Ah obviously I don't HATE the English. I'm just winding him up. But our race memory is keyed to them always being the "auld enemy". For god's sake, it's not like I'd attack or villify an English person or anything. I'm a quiet, personable, nice guy.
Plus I'm a coward.
Nobody more pacifist than a coward.
I expect Neapolitan took his cue from the ending of chapter VIII, where I noted "is it any wonder we hate the English?"
But look, you'd be terribly naive if you thought you could write the history of Ireland without noting the grievances we have against the English, and the hatred that has spanned almost a thousand years at this stage. They were our enemies, and while they may not be now, you'll still find a lot of enmity between the two, the division of course worst in Northern Ireland. It would be like maybe trying to write a history of Israel without noting hatred for the Nazis, or of Africa without referencing the crimes of the white slavers. Not the same thing, and it should not be the focus of how we think today or even how we look back at history, but it can't be ignored, as it is an integral and important component of the history of our island.