Letter: 'Peace' in Ireland

DAVID TRIMBLE is right to say that the Good Friday agreement will strengthen the Union as well as providing a framework for peace in the Province. Conversely, any rejection in the referendum will lead to further disillusion with Northern Ireland in Great Britain. A mood of "a plague on all their houses" will become manifest, not least due to the huge human and financial cost to the mainland in the maintenance of the Union. Like all partnerships, the Union needs consent from both sides of the Irish Sea.

JOHN O'BRIEN

Morpeth, Northumberland

ONCE AGAIN the role of women in major historical events is airbrushed out. For nearly a year, the painstaking efforts of Mo Mowlam have been reported fairly and honestly. Yet, when the agreement finally comes, The Independent is filled with pictures of grey-suited men shaking hands.

And who gets the credit? Blair, Clinton, anyone so long as they're male. If the talks had failed we'd have heard a lot more about the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and a lot less about her male superiors.

STEPHEN WARING

Winchester