PROTESTANT REPUBLICANS

MICHAEL BURROWS,

MICHAEL BURROWS,

Sir, - We are told (February 12th) that Dr Martin Mansergh, aspiring South Tipperary TD, is "full of seeming contradictions and contrasts". He is "an academic in politics" and "a Protestant republican".

The first of these phases seems to me to be used in a way that is unfair to the political profession, and one could cite countless examples from many parties to make one's point. But I find it galling that the second phrase continues to be trotted out even in 2002 by writers who imply that it somehow partakes of paradox.

Like thousands of other citizens, I have never in my life seen myself as anything other than a Protestant republican. - Yours, etc.,

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MICHAEL BURROWS,

The Rectory,

Bandon,

Co Cork.