Sir, - Your Editorial of July 2nd, "Mr Trimble's Contribution", was a most generous endorsement of Mr Trimble's leadership of Ulster Unionism.
I would question whether some of the accolades you bestowed on him were deserved. His persistent opposition to RUC reform, probably the most contentious issue for the nationalist community in the North, is unacceptable. A civil and civilised police force which is accountable to all citizens is a most basic human right which no one should have to barter for.
You refer to the "harrowing scenes outside Mr Trimble's constituency count at Upper Bann as he and his wife, Daphne, battled their way through a baying crowd", and say they "will hardly forget the ugliness of that day". I agree that no politician should be subjected to such behaviour, not least the First Minister. However, Mr Trimble's comments in the wake of the murder of Mr Ciaran Cummings, when he suggested the killing was drugs-related and carried out by Republicans, was scandalously offensive and unbecoming of a political leader, never mind a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
As Mr Trimble behaves like a political jack-in-the-box, jumping in and out of office, his political stature is further diminished, perhaps beyond repair. Sooner or later he must accept that unionism's past cannot be reinvented for the future.
The democratic imperative of the Belfast Agreement makes us all shareholders on this island, with no particular group holding the deeds. - Yours, etc.,
Tom Cooper, Delaford Lawn, Knocklyon, Dublin 16.