British and Irish are not exclusive terms

This non-exclusiveness, with respect to Northern Ireland, it should be noted, is the position of the government of the Republic of Ireland, unless it repudiates the Good Friday Agreement.

However to have us accept that the playing of the United Kingdom’s national anthem, at an international match involving Northern Ireland, is exclusive of the Irish dimension, is liked being talked into contradicting that.

If the question of Northern Ireland having its own anthem is to be considered, it should be in the context of marking out the local, as with the Scots and the Welsh – a trend now accentuated by the English (many of whom are of Irish, Scots and Welsh descent) in the rise of English nationalism (England too is a country) within the United Kingdom.

W A Miller, Belfast BT13