Sir, - John Hume's statement (The Irish Times, February 7th) contained a fundamental contradiction. He said: "For the very first time the will of the Irish people as to how they share the island of Ireland has been established and made clear in joint referenda." He also said: "Now we face perhaps the greatest crisis since the process began, with the very real threat of suspension of the institutions, the committees and the North-South bodies."
If the will of the Irish people "has been established and made clear," how and by what or whose authority can the people's will be threatened with "suspension"?
John Hume and others have asserted and maintained that the joint referenda constituted "a legitimate exercise of self-determination." But the truth and the reality of the matter is that, wittingly or otherwise, the joint referenda constituted a hoax and a sham as far as the exercise of self-determination "without external impediment" is concerned. The great hoax and sham is the fundamental reason for "the greatest crisis since the process began". - Yours, etc., Malachy Scott,
Belfast 15.