BELFAST RIOTS SIR,—May I be permitted to add a few
comments on Mr. Robinson's letter concerning the Belfast riots.
First, that the police acted with a dubious ex- pediency, prompted by an ecclesiastical Goldwater, when they removed a flag from a little insignificant shop window in a predominantly Nationalist area, thereby offending no one. There was no such baton-
ing of the Unionist crowd when they attacked the Liberal candidate in Fermanagh and South Tyrone.
Mr. Robinson fails to see any way of extending 'democracy' in Northern Ireland, as he puts it— 'the elections, parliament and laws are already very similar to those in England.' A few suggestions would be to curb the 'gerrymander' prevalent in Northern Ireland, to abolish the university vote, which is 'virtual representation' gone mad, and finally, seeing that Mr. Robinson equates 'demo- cracy' with 'liberty,' to rescind the Emergency Powers Act, which brings Northern Ireland into parity with South Africa.
1 am not writing to defend the riots, which I re- gard as a retrogressive step in the political life of Northern Ireland, but to point out that statements like Mr. Robinson's only cloud and aggravate the situation. The Northern Ireland election results have proved once again that it is a society where men believe that the issues which divide them have little relevance to the realities of economic life. 1 am a countryman of Mr. Robinson's, and I too wish to return to my chosen career; perhaps we may be in a position to do something for Northern Ireland. Perhaps we may not be on the same side, but assuming that we both benefit from our educations, we may be at least in the same spirit.
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