Letter: Unprovisional rage in Irish voices

Sir: Not for the first time the consensus about the horrific consequences of Saturday's IRA bombing appears to exclude any possibility of a critical debate about the causes of IRA violence.

Could it not be that the horror of Saturday could be avoided by removing the 20,000 armed troops currently imposing British rule in a country whose population still favours Irish unity?

Could it not be that the horror of Saturday could be avoided by dismantling the artificial state in which Britain continues to guarantee that Protestants are two and a half times more likely to get a job than Catholics?

Could it not be that the horror of Saturday could be avoided if we removed the force that has admitted to colluding with Loyalist death squads responsible for the slaughter of more than 100 Catholics since 1990?

While your readers appear to agree that IRA violence is futile, I wonder if they agree that 23 years of blaming the victims of British oppression for their response is much more futile. Or at least agree to debate it?

Yours faithfully,

FIONA FOSTER

London, N19

25 March