Letter: In Brief

Sir: I was intrigued to read Hugh Murnaghan tell us that William of Orange's actions in Ireland fell into the tradition of "securing English hegemony over Ireland" (letter, 7 October). His letter proved something of a revelation. So William's adversary, James II, never had any desire to be King of the United Kingdom, but was in Ireland only to grant it self-rule? No doubt his descendants, in leading the Jacobite rebellions, were concerned only to release Ireland from English (not British) hegemony, and had they been victorious, would immediately have granted Irish independence before abdicating.

PHIL DYSACRE

Lincoln