Letter: Ulster solution for Westminster

Sir: We in Northern Ireland have been reminded by a succession of Secretaries of State that our problems are so intractable that nothing short of a power-sharing government can save the province. I agree fully with that conclusion and, with many others, am working towards the creation of such a government. It has become our greatest imperative.

But I am also a citizen of the United Kingdom and feel equal concern for my wider allegiance. Yet when I look at our country these days I see on all sides problems as daunting and divisive as any in Northern Ireland.

Britain is in danger of becoming Ulster writ large.

Clearly the experience of Northern Ireland, as of many modern states, is that a politics of confrontation is nowadays a hindrance and needs to be replaced with leadership that maximises consensus. In my own region, the search for such a consensus has begun; in Britain, it needs to be addressed with urgency. In both areas, it is an idea whose time has come.

Are there those at Westminster who will now encourage moves towards a government of national recovery, which would seek to unite the nation at what is becoming one of the most perilous times in our history?

Yours sincerely,

DAVID W. BLEAKLEY

Bangor, Co Down

14 October