Fintan O’Toole (Opinion, 4 May) does not mention another elephant in the room. The loyalty of the unionists in Northern Ireland is not to England but to a UK that includes Scotland. It is impossible to spend time in Northern Ireland without becoming aware of the depth of family, religious and sentimental connections with the south-west of Scotland. Were Brexit to go really badly for Scotland – a not unlikely outcome – then a Scottish independence referendum would become both likely and likely to succeed. Northern Irish unionists would then have little reason to stay in the rump of the UK.
Bob Owen
Sherborne, Dorset
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