Pull out now
Sir: Canadians are indeed curious — why a referendum on whether or not the population of Northern Ireland wish to remain with the British?
The results will show two things. One — that there are more Protestants in NI than Catholics. And two, and this is really important to the British voter, who can think fairly, it will demonstrate that the main plank 9f the Conservative-Unionist Party, for the last fifty years (this plank was known by every British government during that time), nas succeeded beyond all expectations. What was this policy?
It was the policy to make life so damn miserable for the minorities in NI that they would be forced to leave their native land — a land which their ancestors had occupied for well over 2,500 years. Through discrimination, carried out with sadistic glee and zest, in jobs, housing, in voting, in the lack of proper police protection, and in the utter lack of respect for those who were not Protestant, hundreds of thousands of nationalists left NI. Many reliable historians state that, had it net been for the forced immigration (the native Irish are far more virile than their EnglishScottish counterparts), the Catholic population of Ulster today would exceed that of the Unionists. Thus, no British problem in Ulster, no soldiers killed. We should ask ourselves — who is responsible for the present mess? Are not all the voters in Britain partly responsible for permitting the above policy to be carried out without strong and violent protests? For, after all, NI was part of the UK. I wonder what the reaction would have been if this policy had been practised in London.
The fair thing to do is — pull out of Ireland — totally — now. NI is really a colony. Have you not left other colonies? You will never find truer friends — never. As an Irish Protestant, who is very fond of Britain, whence came my ancestors, I feel that this action will be applauded all over the world.
George Sandys 2295 West 40th Avenue, Vancouver, Canada
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