Sir, - By maintaining the demonstration at Drumcree the protesters have handed the republican movement an easy victory. The riotous behaviour of a fringe element of loyalists and the disgraceful clashes with the armed forces and RUC have already succeeded in alienating mainland British public opinion and the Protestant churches, and turned even the most ardent Conservatives away from their traditional pro-unionist stance. Indeed, far from bolstering their civil and religious liberties, the protesters and Garvaghy Road residents have whipped up profound civil unrest and created the circumstances by which Jason, Mark and Richard Quinn had their most fundamental liberties taken from them.
Although I was initially supportive of the protest at Drumcree, it has soured and, despite the best intentions of the majority of protesters, it has adopted a sinister element. The presence of firebrand political agitators against the backdrop of such a volatile and already costly situation demands serious scrutiny, and while the principles of civil and religious liberty are a moral imperative in any functioning society, they cannot exist in isolation. The murders of the Quinn brothers are an inseparable part of the equation at Drumcree - a fact reflected in the significant drop in support for the Portadown protest in recent days.
It is important to note that the vast majority of Orangemen are privately appalled at the continuation of any protest and, in the cases of the Rev William Bingham and Rev Warren Porter, publicly disgusted. One of the most stirring images of the Drumcree protest was that of Rev William Bingham, his head in his hands, as Joel Patton disgraced himself and the institution before the world. Rev Bingham's sermon in Pomeroy displayed a solitary courage and principled vigour far outstripping the en-masse demonstrations of recent weeks and, as Patsy McGarry stated (The Irish Times, July 18th): "What was striking was the simple sincerity of it all." The resignations of a number of grand chaplains in the aftermath of Drumcree will surely be a great blow to the institution at a time when it should be reshaping itself and ditching the baggage that is unrepresentative of the majority of its members.
As a matter of principle, I believe the Portadown district should have been permitted to walk down Garvaghy Road, but it is not worth walking into a republican trap and certainly not worth a life. I am not in the habit of quoting scripture, but perhaps both sides should consider James 4:17: "To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." - Yours, etc., Ian R. Cox,
Killiney,
Co Dublin.