Sir, - I know that it can take a long time for the truth to filter through to the hallowed halls of Trinity College, but surely Tommy Murtagh must know by now that it was the loyalists, not the nationalists, who broke the law at Drumcree. His attempt to blame nationalists for the failure of the loyalists to emerge from their bunker mentality is naive and disingenuous.
Furthermore, I question your correspondent's assertion that unionist behaviour is "re active" to Sinn Fein/IRA violence. It is now quite evident that every time there is an attempt to accommodate nationalists' traditions, the response from loyalists is invariably confrontational - often resulting in violent disorder, such as witnessed recently.
Mr Murtagh mentions the President, and the tears of pain and frustration which she shed on hearing of events in the North. These tears indicate the enormous significance of what happened at Drumcree, the full impact of which many of our politicians, North and South, have not yet fully grasped. - Yours, etc.,
Dundrum Road,
Dublin 14.