The Irish president, Michael Higgins, has above all harmed himself in his Northern Ireland centenary snub

News Letter editorial of Saturday September 18 2021:
News Letter editorialNews Letter editorial
News Letter editorial

There have been glimmers of hope with regard to North-South relations in recent months, after a bad five years.

The Fine Gael government of Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney, which came into office in Dublin in the aftermath of the 2016 Brexit vote, was one of the most unfriendly governments towards the UK of recent decades.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

They would say that they never voted for the rupture caused by the British departure from the EU, but even so, it became more widespread than that — in the long suspension of Stormont caused by Sinn Fein, for example, both Mr Varadkar and Mr Coveney made clear that they supported the republican Irish language demand.

Ironically, a Fianna Fail Taoiseach, Micheal Martin has toned down the rhetoric. But yesterday even Mr Coveney seemed to distance himself from the Irish president Michael D Higgins’ snub of the Northern Ireland centenary service that will be held in Armagh, attended by the Queen.

Mr Higgins then seemed to have been confused as to who it was who wrongly addressed him as president of the Republic of Ireland — a deeply embarrassing mistake given that he cited the supposedly erroneous use of his title as a reason for not attending.

Relations between London or unionists and Dublin have been cool of late but Mr Higgins has if anything warmed them up a bit.

——— ———

A message from the Editor:

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers — and consequently the revenue we receive — we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Ben Lowry

Acting Editor