Sir, - The late Pope John XXIII (1881-1963) once declared that the great evil of our time was "the ignorance of the truth, the contempt for the truth, and the deliberate turning away from the truth".
These words of the great prelate are very appropriate when applied to the tragic situation in Northern Ireland. Too often, the attitudes and judgements of events in that benighted province are based on illusion, make-believe, muddled thinking and sometimes, alas, on plain humbug.
The euphoria of the past few months was simply not justified. - Yours, etc.,
Ernan Morris, Ballynoe Court, Bray, Co Wicklow.