Sir, - The consequences of the agreement may be even more wonderful than at first appears.
For if all goes well in the referendum, we will soon have power-sharing in the executive and parallel consent in decision-making. Then, at some time in the future, a majority may vote in favour of a united Ireland. If that does happen, will the first two reforms be maintained? In other words, will Dail Eireann then share power with those from the North, even though some of them may not share a common national aspiration, let alone party affiliation?
As is well known to your readers, many unionists fear the agreement may be "the slippery slope" to a situation when they will be in a permanent minority, with no prospects of ever enjoying any meaningful influence, let alone power. In order to minimise that fear and thereby ensure that the No vote up North is minimal, should not Fianna Fail initiate its own reforms to show how all TDs - and the present lot don't have any serious animosities between them, do they? - can work together in an all-party coalition, as do of course the Swiss, as did of course the Dublin Forum. After all, the politics of inclusion are not only for those who have wounds to heal, the people of Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Cyprus, Rwanda, and so on.
And there's the prize. If the Belfast Agreement works, the consequences could be not only wonderful, but far reaching. - Yours, etc., Peter Emerson
The de Borda Institute, Ballysillan Road, Belfast.