Sir, - It appears Mr Bruton wants a President who can reach out to "both traditions" in the North. That criterion ought to rule out his party's candidate, Ms Banotti. She can hardly be expected to "reach out" to Northern nationalists after the attacks by herself and her party leader on Prof McAleese. An increasingly disturbing theme in the Fine Gael campaign has been the paranoia about Northerners, nationalists in particular. This first raised its ugly head in the tasteless remarks made by Ms Banotti when she appeared on RTE's Questions & Answers. This paranoia is peculiar given that Fine Gael's candidate for President seven years ago was Austin Currie, a Northern nationalist. What is even more puzzling - although not remarked upon - is the fact that Austin Currie, then a member of the SDLP, accompanied John Hume to the initial talks with Sinn Fein and Gerry Adams in 1988, when no IRA ceasefire was in place. Of course, Mr Currie's purpose was peace, as was that of Prof McAleese in her more recent endeavours. No-one has suggested that Mr Currie was wrong then, so why the attacks by Mr Bruton on Prof McAleese now? - Yours, etc.,
Magee College, University of Ulster, Derry.