PATRICIA CARROLL,
Sir, - Sectarian and pathetic? Which country was David Trimble talking about? It's not the one I live in.
I am a non-religious Scottish Protestant married to a non-religious Irish Catholic. We have lived here since 1982. During these years I have never experienced anything approaching discrimination because of my lack of religion or my Protestant background.
Our children, who have never been baptised, were educated in church schools and joined, variously, the Cubs, the Sea Scouts and the Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland. No one made a fuss about their non-religious background or forced religion on them.
I work for an Irish company, SmartForce, which employs over 1,500 people of varying ethnic and cultural backgrounds worldwide and is an example of the vitality, drive and open-mindedness of Irish society. Sectarianism is foreign to the nature of everyone I have met here.
Mr Trimble's comments are inaccurate, outdated and hugely disappointing. I would have expected better. - Yours, etc.,
PATRICIA CARROLL,
Dungriffin Road,
Howth,
Co Dublin.
... ... * ... * ... * ... ...
Sir, - Mr Trimble's comments on his neighbouring State are symptomatic of a dysfunctional politics. Not only are they most unstatesmanlike, but they unmask a shocking bigotry. I would not be a happy nationalist or enlightened unionist living under the yoke of such a First Minister.
Deputy First Ministers can come and go: so can First Ministers. If I were a cabinet colleague of Mr Trimble's, I'd be calling for his resignation. Indeed, the bad judgment of Mr Trimble's comments does make this a resigning issue. - Yours, etc.,
IAN KILROY,
Trinity Square Apartments,
Townsend Street,
Dublin 2.
... ... * ... * ... * ... ...
Sir - With regard to Mr Trimble's comments about the Republic being a "pathetic, sectarian" state, he should know - his party ran such a state for over 50 years. - Yours, etc.,
JOHN McFEELY,
Canterbury,
Kent,
England.
... ... * ... * ... * ... ...
Sir, - Your edition of last Saturday reported that the Orange Order sends 125 delegates to the Ulster Unionist Council. The order's internal rules make it an offence for members to be a Roman Catholic, to be married to one, to attend a Catholic church, to have Catholic parents or parents who are not married, to allow Catholics to play games or attend dances on a Sunday.
The Order mandates support for the British sovereign only on the basis that she/he is a Protestant and an Orange Order leader famously berated the British Prime Minister for betraying his religion by marrying a Roman Catholic.
It seems surprising, therefore, that the Unionist leader can accuse anyone else of being sectarian, mono-ethnic, mono-cultural or even "pathetic". - Yours, etc.,
MICK FINNEGAN,
Bannow Road,
Dublin 7.