A chara, - In reply to Dermot Meleady (January 24th), I would point out that David Trimble conned Mr Meleady and many others when he convinced them that he had "jumped first".
At no point in the Good Friday Agreement was there a right for any party to pull out of the Assembly in the absence of decommissioning of paramilitary arms. All Mr Trimble and his colleagues did at the time in question was to put right the wrong they had done by withdrawing, which contravened the agreement that he and his UUP colleagues had freely negotiated, agreed on and subsequently campaigned in favour of. - Yours, etc.,
Garry Purcell, Willington Drive, Templeogue, Dublin 6W.