Sir : Regarding Mr Chichester-Clark's reply to Sir Denis Brogan
(Letters, 3 January): Colonel Connolly McCausland was a Unionist before -he was Catholic. He was a convert. As he saw no reason to change his politics with his faith he remained a member of the Unionist party.
The Lord Chief Justice, who was- a Catholic, was a hangover from the pre-partition days. 'Castle Catholics' were loyalists, too. They were to be found in all degrees of society. What is the
-position today in Northern Ireland? Catholics number nearly 50 per cent of the legal profes- sion there! How many hold office under the present government? What are 'the social reasons' that exclude them? What does the Nor- thern Ireland Law Association think of this?
The Orange Lodges have a very peculiar role
in the Unionist party. In my home constituency of South Down I have never heard of the sit- ting member for Westminster making an elec- tioneering address outside an Orange Hall. And what can any Catholic expect from an MP who in the summer of 1968 declared: I am an Orangeman first, a Protestant second and an MP third'?
The strange influence of the Orange order 'Might be indicated from an item in the Mourne Observer of Friday 20 December. This begins: 'Dromara branch of the Iveagh Unionist As- sociation elected the following office-bearers . . and then goes on: tot. No 12 representa- tives: Messrs Wood and McDowell.'
Television and a free press together are making quite clear to the rest of the British Isles the injustices that have existed in Northern Ireland for nearly fifty years. The terrorist activities which outraged the youngsters from Queen's during the past week clearly pinpoint the bewildered confusion of the Orange mob. Up until now they had their own way and it was easily written off. No wonder they attack TV cameras and the prfssmen.
No man should ever accept any constitutional position which makes him a second-rate citizen. In conclusion 1 hope that your readers now realise that in Northern Ireland the Union flag is a sectarian banner and that the National Anthem means 'croppies lie down.'
T. Davy Thorn How, Egremont, Cumberland
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