Sir, - Suspending the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive would be counterproductive.
Terrorism is essentially a violent and undemocratic reaction to perceived political illegitimacy and injustice. The Assembly established as a result of the Good Friday Agreement and the consequent elections is a firm and direct rebuttal of the political "justification" of all paramilitary activity in the North, representing as it does the will of the majority within, across and beyond the community divisions.
It is my belief that the small terrorist factions should be marginalised into obscurity and eventual non-existence through the success, not the failure, of internal democratic will and institutions. The suspension of the Assembly and Executive would not punish the violent elements of republicanism, but rather every voter in Northern Ireland who dared to hope that political progress was possible through peaceful means. - Yours, etc., Katy Hayward,
Arnold Park, Glenageary, Co Dublin.