18 SEPTEMBER 1976, Page 23

Nationhood

Sir: Like many English people, Mr K. L. Bailey (II September) thinks that the United Kingdom is a nation. It is a state (not the same thing) formed from three nations (England, Scotland and Wales) and part of a fourth, Ireland. Scotland and Wales have as strong a case for self-government as Jamaica or Swaziland, Trinidad and Tobago-1 could name many more. There is a case for Scottish and Welsh representation at Strasbourg, Luxembourg and Brussels, as we Irish have. There is no 'homogeneity and sense of nationhood' in these isles, but Scotland and Wales might settle for a German-style federation. That, however, is their affair.

Patrick J. N. Bury

The Grey Door,

23 Upper Pembroke Street, Dublin 2