Sir, – Your Editorial (September 29th) ends by concluding that nationalist Ireland may come to celebrate the day of the signing of the Ulster Covenant because it led to the formation of the UVF, which in turn gave birth to the Irish Volunteers, and started a process which led to the Easter rising and “Irish freedom”. In doing so the editorial was adopting, but going further than, a connection outlined by Michael McDowell in a speech last week.
I thought the suggestion of celebration was a sad conclusion to a lengthy editorial which rightly stressed the importance and nature of the Covenant. If we are to start the marking of major events in this decade of commemorations in a spirit of “celebration” of something which marked out huge division and by its invocation of “all means necessary” created the platform for violence to achieve political ends, then we can look forward to the marking of future events in this decade in a dangerous manner.
Surely while recognising that those were different times, we need now to stress things which will unite rather than separate us, and we can start to re-evaluate the violence that occurred in that decade from all sides. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Your Editorial (September 29th) “encourages us to embrace the experience of the other . . . in order to develop mutual understanding and respect”.
It is not difficult to understand that a minority would wish to hold on to the privileges and entitlements gained by reason of religion and politics. But respect a people who, 100 years ago thwarted the democratic wish of the majority for Home Rule by what ever means? A people who in relatively recent times violently crushed a peaceful and legitimate civil rights movement which was simply pursuing a fair and egalitarian society in Northern Ireland? Unless a stop is put to the annual spectre of triumphalist marching bands going where they will, respect, I’m sorry to say, is a long way off. – Yours, etc,