Madam, - I am baffled by Minister for Justice Michael McDowell and by influential commentators who decry the rise of Sinn Féin yet turn people towards it. Do they not realise that their indifferent response to the prolonged loyalist onslaught (which so contrasts with their agitation over the "Colombia Three" fiasco) fuels Catholic alienation, which fuels Sinn Féin?
If Mr McDowell will not defend vulnerable Antrim Catholics out of ministerial duty, or common decency, perhaps he will do so if only to stifle Sinn Féin. - Yours, etc,
TOMÁS RUSSELL, Anderstonstown, Belfast.
Madam, - What chance has the PNSI of quelling hostilities in the North when the Grand Master of the Orange order finds no blame with his society for the disgraceful scenes in Belfast? Personally I think the only cure is to ban all marches and parades from both communities until such time as they can behave in a dignified manner. - Yours, etc,
JOE HARVEY, Glasthule Road, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin.