Sir, - It will come as a great surprise to many Irish citizens both at home and abroad that Dublin Lord Mayor, Councillor Mary Freehill, is lending her support to an Orange Order demonstration in the capital which will include brethren from Liverpool, a faction with a vitriolic anti-Roman Catholic history.
Apart from the intimidating siege currently being laid to the Garvaghy Road by Orangemen, is the Lord Mayor unaware that the Order has consistently called for the rejection of the Good Friday Agreement, has condemned the present and past secretaries of state for Northern Ireland and successive Irish foreign ministers and Taoisigh, holds by right a substantial proportion of the seats on the Ulster Unionist Council and that its grand master, Robert Saulters, has branded Tony Blair "a turncoat and a traitor" for marrying a Catholic (The Irish Times July 13th,)?
In the circumstances, do the Lord Mayor and her party leader, Ruari Quinn,TD, still view the Order as purely and simply a religious organisation, worthy of being "cherished", despite its avowed aims and repeated calls that Roman Catholics - particularly in Northern Ireland - be kept in a state of religious, cultural and political subjection? - Yours, etc., Nigel Cooke,
(Derry-born journalist), Liverpool L13 5ST.