Sir, - In his letter on the Drumcree "outrage" (July 10th), Stephen O'Byrnes also reminds us of what he considers to be the "greater outrage" that occurred in Lurgan some days earlier, namely the murder of two RUC men Graham and Johnston. Why is it that Mr O'Byrnes does not go on to remind us of all the others who have died as a result of this recent rise in sectarian hatred in the North?
He fails to reflect on the most recent kicking to death of a young man in Portadown whose only crime was that he was Catholic who on a Saturday night had the effrontery to walk through the town on his way home from a night out. Was this incident alone not just reason for Orangemen to voluntarily re-route their parade? Is the failure to quote fully from the arsenal of such examples of atrocity a manifestation of the Southern guilt trip which blinds some in the Republic to the greater reality of what is unfolding in Northern Ireland at the present time?
In reality the two outrages - Drumcree and the murder of two RUC men - are separate and distinct incidents which should both be condemned by all right-thinking people: the latter because violence has no place in a democratic society; Drumcree because, as Mr Seamus Mallon MP so eloquently put it, decisions of this kind should not be based on who can present the greatest threat to law and order. Giving in to the threat of violence presents an even greater threat to democracy.
With the subsequent decision by the Orange Order to withdraw from contentious marches on the Twelfth we can only hope that a window of opportunity has again been created for movement of the peace process. If recent days have shown anything it is the urgent need for a renewed ceasefire and meaningful talks to address the fundamental issues underlying division in Northern Ireland. - Yours, etc., NIGEL HUTSON, Lisburn, Co Antrim.