Sir, - Congratulations to Fintan O'Toole (Opinion, September 12th) for his astute and thoughtful article on war and peace in Ireland.I agree with him that, after 27 years, violence has created its own infrastructure and that a great deal more has to be done than just silencing the bombs and guns. I also agree that mass peace movements have had limited success, perhaps not because of lack of will but because the problem is not amenable to that kind of solution.Where I disagree is with the suggestion that those waging peace have less conviction than those waging war. It is, in fact, much easier to be a paramilitary volunteer in Northern Ireland than a volunteer community worker.Co-operation North and other community organisations have been in the unglamorous business of peace-making for almost as long as the violence has been raging. I can assure you that more people are involved in such work than are members of paramilitary groups. If we had received the same attention from the media and the political establishment as the wagers of war have done, who knows what might have been?A lot of power does come out of the barrel of a gun. The onus is on everyone to try to minimise that power, while promoting the power of peace-making. -Yours, etc.,Tony Kennedy,Chief Executive,Co-Operation North,Dublin 2.