Madam, - Let me respond to Martin Mansergh's dismissal of my call for us nationalists to renounce the very notion of a "united Ireland" so we can start a real peace process between ourselves and the Unionist people (Opinion & Analysis, October 8th).
Irish nationalism has been described as a great white shark. Its smooth exterior conceals a cunning predator, constantly twisting and turning, pressing and probing, but incessantly moving towards its goal of swallowing its unionist prey in the promised land of a "united Ireland".
Mr Mansergh epitomises the great nationalist shark. Instead of using his intellect to resist and control his/our primeval territorial instinct, he uses his intellect to justify and rationalise his/our animal instinct with regard to reuniting the ancient tribal territory.
Our refusal to accept the reality that this island has been shared by two separate and distinct tribes for nearly 400 years, our refusal to accept the unionist right to self-determination and our persistent badgering about a "united Ireland" has been, and remains, the fundamental cause of the conflict on this island.
For the past 100 years we have never relented. Our stance on Home Rule, the formation of the IRB in 1913, the 1916 Rising, the so-called War of Independence and successive IRA campaigns were all attempts to force unionists into a "united Ireland". More precisely, they were attempts to force Britain to force unionists into a "united Ireland".
For most of this time it was a barefaced territorial claim. Of late we have begun using the word "consent". Unfortunately, we don't seem to know the meaning of the word. Usually it means the right to say Yes or No, but we simply don't accept the unionist right to say No to a "united Ireland".
I put it to Dr Mansergh, indeed to all nationalists, that any unity that happens without the consent of an overwhelming majority of unionists would be an unmitigated disaster for all the people on this island and could end up in a Rwandan style slaughter.
We have every right to demand full equality and human rights for our fellow nationalists in Northern Ireland.
We even have every right to demand a redrawing of the Border to accommodate the greatest possible number of people in the territory of their choice. But we have absolutely no right to demand a "united Ireland" because this is a denial of unionists' right to self-determination.
As long as we harbour this primeval urge for a "united Ireland" there can never be peace, because the unionists will always feel under threat and every generation of nationalists will produce enough militant hotheads to force the issue with bombs and guns.
Our only hope is to abandon our crazy dream of a "united Ireland", apologise to unionists for all our past wrongs, explicitly recognise their absolute unconditional right to self-determination and then settle down in a spirit of respect, friendship and good neighbourliness towards the unionist people. - Yours, etc,
DICK KEANE, Silchester Park, Glenageary, Co Dublin.