Sir, - Mr Derek Simpson of the Reform Movement writes (August 17th) of the legacy of Pearse and the viability of the alternative - Home Rule within the British Empire. I cannot write with authority on the former but know a version of the latter well.
He says that, had Ireland opted for Home Rule, it would have enjoyed the attention of a substantial benefactor, a welfare state 20 years sooner and an infrastructure and transport system like Scotland and Wales.
At the hands of this benefactor, about two-thirds of Wales is now an EU Objective 1 Area because of the level of poverty to which it has descended. Rates of unemployment, under-employment, insecure employment, low wages, preventable illness, disability, long-term sickness and bad housing are consistently higher here than in other parts of the "United Kingdom".
Our core industries have been closed down or neglected and our talented young people flock to serve the economy of England because of the lack of opportunity at home.
Until recently our national language was excluded from much of public life and change was achieved only by determined non-violent protests from both Welsh speakers and English speakers alike.
I can travel to Dublin in under three hours, thanks to EU-funded improvements to the link. Travel to my capital city along main north-south road takes up to five hours. In parts only one vehicle can proceed at a time. Travel by train requires a diversion via the north-west of England; after all, we Welsh must make our contribution to keeping the main lines of England profitable.
I could go on, but will only advise Mr Simpson and his like to abandon fantasy, to see London government as it really is, and to concentrate their efforts on building a future for your country, not as "ourselves alone", but as equal partners in the new Europe. - Yours, etc.,
Hywel Williams, Rhes Segontiwm, Caernarfon, Gwynedd, Cymru/Wales.