A most welcome endorsement for the NI centenary parade

This newspaper ran a message on the front page: ‘Happy 100th Northern Ireland!’

But barely any other businesses did the same, and certainly no public body did. Not even the ones that have Northern Ireland in their name.

It illustrated the trepidation there is around the small minority of the population who are actively hostile to NI (a group that does not include constitutional nationalists).

The year culminated in a service in Armagh that barely mentioned the name Northern Ireland, in which no-one celebrated NI, in which there was no recognisable NI theme, in which the main sermon went big on issues such as slavery, and in which a main news line to emerge (for the BBC) was the Catholic archbishop condemning partition.

Last year NI was not allowed to have a centenary.

The government events to mark the 100th, while they stepped up a bit near the end of the year, were woefully inadequate. This apologetic approach to the centenary looked all the more timid given that such a large percentage of the population considers itself to be Northern Irish.

Next week the loyal orders will hold a centennial parade.

The West Belfast Festival, which is generously backed by public funds, has been a much bigger event than NI at 100, so it is almost a surprise that a tourist body is in any way promoting the parade. But Visit Belfast is calling it a “once in a lifetime spectacle,” a most welcome endorsement.