Rather than claiming to be British, celebrate what you are — Northern Irish

A friend who was with me when a loyalist spokesmen was on TV remarked that probably most of their TVs would be bigger than their bookcases.

To most people culture comprises literature, music and art. That is why Shakespeare, Hemingway, Tolstoy, Mozart, Beethoven, Van Gogh, Rembrandt and Degas, among others, are appreciated and enjoyed the world over.

Bonfires, even when they don’t endanger nearby property, and don’t burn toxic materials that pollute and diminish air quality for a week afterwards and don’t burn effigies in hate crimes, do not constitute culture.

Neither do flags or Orange (and republican) marches.

The latter are a form of political expression not culture.

As regards being British, no other part of the UK replicates the July 11 bonfires.

The only place outside Northern Ireland, to my knowledge, that witnesses Orange marches is Glasgow.

Many people in Northern Ireland claim to be British.

The front of their passport says the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Only the other three nations constitute Great Britain.

After many years living in England I have yet to meet anyone who regards anybody from Northern Ireland, even those who profess to be British, as anything other than Irish.

However if it’s any consolation the term British is an artificial one. To be truly British you would need to be a combination of English, Scottish and Welsh and possess the traits and characteristics of all three nations. Such a person does not exist. Again I have yet to meet anyone here who considers themselves British. They proudly say they are English, Scottish or Welsh, whatever the case may be.

Time to relinquish being an insignificant minority in a greater whole and celebrate who you are ... Northern Irish.

Gerard O’Boyle, South Molton, Devon