Fewer Union flags. More Catholics

This is evident at Queen’s University, where the majority of students are Catholic. Having attended a so-called “Protestant” grammar school in NI (it was nondenominational), the majority of my fellow pupils went to university in Scotland or England.

This is likely to change as a result of the hike in tuition fees at British universities. The fees for universities in NI are now around half the level of their mainland counterparts. I would predict that many of those young people who would have gone to uni in GB will choose not to do so as it is now prohibitively expensive compared with staying in NI. rdv812

I think a lot of “republicans” continue to nurse hopes that they can achieve the Ireland they dream of by the strategy of ethnosectarian outbreeding. I would think Tone, for one, must be turning in his grave at the idea that that is how his kind of Ireland might be finally achieved.

As for Belfast and the flag, surely the democracy of which Moriarty speaks would have been best served by a consultation in advance of any move on the display of the flag over city hall? pfconn

‘Misunderstood’ loyalists given too much leeway

Pol Ó Muirí in an opinion piece on Thursday wrote: “The decision of Belfast City Council not to fly the union flag every day of the year is used as a pretext. The council will still fly the union flag, you understand, but just not every day, and the loyalist leadership whines that it cannot control its followers, as if they were disappointed scout masters rather than the hard-bitten thugs they are.”

With both sides indulging in intimidation and exclusion, is there any prospect for real integration here? Look at the changes in Europe in the past 50 years. The segregated education is a major issue. It has to be reformed. Look at the . . . mob for hire during the “Love Ulster March” and the Queen’s
visit. These underclass youngsters are a powder keg. We have to do something to help them become useful, productive citizens. They are entitled to our best efforts. NoelWalsh

Ah yes, of course, only loyalists ever rioted, only loyalists ever threw violent tantrums when they felt they weren’t getting their own way, only loyalists threatened their neighbours and people of different political opinions, only loyalists murdered people, only loyalists were responsible for the sickening tribal violence that scarred the North for 40 years. It was all the loyalists’ fault, always themmuns. We were always the victims so we were. I don’t think I have ever read such a ridiculously one-sided article on the Troubles in all my life. Even An Phoblacht couldn’t have matched it. MichaelHills

“Northern Irish is becoming a new identity.” This is absolutely the way to go. The irony of a poor working-class loyalist singing to God to save a woman who, along with her extended (not even English) family, live a life of luxury and privilege paid for by the working-class loyalist’s tax money, while fighting endlessly with his working-class nationalist neighbour, has got to be the most ironic twist of historical fate I’ve ever come across. flinders3