ABSTRACT
Walter Ellis, a Protestant Ulsterman, bared his soul in a mid-1990s Sunday Times article. In this, Ellis maintained:
In Northern Ireland the Protestants proudly proclaim their loyalty to England and the Crown, and are regarded as vulgar aliens. The Catholics, who have, after all, bred the IRA and vote regularly for secession from Britain, are, by contrast, seen as loveable rascals, no less a part of the nation than the Scots or the Welsh - and better company. The Prods are used to being shunned. Nobody likes us. We are regarded for the most part as bloody-minded scum, lost down one of history’s blind alleys. The English are not touched by our devotion. Rather, they think we ourselves are ‘touched’. Proper Paddies, in fact. Vile is how they see us, just like the Boers, and when we pledge our loyalty, they shy away, embarrassed, as though we had just broken wind. 1
