Sir, - In your issue of March 31st you carried an article which indicated that the Government was considering a possible proposal to "appoint 10 nationalists to the Senate". The report was quite detailed and one can only presume that it is being given serious consideration. What was noteworthy was that the article made no effort to explain why it had been decided at such an early stage to exclude from the ranks of potential senators not only unionists, but also those many Catholic and Protestant people in Northern Ireland who belong to the liberal, non-sectarian tradition represented by the Alliance Party.
What has become obvious in recent years is an overt increase in sectarianism in Ireland. Two hundred years after 1798 it appears that the nationalist establishment now believes very firmly that there are "two communities". It seems that if you are baptised in a Catholic Church then you will be a nationalist and if you are brought up in one of the Protestant Churches then you will inevitably be a unionist.
It may be that we shall achieve a successful outcome to the talks process. However even if we do, there is a terrible danger that we will be left with a completely divided and embittered society based upon two mutually suspicious and warring tribes. If this is the case then the prospects for the future are bleak indeed. - Yours, etc.,
Philip McGarry, President
Alliance Party, Dorchester Park, Belfast 9.