Our wee country’s heroic haul of medals shows benefit of UK

A letter from Stevan Patterson:

Record medals for Northern Ireland at the 2022 Commonwealth Games!

With the end of the Commonwealth (or ‘friendly’) Games in Birmingham, I would like to congratulate all the competitors that took part, and especially those that represented Northern Ireland and achieved so much success for our great wee country.

It was really heart-lifting to see the Ulster Banner being raised on so many occasions.

Without doubt, a total of 18 medals is a wonderful achievement; the seven gold, seven silver and four bronze is the best our country has ever achieved at the games and is another of the so many reasons to be so proud of our country.

It shows what can be achieved by hard work and commitment.

Northern Ireland’s place is now confirmed as one of the top countries for sports achievement in the Commonwealth.

This success is all the more spectacular when you consider many of the countries competing against us have far larger populations and more resources.

Our success at the Commonwealth Games is just another of the many reasons, often ignored and forgotten, why we are better off in the UK, as our country will continue to go from strength to strength and achieve so much as part of our great union of nations.

We must never forget that in the unlikely event of the utopian fairytale of a nationalist Irish united Ireland, our best sports personalities would be denied the ability to compete in the Commonwealth Games in the future as the Irish Free State sadly left our family of nations that make up the Commonwealth we know and love today, after becoming the Republic of Ireland in 1949.

Stevan Patterson, Castlederg

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