TOM COOPER,
Sir, - One has to applaud the courage of the three Alliance Party councillors who voted for the Sinn Féin candidate, Mr Alex Maskey, ensuring his election as Lord Mayor of Belfast.
Unfortunately, the Ulster Unionist and Democratic Unionist Party councillors walked out in protest following his election. Loyalist rejectionists, who attempt to deny nationalists the new equality which the Belfast Agreement has promised, must not be allowed to succeed.
It was my understanding that the dynamic of the peace process was about a democratic civic order which would ensure that the political exclusion which was the hallmark of unionism would be replaced by a model of political inclusion. The first republican Lord Mayor of Belfast, whose charter was granted by Queen Victoria 110 years ago, is but one step forward towards political inclusion, albeit a significant one. - Yours, etc.,
TOM COOPER, Delaford Lawn, Dublin 16.