Editorial: Celebrations under way as America’s 250th anniversary is marked here in Northern Ireland

​The picture here shows an annual event in Belfast that goes back decades, including over the Troubles – a reception to mark the American declaration of independence.

​The ceremony and celebration is held in late June, days before July 4, the date in 1776 in which the United States was formed.

It is a particularly noteworthy event this year, given that it is 250 since that momentous declaration, which was reported in the Belfast News Letter (we are one of the few newspapers still publishing that was around back then).

America’s break from Britain caused all sorts of unexpected political ruptures – Protestants from Ulster were prominent among the early American settlers and they were generally very supportive of what the British crown designated as a rebellion. Catholics in Ireland were often supportive of the English king, such were there fears that events in America were a very Protestant development (which they were – the population of the 13 colonies was only about 2% Catholic).

Yet a later Irish rebellion against Britain, which sought to build upon these shifting loyalties, failed in the 1990s.

The outgoing US consul-general, James Applegate, told hundreds of guests yesterday that he and his family would sorely miss Northern Ireland as they move on to China. The consulate in Belfast is the second oldest US consulate in the world, dating to the 1790s, which is a reflection of the deep historical links. Mr Applegate spoke about John Dunlap, a Strabane-born early migrant to America who printed the first copies of the 1776 declaration, which changed the history of the world.

Politicians including Gordon Lyons, Stormont’s communities minister, have been doing excellent work highlighting Ulster’s ties to America in the anniversary year.