Sir, – It would be helpful if Stephen Collins referenced from where he draws his facts and their meaning. In his column (Rory McIlroy’s wish to be identified as Northern Irish is typical of his generation, Opinion & Analysis, April 18th), he states, “Surveys show that younger people are less attached to nationalism and unionism, with growing numbers content to express a Northern Irish identity”.
If only it were that simple. The facts, that can be easily gleaned from the 2021 Northern Ireland census, certainly contradict Collins’s bald statement.
The census shows that only19.78 per cent of residents identified as Northern Irish only. It also shows that figure is falling being significantly down from 29.44 per cent in the 2011 census. Additionally, 31.86 per cent of residents identified as British only, and 29.13 per cent identified as Irish only.
It should also be noted that in the paper “Understanding the Northern Irish Identity”, the authors John Garry and Kevin McNicholl, of Queen’s University Belfast, caution that “the Northern Irish as identity choice may be simply another manifestation of the two main identities. Some Protestants may adopt the term as a way of expressing their belonging to a particular part of the UK while some Catholics may use the term to indicate their belonging to the northern part of Ireland (McKeown, 2014).”
Xi Jinping’s refusal to kowtow to Trump now looks like a shrewd move
Brianna Parkins: As my life got easier, I got angrier. Things should not be so hard for the working class
Ireland’s hopes of a net-zero economy are floating in the wind
Irish musician Wallis Bird: I bought a farmhouse with my partner and two other couples
Accordingly, Northern Irish Catholics and Northern Irish Protestants may be just as different from each other as Irish Catholics and British Protestants are. A third possibility is that being Northern Irish is a meaningful distinction for Catholics but not for Protestants.
As the majority culture, Protestants may “project” their identity on the superordinate Northern Irish identity (Noor et al, 2010 and McKeown, 2014). “This would lead to large differences between Irish Catholic and Northern Irish Catholics in terms of attitudes and behaviour, but little or no differences between British Protestants and Northern Irish Protestants” – Yours, etc,
JIM O’SULLIVAN,
Rathedmond,
Co Sligo.
Sir, – I read Stephen Collins’s column (Rory McIlroy’s wish to be identified as Northern Irish is typical of his generation, Opinion & Analysis, April 18th), with great interest. The more we consider the granular detail of what a United Ireland would actually require, the more we realise that the complex peaceful dispensation that exists on this island today is a very precious thing.
It remains tentative on the ground in the North and it is a kind of nervous truce to tell the truth. Peace requires patience, moderation, sincerity and compromise. I will leave your readers to decide where on the political spectrum these colours are concentrated.
We must be vigilant to maintain the peace in the face of smiling single-minded rhetoric, simple “cures” and stealthy nascent retaliatory majoritarianism. I do not want to see that rough beast slouching towards us waiting to be born and neither does anyone else.
We are a republic of conscience, that is conscious of the enormous difficulties and challenges posed by “the national question”. We understand what unity means and involves. It is, first and foremost, about bringing people together – to the degree that is both workable and wanted.
The alternative is a panic-stricken sectarian headcount in the North and an oversimplistic, naive and nostalgic, flag-waving bunfight in the South. To cap it all off, a 51-49 Brexit-style result could easily light a bonfire for paramilitary “spectaculars” in southern cities and towns where all that is achieved is the fatal ignition of “the Troubles” in reverse. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL DEASY,
Bandon,
Co Cork.
UK ruling on biological sex
Sir, – The ruling by the UK Supreme Court that the word “woman” refers to biological sex under the UK Equality Act has profound and immediate implications for women’s sport across the UK – and by extension, for all-island sporting organisations like the Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA).
The LGFA operates across all 32 counties and has adopted a policy that allows biological males to participate in women’s teams and to access female-only changing facilities. This decision is now in direct conflict with UK law, which explicitly protects the right of women to single-sex sport and single-sex spaces.
Though the Equality Act of 2010 does not apply in Northern Ireland where equality law is fully devolved, the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland has confirmed the judgment would be considered “highly persuasive” in the jurisdiction – an assertion repeated by several legal and official sources in the last few days.
Any policy that undermines those rights may expose the LGFA to legal challenge from female players in the North, who can claim – with legal backing – that their right to single-sex sport is protected. This raises serious questions about legal liability, fairness, and the practical administration of the sport across two jurisdictions.
The LGFA risks discriminating between female players based on their residence – providing different standards of safety, fairness, and dignity depending on whether a player is based in Northern Ireland or the Republic. How will this affect intercounty fixtures, especially when a single team might include both northern and southern players? Or in fixtures against teams from Scotland and England, where the LGFA has a number of affiliate clubs?
Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill has been clear in her support for women’s right to single-sex sport – a position now firmly upheld in UK law. Will politicians in the Republic follow her lead or wait, as happened in the UK, until a group of women are forced to go to court to assert that sex is a biological reality?
Surely it is time for legislators in the Republic to follow suit and enshrine in law a definition of sex that reflects reality, protects women’s rights, and supports fairness in sport. – Yours, etc,
DANIELLE LOUGHREY,
MARY-ANNE McNULTY,
Co-directors, Gaels For Fair Play,
Buncrana,
Co Donegal.
Sir, - I agree with Bernie Linnane’s point (Letters, April 18th) that “sometimes the law takes a while to catch up”. However, I suspect I differ regarding what exactly needs to change.
In Ireland, the Gender Recognition Act 2015 was passed without any consideration of impact on single-sex spaces that exist to protect women’s safety, dignity and privacy. In Ireland we have a litany of examples of how women have been a historically abused and subjugated class of people.
Irish law needs to “catch up” by following the lead of the UK and reinstate clear protection of women’s rights under equality law that were eroded when the 2015 Act was passed. As the judges in the UK ruling on biological sex noted, their judgment does not remove any protections for transgender people against discrimination and harassment.
Two things can be true at the same time; protections for transgender people matter and protections for women matter. I hope that the UK judgment opens the door for some common sense discussions here to ensure consideration and protection is provided to all vulnerable groups in Irish society. - Yours, etc,
LOUISE WHELAN,
Greystones,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – One of the intervening parties in the UK Supreme Court ruling on biological sex included a group of lesbians who understand what Bernie Linnane (Letters, April 18th) does not: that homosexuality is same-sex attraction, not same gender identity attraction.
In the past, men who thought themselves very clever would wear T-shirts saying “I’m a lesbian.” They were rightly seen as social pests. Today, that poor joke – a heterosexual man calling himself a lesbian – has somehow become the human rights cause of the age.
People who support the destruction of the male/female sex binary work against, not for, the rights of same-sex attracted people. This position demands that lesbians accept straight males who call themselves women into their bars, their dating apps, even their intimate lives or face accusations of transphobia.
That’s not liberation, it’s homophobic. – Yours, etc,
SANDRA ADAMS,
Dublin 13.
Grimy Dublin in the 1980s
Sir, – Might I concur wholeheartedly with Brian Ahern’s views (Letters, April 17th). While we all managed somehow to have fun in the 1980s in Dublin – I was a student then – the fact is that it was, by comparison to now, rather grim and essentially grey.
Dublin city has evolved, matured, become much better educated, multicultural and has also become a very much better place. It also has a far higher standard of living and it is much more safe than it was then. I was there; I know. – Yours, etc,
ROBERT O’NEILL,
Annaville Park,
Dublin 14.
Tucker Carlson and Conor McGregor
Sir, – Finn McRedmond’s Opinion piece “I was glad to see Conor McGregor mixing with Tucker Carlson. His stock is now even lower”, (Opinion & Analysis, April 17th) brings immediately and obviously to mind the old Irish adage ” Aithníonn ciaróg ciaróg eile” (“A beetle recognises another beetle”. – Yours, etc,
ANTHONY LAYNG,
Charlotte Quay Docks,
Dublin 4.
Sir, – Finn McRedmond’s article (Opinion & Analysis, April 17th) mentions Conor McGregor, Tucker Carlson and Malachy Steenson walking through Dublin. On the opposing Letters page is a call by Shane Byrne for renewed focus on access to the countryside. A roam to the right and a right to the roam!
MICHAEL KEEGAN,
Pembroke Cottages,
Booterstown,
Co Dublin.
Pub versus Luas for Cork
Sir, – While I do agree without Ola Løkken Nordrum (Letters, April 17th) on the Cork luas line needing to be built and the need for a way to stop planning objections halting urgent developments, I think a way can surely be found to save the well-loved Venue Bar, much as happened here in Clare when the new motorway at Dromoland was rerouted to save the historic Fairy Hawthorn, keeping everyone happy. – Yours, etc,
ENDA SCANLON,
Sandfield Court,
Ennis,
Co Clare.
The phrase “Took Out”
Sir,- It sounds like the high-kicking dancer at the Irish country wedding described by Frank McNally (An Irishman’s Diary, April 17th) gave a performance that “took off” (soared) rather than “took out”. – Yours, etc,
JOHN HAYES,
Ennis Rd,
Limerick.
Sir, – I must say I enjoyed Frank McNally’s contribution on the usage of the word “out” in speech here. It reminded me of my early days growing up on a farm in west Clare. When asked by my Dad to hand him something and, of course, not been able to find it he would say ... “it’s right there opposite you out”.
This seems to add a new dimension to your various uses of the word. I have a feeling it comes from a literal translation from the Irish “ós do chómhair amach”, bearing in mind that Irish was in use in the area into the early 1900s.
Keep up the good work. – Yours, etc,
JIM O’CONNOR,
Ennis,
Co Clare,
Sir, – Your correspondent Marianne Lynch’s understanding of the expression “took out” about which Frank McNally reflected (An Irishman’s Diary, April 17th) suggests to me that residents of her native Carrickmacross are, perhaps, a more tolerant, forgiving lot than those of us brought up at a slightly more northern latitude in the same county.
Certainly in the Clones town of my increasingly distant youth any temerous habitue who “took out” was less likely to provoke the mildly critical raised eyebrow she suggests than an unmistakably admonitory shaking of the head. – Yours, etc,
KIERAN FLYNN,
Ballinasloe,
Co Galway.
Right to roam
Sir, – in response to Vincent Murphy’s query why Ireland does not afford the same luxury to roam all land freely as our Swedish counterparts (Letters, April 18th), I direct his attention to Conor Gallagher’s article on the front page of the same edition (“Houses Evacuated After Hiker Takes Home Artillery Shell”). The hiker in question, having taken an illumination round as a souvenir of his travels, triggered a nationwide search and the evacuation of a dozen homes in Carlow. Illuminating indeed. – Yours, etc.
R DUFFY,
DUBLIN 6.
Sir, – Vincent Murphy asks a very telling question “why not in Ireland”? (Letters, April 18th), in relation to the right, as in Sweden, to roam all land freely. I suspect the coupling with “respect” for property and farming animals might be where we might measurably fall down. The evidence is all around us, in the lazy trail of litter left on our shared roads, streets, pathways, parks and beaches. But, yes we are improving! – Yours, etc,
AIDAN RODDY,
Lambourne Wood,
Cabinteely,
Dublin 18.
Sir, – I too have always thought we should have the right to roam (Letters, April 18th), within reason and acting responsibility. But I can understand a landowner’s reluctance to some degree. If dog owners can’t even keep Fido on a leash in parks and areas where notices direct them to do so, livestock, wild animals and ground birds will suffer. Yes, I think we should have a right to roam, but I don’t think dogs should have the same right. – Yours, etc,
FRANK NEENAN,
Tullow Road,
Carlow.
Sir, – We live “one box of chips” from several late-night chipper typeoutlets. Every morning, especially at the weekends, we are welcomed by the sight of partially empty chip bags and lager cans (but no expensive craft brands!) If we cannot stop this kind of casual antisocial behaviour on our streets, l fear that Vincent Murphy (Letters, April 18th) will have a long wait before “allemansratten” manages to kick in here. – Yours, etc,
JOHN ROGERS,
Rathowen,
Co Westmeath.
