Madam, - Your Editorial of April 6th on the UK general election states that Sinn Féin and the DUP are fighting to displace the SDLP and UUP as leaders of their "respective communities" at Westminster.
Leaving aside the rather bold implication that Malone Road nationalists belong to the same community as Falls Road republicans, I should say that The Irish Times's finely crafted Editorials normally help to clarify my views. But with this I was confused.
Parties which lead at Westminster tend to be the largest parties. I was under the impression that Gerry Adams leads a merry bunch of four "abstentionist" MPs, while John Hume's party numbers only three. And the last time I looked, Ian Paisley's people had seven seats to David Trimble's five. What any member of these smaller parties (i.e. the parties you label "leaders") I have spoken to in recent weeks fears isn't displacement - it is electoral annihilation. - Yours, etc.,
EOGHAN WILLIAMS, London SW1.