A chara, - I wish to challenge Andrew Legge's assertion (July 4th) that without the Anglo-Irish Agreement drawn up by a Fine Gael-led government "there would be no peace process now". This is pure fantasy. The Anglo-Irish Agreement was another example of the failed policy of exclusion which was followed consistently by Fine Gael. It was the decision by Albert Reynolds, as Taoiseach, to adopt a totally different policy of inclusivity that transformed the situation.
This does not take away from the earlier initiatives by republican and nationalist leaders in the North. All these efforts to open the lines of communication with republicans as well as the ending of censorship led to the current peace process. If we had been waiting for Fine Gael to adopt this policy we would still be waiting. Indeed, the record shows that the time in government under John Bruton set back the peace process. - Is mise,
Fr Joe McVeigh, An Garastun, Co Fermanagh.