Letter: Ireland rejects the idea of a holiday on the Twelfth of July but it should be one for the whole UK

The news that Micheal Martin, the Republic of Ireland foreign minister and minister for defence has quickly rejected a call made by a Green Party TD, Patrick Costello to make the Twelfth of July a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland comes as no surprise.

After all the Republic’s head of state President Michael D. Higgins has been invited to attend, the annual Twelfth of July demonstration in Rossnowlagh Co Donegal since 2011 and despite initially indicating he hoped to attend a future annual Twelfth parade, 12 years later he has not managed to find the time.

More importantly as the United Kingdom currently does not have a national day, the Twelfth of July that marks the Battle of the Boyne should become a UK-wide public holiday to allow all parts of the country to mark this most important event in our nation’s long illustrious history.

This would allow all citizens and nations of our country to achieve an even closer union together in the spirit of better understanding and to celebrate the victory of King William III at the Battle of the Boyne, that gave us the constitutional monarchy, parliament and bill of rights established as part of the Glorious Revolution that was so influential in the UK we know and love today.

Stevan Patterson, Castlederg