Sir, - It is said that actions speak louder than words. In recent weeks the IRA ceasefire has been put to its most severe test yet and remains intact. This must surely demonstrate louder than any form of words that the ceasefire is genuine.
The Good Friday Agreement referendums were supposedly an exercise in Irish self-determination, but once again, as throughout the course of history, British and unionist demands have prevailed over the expressed will of the Irish people. That this in itself did not end the ceasefire is amazing. Having withstood this extreme test the following should now be clear to objective people:
1 Arguments about decommissioning, declarations and forms of words are becoming more and more meaningless by the day.
2 The people who advance such arguments are doing no service to the peace process.
There are precious few acts of arrogance more likely to cause a violent reaction than Britain's unilateral suspension of the executive. If the IRA are content to let politicians sort this out then, short of an invasion, the war is over. - Yours, etc.,
Mark Fleming, Langoddveien, Snaroya, Norway.