Sir, – David Adams (“Why is it so hard to accept an Irish man can be British?”, Opinion, November 22nd) may be surprised that his analysis shares one thing in common with Sinn Féin’s position: that anyone born on the island of Ireland is part of the Irish nation.
He is correct to note that many people in the Republic perceive Northern Protestants as forming a separate nation. This is one of the reasons why many citizens of the Republic accept the validity of partition.
It is interesting that Mr Adams acknowledges that on our neighbouring island there are three nations (Scottish, Welsh, English) within one state (Britain). Although it is unlikely, if Scotland did vote for independence, there would then be two states (Britain and Scotland) but still three nations. This surely proves that more than one nation can exist on the same island. If Mr Adams disagrees, it would be interesting to hear why he thinks partition on this island is valid. – Yours, etc,