Sir, - Tonight I listened to the British Prime Minister, John Major, being interviewed on BBC's "Panorama". While he came across sincerely and convincingly, I had just one small, but I believe important criticism to make: he used the terms "Catholic extremists" and "Protestant extremists".
Surely such religious connotations are not only unnecessary and not altogether warranted, but are unlikely to help matters. Cannot all in authority (and the public media) be persuaded to use the more correct terms "nationalist" and "unionist" respectively?
I have no doubt but that term such as "the Six Counties" or "British Occupied Ireland" rightly annoy unionists, but is it not time that the unionists began to realise that terms such as "The Province", "Ulster", "Mainland Britain", even "Londonderry" and "The British Isles", tend to raise hackles among nationalists? The same goes for "Sinn FeinIRA" which is as inaccurate and as unhelpful as "DUP UVF" or "Ulster Unionist Party Orange Order" would be.
Is it not time that we all began to make an effort at being a wee bit more careful of the words we use? It is surprising how such careless terminology can antagonise even those who are not extremists. Indeed, those who use such inflammatory terms, even if not intending to annoy, are making statements which lead others' to suspect extremism. - Yours, etc..
Athenry,
Co Galway.