Guardian readers respond to Colm Tóibín’s essay on the island’s political future
Colm Tóibín’s comparison of Sinn Féin, a pro-EU, pro-immigration, centre-left party, to Ukip, an anti-EU, anti-immigration, rightwing party, is decidedly muddled, like much of his article (Colm Tóibín: will the Brexit fallout lead to a ‘united Ireland’?, 2 October). That apocalyptic anti-republican mindset (the idea that Sinn Féin in 2021 is a “spectre” and a “tide”) is widespread among older members of the Irish upper middle-class, who are often unable to rid themselves of decades of anti-republican prejudice.
This was fostered by previous Irish governments that, courtesy of section 31 of the 1960 Broadcasting Authority Act, enthusiastically operated the most draconian anti-republican censorship in western Europe.
