Sinn Féin and the Tricolour

Madam, - Tara Lambden (September 4th) claims that "Sinn Féin has often explained the true meaning of the Tricolour to our unionist…

Madam, - Tara Lambden (September 4th) claims that "Sinn Féin has often explained the true meaning of the Tricolour to our unionist countrymen and has repeatedly pointed out the fact that both traditions are equally represented within the flag".

Ms Lambden is being naïve, disingenuous or just plain ignorant. Historically, the message of the Tricolour's conciliatory symbolism has never been taken seriously by nationalists. From 1922, it was simply the flag of a Catholic nationalist state, and an irredentist one to boot.

During the IRA's terror campaign against Northern Protestants (a perversion of the republican ideal), the flag became further degraded to the level of a bloodstained sectarian standard. Moreover, in recent election campaigns, North and South, it has been flaunted by Sinn Féin as a triumphalist party emblem.

Thus, Mr Lambden's claims for Sinn Féin are pathetic, if not hypocritical. - Yours, etc.,

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JOHN A. MURPHY, Rosebank, Douglas Road, Cork.