Northern Ireland

* Your editorial, “A Break in the Storms Over Northern Ireland?” (Nov. 26), notes that a “working rapport” between the governments in Dublin and London offers some hope for peace in Ulster. The danger to real peace, as suggested later in the article, comes in the form of extremists on both sides. Consultation between the two governments, which must include the extremists, is, of course, necessary for a kind of peace to develop. However, studies that I have made of the conflict in Ulster reveal a deep animosity, fueled by the inculcation of separate identities, Protestant and Catholic, carried on over many generations. It is not only the violent ones but their respectable elders, such as Ian Paisley, who aggressively promote the divisiveness that results from the development of these group identities. But when separate social identities, which necessarily evolve into an “us versus them” mentality, are downplayed, as they might be in an ecumenical movement in such areas as education, then peace will have a greater chance in Ulster. Perhaps our own society, too, should take a good look at what happens to a society where separate identities are emphasized to the detriment of a unification of thought and sentiment.

LEONARD WURTHMAN

Northridge