Madam, - Ian Paisley's negative response to the alleged total disarmament by the Provisional IRA is predictable, but not entirely without merit. The prevarication and downright duplicity of his organisation in recent years has all but destroyed the Ulster Unionist Party, and possibly fatally undermined moderate unionism. Meanwhile, both Fianna Fáil in the South and the SDLP in the North have seen their electoral base eroded by Sinn Féin's bad faith and political manoeuvres.
Therefore, rather than rushing headlong into a demand for devolved government, it might be prudent for both governments to consider a continuance of direct rule until the motivation of the Provisional alliance has been more fully tested. In any event, its problematic attitude to policing makes any move to devolved government extremely dangerous at this juncture, and greater clarity on this issue is required before any political movement is contemplated.
Until we can be sure that the IRA has turned its backs on fascism, extreme caution should be the appropriate and sensible response. - Yours, etc,
SEAN WALSH, Ormond Keep, Nenagh, Co Tipperary.
Madam, - Even by DUP standards, Dr Ian Paisley's refusal to accept the collective word of the head of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, Gen John de Chastelain, the former president of the Methodist Church, the Rev Harold Good, and the Redemptorist priest Fr Alec Reid, who stated that "the arms decommissioned represent the totality of the IRA's arsenal", displays an incoherent political philosophy riddled with conspiracy theories.
Following the decommissioning of the IRA's vast arsenal of weapons which should lead to the restoration of the Northern Executive and Assembly and also to a power-sharing government involving Sinn Féin and the DUP, Dr Paisley resorted to his traditional response to any threat to his oligarchic power, that of "no surrender".
Having to share power with nationalists in the North would change the role of the DUP from being an artificial majority overseer of post-colonialism to being an equal partner in a new assembly. That is clearly repugnant to Dr Paisley.
If his influence persists and the DUP refuses to accept the concept of consensus politics as mandated under the Belfast Agreement, both the Irish and British governments must impose devolved government for those elected representatives who are willing to participate. Dr Paisley has poisoned the political atmosphere for far too long. - Yours, etc,
TOM COOPER, Delaford Lawn, Knocklyon, Dublin 16.
Madam, - When will Sinn Féin/IRA "decommission" the murderers of Joseph Rafferty and Robert McCartney? - Yours, etc,
RUAIRI QUINN TD, Labour Party, Leinster House, Dublin 2.