Sir, - Gerry Adams is perfectly right in saying (Opinion, February 3rd) that should the Northern Ireland Assembly collapse, "the anti-agreement clique, those who are against the change, the reactionary bigots, will have succeeded in dragging unionism back to their agenda". But he forgot to add that they will only get the opportunity to do so because the IRA, in a mixture of arrogance, petulance and sheer bloody-mindedness, refuses to make even the smallest of gestures to reassure mainstream unionists of their commitment to peace.
What matters in politics are the decisions which are made in the round rather than endless repetitions of party policy. Yes, it's perfectly true that there is no requirement on anybody to decommission in the Good Friday Agreement, and it's also true that decommissioning is by and large an internal unionist thing - a self-created and sharpened hook on which unionists have impaled themselves. Yet the simple reality is that without something in the way of decommissioning David Trimble cannot maintain continuing unionist commitment to the Assembly or to any of the institutions set up under the agreement.
Should he try to do so, he would be torn apart by that very "anti-agreement clique" Gerry Adams warns us about. The irony is that only the IRA can save him - and the agreement. By throwing Trimble a line now - even just a sackful of rusty revolvers - the IRA could open up enough space to get us through. - Yours, etc.,
Michael Morgan, Glen Road, Belfast 11.