Sir, – As as resident of Northern Ireland, who hailed originally from the Republic, I am following the independence debate in Scotland with interest. I am in my late sixties and have spent roughly two-thirds of my life in the Republic, in England and in Northern Ireland.
As an obvious secessionist ally, I find the Scottish silence on Ireland somewhat puzzling, (not to mention Ireland’s seeming ambivalence on Scotland’s impending experiment). Surely the trail blazed by its neighbour should be a clarion-cry for Scottish nationalists? Well, it isn’t, and the reason why it isn’t should be serving as a sobering warning to the Scottish people.
Ireland took a leap in the dark after 1916, a leap from which it never quite recovered. The precipitate sundering of the country has proven to be both divisive and debilitating. The gratuitous strains which Alex Salmond and his cohorts are and shall continue to inflict on the people of Scotland are wholly self-imposed.
The contribution of the Scots to a wide range of spheres has banked great resources of good will, both locally and internationally. Why jeopardise these valuable relationships in an orgy of flag-waving? If you want to see flag-waving, you only need to come here. – Yours, etc,
PADDY McEVOY,
Ardmore Road,
Holywood,
Co Down.