Letter: A risk worth taking

Sir: Those who will not die, those who will not be maimed and those whose lives will not he blighted if peace is brought to Northern Ireland will owe this to the political courage of Sir Patrick Mayhew and John Major in being prepared to take the risk of responding to the IRA, and working for a settlement based on the real renunciation of violence. Those who blame Sir Patrick and Mr Major for this, and try, for reasons of their own, to damage and destroy this immensely difficult process, will actually be the guilty parties.

Of course, the Government had to proceed secretly and tentatively; because it was and is all so tentative, they were properly entitled to deny there were formal contacts. To have done anything else would have been for the Government to seek to protect its flank but to risk losing the possibility of success.

Yours faithfully,

HUMPHRY CRUM EWING

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