Sir, - The agreement's requirement that we replace Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution could well destabilise the constitutional consensus which has existed here since 1937.
The irredentist nature of Articles 2 and 3 has served us well; it has pre-empted political extremes within our body politic. The removal of the articles might herald a more turbulent political period within our State.
Articles 2 and 3 have given political stability to the greater portion of Ireland for the greater part of the 20th century. The relinquishment of the national territorial claim by a sovereign state, together with the repeal of the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement, for a non-executive North/South ministerial council, is disproportionate.
I suggest an addendum to Article 2 which might accommodate nationalists and unionists: "The national territory consists of the whole island of Ireland, its islands and the territorial seas, the unity of which is dependent on the consent of the majority of the people of the area over which the laws of Saorstat Eireann did not have effect."
The amended Article 3 would read: "Pending the unity of the national territory, the laws enacted by the Parliament established by this Constitution shall have the like area and extent of application as the laws of Saorstat Eireann and the like extra-territorial effect." - Yours, etc., C. A. Passmore,
Georgian Village, Castleknock, Dublin 15.