Sir, - John Waters (July 23rd) informs your readers: "In the early days of the troubles it was axiomatic that Northern nationalists were prisoners in a sectarian statelet"; that "unionism is essentially bigoted"; and he refers to "unionist fascism". He goes on to declare that the Republic should demand the reunification of the country.
One might be inclined to ignore that kind of outpouring, but unfortunately there are people within and beyond the Republic who will accept all these statements as accurate.
Many of us recognise that there are so called unionists who behave atrociously, and the deplorable events of this month have not only played into the hands of Sinn Fein/IRA, but (if Mr Waters attitude reflects that of other people in the Republic) there may be a revitalisation of the old sterile "anti partition" propaganda which did so much to prevent the drawing together of North and South. It also strengthened the hand of Ian Paisley and his fellow travellers, and increased the siege mentality which prevails among Northern Protestants.
If people like John Waters really believe that this is a bigoted fascist statelet, how does he account for the fact that from its establishment nationalists were elected to both Stormont and Westminster by universal franchise, and that in an area like this the local government has always been nationalist? How does he account for the fact that people of different religious or political points of view receive the same health and social benefits?
Granted that there were serious defects in the state during the Stormont days, the changes made in recent decades to rectify injustice and in equalities have made tirades like that of Mr. Waters totally misleading. His words misrepresent the attitude of ordinary, decent unionists, who only want to see real "peace and justice", but are not prepared to be coerced into another state against the will of the large majority of the population here. They accept "one man, one vote" but not "one nationalist two votes"; and some unionists would qualify for the notice: "These animals are dangerous, when attacked they defend themselves".
It is vitally important at this critical time that people on both sides of the border should try to see things straight, to understand the point of view of others, whatever their background, and to promote a spirit of goodwill among us all. - Yours, etc.,
Warrenpoint,
Co. Down BT34 3NJ.