Sir, - Mary Holland is right (August 8th). Repartition and canonisation will soon be in the forefront of discussion. Being committed to principles of democracy, the New Ireland Group has, over many years, conceded that repartition is one possible scenario, though we always added in parenthesis spare the thought. Nevertheless, as a Protestant, an Ulsterman and Irishman, I felt sick and heartbroken to think that people, in desperation, might yet be driven to accept such a ghastly prospect.
The right to democratic self determination must be earned through the achievement of consensus. Doubtless it would be possible to engineer a consensus for repartition, but what an admission of failure not least for the Northern loyalist community.
Taking into account "the totality of relationships", the New Ireland Group continues to believe that, in the long run, it will be to the advantage of all on both sides of the Irish Sea to persist in working for an All Ireland accommodation based on consensus. Implicit would be an appropriate degree of decentralised regional autonomy and here cantonisation might well have a place. Such provisions also imply willingness to create an entirely new Irish Constitution, and that may be too high a price for some people living South of the border in which case Mary Holland's observations return to haunt. Yours, etc. Charlotte Street, Ballymoney, Co Antrim.