Sectarian attacks show there is no '˜Irish' place for us

Mr JF of Coalisland ('˜Cromwell came over after massacres,' February 17) is correct in his response to Peter McEvoy ('˜Unionists say no, 368 years on,' February 15) in highlighting the reasons for Cromwell's coming to Ireland.

By The Newsroom

Published 19th Feb 2018, 11:03 BST

Updated 19th Feb 2018, 11:08 BST

However, he perhaps does not go far enough in analysing the legacy of the 1641 massacres.

The purely sectarian basis for these atrocities forever cast Protestants as the “outsiders” in the Irish nationalist mindset.

The resultant sectarian attacks, wether Vinegar Hill, 1798, or Kingsmills 1976, stand as proof to all but the most woolly-minded that there is no real place for us in an “Irish” identity.

Why should we be ashamed to declare ourselves as distinct from the Irish nation or identity?

As the centenary of Northern Ireland approaches let us boast that we are a distinct, separate and independent people.

Robert Wallace, Portadown