I have to come out in defence of Divis here - he has always spoken with candor and his posts have gone some way to changing my view on the nature of the conflict - and I agree the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement is a key requirement for peace in the north.

I wonder though - if I were to show the same committment to the English nationalist cause as Divis does to the Irish nationalist cause, that wouldn't go down too well anywhere. Now let's be clear, I am categorically NOT making a judgement on anyone or their beliefs, just musing on the nature of nationalism in the Islands we share.

The oft-stated idea that waving the English flag is somehow shows support for the BNP (whose name includes the word British, note, not English) or hides some sort of racist overtones has to change, and English people have to be able to freely identify with their national symbols if they want - if everytime an Irish, Scottish or Welsh flag was waved in England the wavee (?) was called a racist/BNP/oppressor of whoever this country would be a bloody miserable place to live, and the bigots doing the shouting would hopefully come in for some serious flak.

Anyway, I personally don't like the concept of nationalism in a political sense - it leads to division. I look forward to the day a United Isles of the West is declared, each country celebrating our own cultures and shared heritage, making our own laws for our own people, so we can finally get on with being the brother and sisters we truly are rather than the bickering siblings kings, queens, priests, vicars, bishops, cardinals, imams, generals, politicians and assorted knobheads have made us over the centuries.

Heck, the music would be the best!