The lesson of the 1641 bloodshed is that we are not Irish
As the person privileged to have chaired the committee which placed the memorial to the victims of 1641 in Portadown it is gratifying to see in the News Letter that Mr JF of Coalisland has noted it.
The reason why 1641 is brushed aside is that it exposes the sectarian underbelly of Irish nationalism which runs right through to more recent events such as Kingsmills.
The lesson of 1641 is surely that we are not “Irish”, do not need an “Irish” identity and that indeed the “Irish” have no claim on us.
The time is overdue when we should unashamedly promote our distinct and separate identity which was born in the blood of 1641.
Robert Wallace, Portadown