Sir, - The collapse of the Protestant community in the new Irish State was indeed tragic in its causes and in its consequences. However, contrary to the historian Peter Hart's assertion, quoted by Mr R. Bury (October 23rd), it was not "the only example of the mass displacement of a native ethnic group within the British Isles since the 17th century".
Two other examples come to mind: the displacement of Irish people during and after the Famine, and of Scots during the highland clearances. The movement of British rural workers into industrial towns also entailed large-scale displacement.
Even though it had been present in Ireland since the 16th century and counted among its members many of Old Irish and Norman stock, it is doubtful if the Protestant community as a whole would by the 1920s have identified itself as a native group. - Yours, etc.,
Michael Drury, Avenue Louise, Brussels.