Sir, In Marie O'Halloran's report from Portadown, Mr William Erwin, a marcher in the contentious and contemptible Orange parade, surely must be joking when he said that the threat of violence from a few hundred Catholics "stopped the parade going down the Garvaghy Road" in the first place.
What would appear to be a reason for allowing the parade to go ahead was the much more dangerous threats made by many thousands of Orangemen to the RUC officers, their families and children. The shouting out of officers' names and addresses, which accompanied these threats of intimidation and retribution, won the day for that mob. Yours, etc., Cypress Downs, Templeogue, Dublin 6W.