Sir, - I was surprised to note that in your editorial of September 13th you failed to make any comparison between the respective struggles of Scotland and Ireland to remove the yoke of English rule or to comment that the Scots' inexorable progress towards recovery of their independence proceeds without violence.
Happily, your omission was somewhat alleviated by a stimulating comment from Garret FitzGerald. His interest in the contrast between Irish and Scots history of the past three centuries is regrettably not shared by many educationists in Ireland. A close examination of the Scots' experience would provide many worthwhile lessons for their Irish cousins.
While Dr FitzGerald is correct in his observations about the seizing by Scots of commercial opportunities, supported by industrial development, in the creation of the British Empire after the manipulated Act of Union in 1707, it should be remembered that there was also famine, depopulation and emigration.
Equally, I would take issue with his inference that the Scots did not retain, no more than the Irish, an acute awareness of their own unique identity. The fact that the Scots shared the same island as England has meant that a different modus vivendi had to be found, comparable to that between the US and Canada, which the former Canadian Premier, Pierre Trudeau, likened to "sleeping with an elephant".
Dr FitzGerald did not mention the emigration of Irish to the west of Scotland, particularly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and their absorption within Scotland. For a considerable period there was a "Mini Ulster" in reverse, with a sizeable Catholic minority becoming established in a largely Protestant country. Past difficulties (and there were many) have now largely been overcome and it can surely be argued that such achievements present lessons to be learned by the Irish.
As a Scot, I would take great issue with Dr FitzGerald's contention that my country has a totally different cultural history from Ireland. It is the fact that the two countries enjoy a shared history and culture that makes adopting to living in Ireland so easy for me. - Yours, etc., Lachlan Urquhart,
Drogheda,
Co. Louth.