Ireland

Press, 23 October 1984, Page 12

Ireland

Sir,—l. M. Douthwaite (October 19) mentions the majority in Northern Ireland. The problem with the Irish question is which majority to accept — that in Northern Ireland or the majority in Ireland as a whole. Ireland is an ancient kingdom whose history as an independent country goes back into the mists of time, and it is only recently that the island has been partitioned. This partitioning is unnatural. A lot of lives would be saved by having a referendum of the whole island. If, as is likely, the majority wished to be united in an independent nation, the minority should either give allegience to Ireland, which is where they live, or move to England or Scotland. I believe the Protestant Irish largely came from Scotland originally in the early seventeenth century as a ploy of King James to make the

country more amenable to him. So much for artificial political settlements. — Yours, etc., E. SEWELL. October 19, 1984.

LILA, bomb attack Sir,—Your correspondents who condemn Graeme Yardley’s “callousness,” who argue in the name of the “sanctity of human life," and who find that the “attitudes” of revolutionary organisations are making the world “an uncomfortable place to live in,” should face one simple, glaringly obvious historical fact. The bombings, shootings and burnings that shock us are the inevitable and indeed therefore the legitimate response to years of brutal contempt for the “sanctity of human life.” If the world is becoming uncomfortable for some it is because it has been hell for many more for a very, very long time. — Yours, etc., K. FEA. Brookside, October 19, 1984.