ROY H. STANLEY,
Sir, - I refer to Steven ffeary-Smyrl's letter (The Irish Times, March 26th) about the civil registration aspects of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill.
As an amateur genealogist I was amused by one bizarre effect of the Bill's enactment by the Oireachtas. As one of the Republic's Protestants, I have been left with the legislative right to make searches in the State's civil registers of non-Catholic marriages (dating back to 1845) held by local registrars of marriage.
Curiously, the new Social Welfare Act strips my Catholic fellow citizens of the right to search the civil registers of Catholic marriages (which date back to 1864) and which are held by local superintendent registrars of births, deaths and RC marriages.
In view of Mr Trimble's recent remarks, has the Government now proved that it does indeed cater for the State's minorities or, more likely, is this just a perfect example of what happens when bills are rammed through the Oireachtas in a matter of hours? - Yours, etc.,
ROY H. STANLEY,
Beechwood Park,
Dublin 6.