Sir, - In his letter of November 25th which put forward very concisely the view of the Catholic Church - on separate schooling, Monsignor Den is Faul suggested that the Alliance Party should turn its attention to "Orange marches with infants wearing sashes, and children dancing with glee around the bonfire on the 11th night".
I agree entirely with Monsignor Faul that these are indeed examples of sectarianism in our society. However the way to tackle such sectarianism is surely not to insist that these Protestant young people are educated separately from Catholic children, but rather that they are given the opportunity to sit together in the classroom and play together on the sports field.
In a deeply and violently divided society, common sense dictates that building bridges and bringing people together is one of the most effective ways of creating understanding and harmony. The Alliance Party is proud to be committed to such a process.
Yours, etc.,
Alliance Party,
16 Dorchester Park,
Belfast BT9 6RH.