Sir, - It is sickening and insulting to see Fianna Fail drag the Northern Ireland peace process down to the level of party politics. Last year, during the John Ellis saga, Bertie Ahern told us that John Ellis's affairs were a thing of the past and that we should look at the Fianna Fail-led Government's achievements. The two examples Mr Ahern gave us were the economy, which we're told is booming, and the Northern Ireland peace process, which we're also told is a great success.
Last week, when the Government was once again under attack, the old reliable sound-bite of a successful peace process were once again churned out, this time with much more offence and vehemence, by Brian Cowen. Mr Cowen attacked John Bruton, saying he was not fit for office because of the way he handled the peace process when he was leader of the Rainbow Coalition. Mr Cowen, like Mr Ahern, must have a very poor memory. He seems to have forgotten that Mr Bruton presided over the peace process under very difficult circumstances. Mr John Major's Conservative government was in its dying days. On many occasions Mr Major had to rely on the support of the Ulster Unionist Party to carry a British government vote through the House of Commons - hardly a good environment for even handling of the peace process.
I wonder has Mr Cowen also forgotten that it was Fianna Fail party which cynically opposed the Anglo-Irish Agreement (drawn up by a Fine Gael-led Government), without which there would be no peace process now. - Yours, etc.,
Andrew Legge, Waterloo Lane, Dublin 4.