Sir, – With regard to Prof Ronan Fanning's clarion call at the Fine Gael conference, it should be noted that we will be "celebrating" the 1916 Rising as a partitioned state, something which would have been anathema to the insurgents ("Easter Rising centenary should be 'shameless celebration', says UCD professor", February 23rd). They shared the general nationalist self-deception that the island of Ireland was one nation.
In the same context, I would challenge Prof Fanning’s assertion “that the birth certificate of this State . . . is stained with blood”. This State, in fact, derives from the Treaty settlement of December 6th, 1922, the centenary of which will be a proper cause of celebration for every Irish democrat. – Yours, etc,
JOHN A MURPHY,
Emeritus Professor
of Irish History,
University College Cork.