Partition of Ireland did not begin with the events of 1916

It is more than ironic that while urging us “not to mix up historical fact with propaganda”, Liam MacFadden (April 25) indulges in quite a lot of historical revisionism himself. 

His claim that “In 1801, we signed up to go into union with Britain” is both factually incorrect — the vote of The Parliament of Ireland took place in 1800 — and grossly misleading in that no popular vote of the people ever took place. Ireland was carried into the union by a parliament where only Anglicans were permitted to sit and for which only wealthy Catholics were allowed to vote.

This was hardly an exercise in democracy in a country where the majority of the population were impoverished Catholic, with many Presbyterians in Ulster.