I was waiting for a while, but eventually the SLAV Macedonian nationality was mentioned by Mr Uzunov.

Of course, he did not mention the word SLAV... so why did he add the prefix MUSLIM to Bosnian?

And another thing, his statement that the Soviet Union unravelled in a tragic manner is way over the top, especially when compared to Yugoslavia.

Ulster is a province of Ireland with 9 counties; 6 of which lie in what is known as Northern Ireland. It is a common (and sometimes deliberate) mistake to call Northern Ireland Ulster.

Nitpicking, I know, but it shows a bit of a lack of understanding of the nuances of the (admittedly) very complex issues being discussed.

Also, the article seems to have a slightly disjointed purpose. Is it a comment on the viability of a Scottish nation or a dig at an ex-The Age tennis journo?

Oh my Gawd , does this'na mheen tha "Taggart" won't be on UK.TV na moora?

A puzzling little piece. It reads like a schoolboy's essay, skimming over history with little half-digested gobbets of infotainment.

"The term Britannia and British originally refers to the Celtic inhabitants of the UK and the Celtic Bretons in modern day France. England evolved from the term Angle-land."

All a bit... superficial.

If the Scots do decide to secede, good luck to them. But the consequences will be pretty far-reaching.

One immediate effect will be to bring forward the formation of that long-overdue institution, the English Parliament, and in all likelihood complete the separation of Wales and Northern Ireland, both of whom - like the Scots - already have their own Assemblies. As does the Isle of Man, of course.

The impact on the politics of the nations involved will be profound. It is one thing to rally behind a flag and chant "Scotland forever", and it is entirely another to unravel the complex web of financial interdependencies that - because they currently apply to the UK as a whole - tend to pass unnoticed. Scottish Nationalism has for so long relied upon the catchcry "it's our [North Sea] oil!", that they tend to gloss over the realities of the nature and destination of the revenues involved.

The biggest losers in all this - and potentially the most likely source of any bloodshed over it all - will inevitably be Northern Ireland. Having voted consistently for decades to be governed from Westminster, they will almost certainly be cast adrift if a full realignment occurs. Scope for any number of highly skilled and experienced mischief-makers to make their presence felt.

But "independence" does seem to be a global trend, so Scotland's activities in this arena are far from surprising. Nevertheless, I see it as creating far more problems than it solves.

Dear Savvas Tzionis and Pericles,

Is this a Greek thing?... This need to shout down an interesting article about Scottish independence because the term Macedonia was used?

It sounds like it. I don't know anyone else in the Australian media who has been willing to examine the status of the UK. The author Uzunov deserves some credit for doing so.

I also appreciate the brief historical timeline of the UK in the article. That is what informing readers is about. It is not assuming they know or don't know.

It might be worth remembering that before the 6 Counties that comprise Northern Ireland were hived off from Ulster the people of Ireland voted on the matter and rejected any idea of Partition of their country and in the province of Ulster (all 9 counties) the majority voted against Partition. Faced with such a democratic dilemma the English cut 6 counties out of Ulster thus creating an area in which those who supported Partition formed a slim majority.

Since then the cry of "majority rules" has been loud in the (occupied) land and every un-democratic trick has been used to maintain the status quo. It has been alleged that Catholics were denied jobs so as to encourage migration but this is an exaggeration as many of the mills employed Catholic girls, of course Irish Nationalists have alleged that this was so that the Catholic women would die young of tuberculosis and thus their breeding years would be short; the only evidence for this bit of propaganda was the bloody phlegm that they spat into their rough hankerchiefs and the fact that they tended to die off rather quickly.