Nothing but another sad chapter in the misgovernment of Ireland under British rule. . .

I didn't bring it up.

Even at that, the point made by ulsterman was totally fair to bring up, and hardly plucked out of the blue.

The division in Belgium actually isn't based on ethnicity either, nor is it based on religion. It is a linguistic divide between Dutch speaking Belgians and francophone Belgians.

The difference of course being that Irish people do not glorify the Empire, and they celebrate breaking away from it.

So, your point was what exactly?

Who is Marty Millar?

This is a pretty unfortunate comment.

I fail to see where Ms Lo is forcing anyone to do what she likes, nor did I even come close to suggesting that the term mandate is a free pass to do whatever one wants. My point was that as an MLA, with a mandate, Ms Lo is acting in her capacity as an elected official. It is nothing to do with her being Chinese and trying to force the Chinese community's wishes on everyone, as the ironically-named 'backinbelfast' claimed.

Any individual is allowed to have their own opinion, and to voice it without fear of prejudice or abuse. In this case, it is particularly ridiculous to assert that a lady who can safely claim to speak on behalf of at least a significant amount of her local electorate is accused to forcing the wishes of the Chinese community on us all.

How this comment became so popular I will never know. You are taking a single example of something which happened in the Republic and somehow portraying it as indicative of an entire state.

Despite the constant attempts by many Unionists to portray the Republic as having remained completely unchanged since the 1920s, it is now regarded as one of the world's freest societies. Press freedom is ranked higher than that of the UK. It is in the top 10 most economically free countries of the world. The UK is not. Finally, the Republic is ranked highly in all indices of civil liberty.

But let us now turn to the blatant inconsistencies of your argument. The UK is by no means an exemplar of the separation of Church and State. Indeed, the Head of State is simultaneously the head of the Anglican Church, thus entailing that no non-Anglican can ever be head of state. Seats are reserved in Parliament for bishops of the Church of England and their votes have tipped the scale in some important Bills, like amendments to the Equality Act in 2010. While there is no express bar to any Catholic becoming Prime Minister, the PM's role in some functions of the Anglican Church (such as appointing bishops) could lead to some constitutional issues. Tony Blair of course felt compelled to wait until the end of his time in office to convert to Catholicism to avoid these issues.

The entwining of religion and politics in Northern Ireland needs no description, suffice it to say that fundamental Christianity still holds remarkable sway over how this jurisdiction is governed. Segregation is not just prevalent in education, but in Northern Irish society as a whole.

People in glass houses, as they say.

Anna Lo is an elected official, which means that she has a mandate. It is a far cry from your laughable assertion that the Chinese community is trying to 'police' society.

Notwithstanding the fact that one does not know all the facts here, it can safely be said that this was a ridiculous and cruel action by the principal. I can remember some guys at school who refused to take part in Mass because they had rejected Catholicism. Instead of being punished the school actually organised a debate, allowing them to argue their case.

There is a way of accommodating everyone.

A quick and affordable service between Belfast and Dublin is crucial to our economy. Dublin is far and away the principal access point to this island and we need to make sure that Belfast is as easily accessible from there as possible. Personally I think even 90 minutes could be improved on.