Sir, - I attended a recent address by Ruari Quinn to an SDLP meeting in north Belfast. He struck an important chord with me when he said the South could learn a lot from the politics of John Hume and the SDLP in the North. He spoke passionately of the SDLP's spirit of decency, democracy and political accommodation which had a powerful resonance for the South with respect to the issue of refugees.
People who voted Yes in the referendum on the Belfast Agreement should recognise that the agreement has given the possibility of a new future for all the people of Ireland, regardless of religion, gender, disability, ethnic origin, class, political belief or sexual orientation. The agreement is about building a new Ireland based on respect for diversity and for political difference. John Hume stated in his Nobel Prize speech: "All conflict is about difference, whether the difference is race, religion or nationality. The European visionaries demonstrated that difference is not a threat, difference is natural. Difference is the essence of humanity. Difference is an accident of birth and it should therefore never be the source of hatred or conflict. The answer to difference is to respect it. Therein lies a most fundamental principle of peace - respect for diversity."
This is a powerful message for everyone on the island to live and breathe. - Yours, etc.,
Ciara Leonard, Somerton Road, Belfast.