Madam, - Sean and Rosin Whelan's letter (December 9th) on the eclipse of the SDLP by Sinn Féin was most welcome. Criticism or debate has been absent on John Hume's misguided policy of bringing in the extremes of nationalism to the political process at the expense of the moderate middle ground.
Terrorists by definition follow a warped morality and will not lose that moral aberration on entering the political process. Sinn Féin's duplicity has succeeded in insidiously undermining the SDLP position as the largest nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. Its success has been achieved by primarily using an unlevelled moral playing field, sadly helped by the amnesia of the nationalist electorate to past acts of terror.
Debate on such a policy is essential before we are totally immersed in moral confusion that allows the Sinn Féin juggernaut to make further inroads into our weakening democracy. - Yours, etc.,
JOHN JOYCE, Birr, Co Offaly.