United Kingdom... The new-found confidence, strength and direction that devolution has brought to our fellow-citizens in Scotland and Wales highlights the opportunities that a working Assembly and Executive hold for Northern Ireland." Lamenting the problems of direct rule by London, the manifesto states "the people of Northern Ireland have been governed through Direct Rule Ministers – unaccountable to us, routinely ignoring our wishes, and remote from our hopes and aspirations."

Considering that the Irish home rule movement of the early part of the last century only wanted a devolved parliament and government for Ireland and not independence from the UK and that they used all of the arguments that the UUP have stated in their manifesto, is it still possible to call the unionist parties unionist? Have the so-called unionists finally learned what the home rule advocates said all along; that a local parliament is vital for democratic, accountable government that would be responsive to local wishes, hopes and aspirations? That such a devolved government offers confidence, strength and direction?

It seems a very long way from the UUP which drafted the Ulster Solemn League and Covenant that stated "Home Rule would be disastrous to the material well-being of Ulster as well as of the whole of Ireland, subversive of our civil and religious freedom, destructive of our citizenship." Will they say the same about devolution, otherwise known as home rule, today?