Sir, – The line about the unionist veto on unity referred to by Prof Mike Burke (“Unity debate and the Opsahl Commission”, February 7th) appeared in one of the analysis chapters of the Opsahl Commission’s report. It was not taken up in the report’s conclusions and recommendations. In these, the commission “noted that the representative political voices of the nationalist tradition, North and South, without exception recognise that any agreement is achievable and viable only if it has the consent of both traditions in Ireland.”
It went on: “We consider that – provided that Irish nationalism is legally recognised in Northern Ireland – a government of Northern Ireland should be put in place, based on the principle that each community has an equal voice in making and executing the laws or a veto on their execution, and equally shares administrative authority. This government should be free to discuss and negotiate its relationships, institutional and other, with the government of the Republic of Ireland.”
Isn’t that exactly what was put in place by the Belfast Agreement? – Yours, etc,
ANDY POLLAK,
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Dublin 6.