Séamas O'Reilly: 'Whether I like it or not, I remain a British subject'

'The UK is undergoing the greatest cost-of-living crisis in living memory, with around 20% of its population in poverty, and two to three million using food banks each year.'

The soon-to-be King Charles III inspecting the Officer Cadets on parade during the 200th Sovereign's Parade at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) in Camberley, UK.

There aren’t many specific benefits to being Northern Irish. So few, in fact, that I’ve been known to say that the only one I can think of is “You don’t end up inherently scared of Northern Irish people”. But there is another, and it’s one I’ll make use of this week, as we crown a new king.

I don’t personally consider myself British, and due to the protections of British and Irish law — not least those enshrined in the Good Friday Agreement — neither am I compelled to do so. I’ve never had a British passport, though some small part of me wants one just so I can grow a moustache for its photo and keep it, side by side with my Irish passport, in a safe deposit box like I’m Jason Bourne. I do, however, have a British birth certificate, having been born, raised, and schooled in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Whether I like it or not — and whatever else I am — I was born, and still remain, a British subject.