Sir, - Your correspondent Tim Magennis (July 7th) is perfectly entitled to be very pleased with what was a somewhat rather disappointing result for the Alliance Party in the recent elections in Northern Ireland.
However, if he believes that, with 52,000 voters, six full-time Assembly members and 41 local councillors, the Alliance Party is going to go away, he is very much mistaken.
Mr Magennis's analysis is based upon showing respect for the political extremes and is highly cynical about those who try to make an honourable compromise. I have no doubt that Mr Magennis is right in that many nationalists and unionists have greater respect for each other than they have for the liberal views of the democratic and non-sectarian centre. This is not surprising as green and orange nationalism are in essence mirror images of each other. Their beliefs are based upon the same basic ideology.
Mr Magennis's position seems to be that, to survive, a political party has to be "one thing or the other". By this he means that parties must be either committed nationalists or committed unionists. The Alliance Party pleads guilty to Mr Magennis's charge that many Irish Catholics and Protestants share common core values and principles and do not always identify purely with those of their own religion. Mr Magennis might find it hard to believe but there are many Northern Ireland Protestants who are totally disgusted by the sectarian antics of the Orange Order, the unionist politicians and their hangers-on. There are also many Catholics who have no interest in the narrow nationalism of the "ourselves alone" party.
It may be easier for Mr Magennis to view the Northern Ireland problem purely in terms of two opposing groups of Irish people who identify themselves purely on the basis of flags or religion. I am sorry to discomfit him but I have no doubt that there will always be a significant proportion of people who will remain proud to work towards substituting the common name of Irishman for Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter. - Yours, etc., Dr Philip McGarry,
MRCPsych, President, Alliance Party, Dorchester Park, Belfast.