Sir: Your correspondent Mr Jack Barker (December 18) is mistaken
in thinking that the Government of Northern Ireland is a timocracy
either in principle or in Practice' There is no property qualification for holding office (or for voting). If Stormont is a timocracy, then so is
Westminster, the systems being the same. electoral His assertion that the activities of evangelists have forced thousands of Catholics to emigrate from here should be viewed in the context of the changes that have taken place in the populations of the two parts of Ireland. The salient facts are that between the
1926 and the 1961 Censuses, the numbers of Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland increased by factors of 1.18 and 1.10 respectively, while the correspond
ing numbers in Eire decreased by factors of 0.97 and 0.65 respectively.
This letter arose from my concern about the lack of knowledge of Irish affairs that is common in Great Britain. It certainly does not represent any
complacency on my part regarding our
deep divisions and the evils
that follow from them. On the ctititrarY, I am an active member of the Alliance party, which aims at complete and equal partnership in government and public life between Catholics and Protestants; which opposes the policy of internment and supports the intro
duction of proportional representations.
David R. Bates 6 Deramore Park, Belfast
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