TAITMAIL Centennial blues… and red and white
We have heard a lot about culture wars in the UK lately, but the truth is that the “rows” over everything from the displaying of union flags to the dumping of statues is an essentially English argument.
It’s hardly an issue in Scotland or Wales where the existence of a national story parallel to the idea of "Great Britain” has created a cultural hinterland which has mostly satisfied the need for patriotic feeling. Sure, pro- and anti-independence Scots can have a good old ding-dong about flying the Union Jack or the Saltire, but it’s at bottom a political argument, not one that goes to the heart of who the Scots feel they are.
Which may explain what’s happening in Northern Ireland at the moment. You will probably have missed it, but at the beginning of this month the Northern Ireland Office announced its plans for the commemoration of the centenary of the founding of the Northern Irish state. Yes, it's 100 years since the island of Ireland was partitioned after a decade or more of Parliamentary and extra-Parliamentary fighting.