Letter: The use of the term separatist is not appropriate when referring to Irish nationalists

On UTV's The View from Stormont on Monday night, the News Letter editor Ben Lowry used the term separatist, just as the News Letter columnist Owen Polley does when referring to northern nationalists who want to join the Republic (eg his column on January 9, ‘We want no part of Irish nationalism’s ‘Up the Ra’ culture’).

My understanding of the King's English is that if a community has been part of a political entity, and then separates it can be referred to as separatist. So since a majority of the population of the island of Ireland never voted to join the Union they can't have separated from that Union.

Some nationalists are sensitive too. Since separatist implies committing to an organisation and then abandoning it, wrongdoing on the part of the separatist

is implied. Scottish nationalists can certainly be called separatists since for centuries the majority voted pro union.

Paul Roche, Dublin