Ireland Talks

Re “Message From the Dark Side,” editorial, June 18:

The murder of two young members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, is a terrible tragedy in a tragic land. On April 26 Robert Hamil, a Catholic man, was savagely beaten by a loyalist mob as the Royal Ulster Constabulary stood by. Robert Hamil died May 8. Another trag- edy. On May 12, a loyalist death squad murdered Sean Brown, a 62-year-old Catholic father of six. Another tragedy. These are only a few of the tragedies that go on year after year.

The answer is not to stop communication. The last cease-fire lasted 18 months, until the Irish people began to understand that the British government never intended to answer their griev- ances. There is a new government now. Let us not compound past tragedies by not resuming talks. The duly elected members of Sinn Fein should be recognized; or am I mistaken, and Britain isn’t a democracy.

BOBBIE CORBETT

Garden Grove