Madam, - A handshake in front of Farmleigh, and the unimaginable has come to pass. It was memorably described by Miriam Lord in Thursday's edition.
These two political leaders, for so long so bitterly apart, have agreed, among other things, to visit together the site of the Battle of the Boyne. Might it now be possible for these men, when they stand side by side by that gentle river, to see in their collective mind all the hatred, division, grief and suffering of the past 40 or so years float away on the Boyne's cleansing waters, down to a sea of forgiveness and reconciliation, never to be repeated?
After that handshake, all things now are possible. - Yours, etc,
DAVID GRANT, Mount Pleasant, Waterford.
Madam, - Miriam Lord's piece on the Ahern-Paisley handshake was the most moving report I've yet to read in modern Irish journalism. The simplicity of the moment was perfectly captured, yet she also succeeded in evoking the terrible weight of history surrounding this political gesture.
Few other columnists could resist bringing their own baggage or rhetoric to such an occasion. Lord moved beyond such tired and embittered opinions and, in doing so, enabled all of us to witness this breathtaking event.
She is your finest writer. - Yours, etc,
KENNETH SMITH, Lusk, Co Dublin.
Madam, - Apropos of Ian Paisley's erstwhile portrayal of the Republic as a place of spineless papists, the Big Man is now putting his belief to the test. On Wednesday, an almighty backslap for Bertie; Martin Cullen in Ballymena on Thursday was on the receiving end... Watch out, wee Willie: if Ian doesn't swipe thin air, you're liable to be hospitalised! - Yours, etc,
OLIVER McGRANE, Marley Avenue, Dublin 16.