ONE thing about bankers, you have to give them credit for having a brass neck.

THE subject of religious tolerance will continue to be topical now that the British local government secretary, Eric Pickles, powerfully, purposefully permits prayer again before council meetings, thus overriding a court ban against Bideford Town Council in Devon.

UNIONIST politicians often say do we want to go back to the ‘bad old days’.

WHILE Christians have suffered in Syria, those who have suffered the most are the 2,700 members of the Syrian army and police who have been brutally murdered by foreign terrorists.

I READ a notice in the classifieds section of the News Letter (February 10) regarding the Ulster GAA (Comhairle Uladh) Casement Park Stadium Project.

IT seems that William Cobain and I differ on the meaning of ethics, morals, honour and duty to one’s solemn Oath to State (Praise for courage of Irish ‘deserters’, February 8).

MACMILLAN Cancer Support is looking for people over 70 who have been affected by cancer to support their Age Old Excuse campaign.

LISTENING to Al Hutchinson’s suggestion of a possible amnesty for some murderers I was reminded of a quote from the detective writer L. C. Tyler: “I am completely with Agatha Christie on the issue of whether you could murder somebody on a Nile paddle steamer. You can murder somebody anywhere. It’s getting away with it that is always the tricky bit.”

I’D like to thank your correspondent, David Leemon, for his interest in the Conservative Party in Northern Ireland and for his questions about our new party.

WHAT a sad day for democracy and politics in general when the SDLP and Sinn Fein join forces to oppose the envisaged march commemorating the Kingsmills massacre in memory of 10 innocent workmen, brutally murdered for no other reason than they were Protestants.

THE Castlewellan National Arboretum and the Annesley Gardens are of national importance and should be of heritage garden status.

Congratulations to The News Letter for raising the subject of grammar.

IT’S been a horrendous week for followers of both rugby and football – the one still held back by bungling amateurism, the other hamstrung by egos and greed.

I WAS disappointed to receive a note from the usually excellent NICVA advertising a forthcoming event on welfare reform by highlighting the “potentially negative consequences” for people in Northern Ireland.

I WAS horrified to learn that the case regarding prayers before a council meeting returned a judgment which ruled it as not against the human rights of atheists but did say that saying prayers was beyond the powers of the council as set out in the 1972 Local Government Act.

HAS Ben Lowry (February 9) the perfect solution for our imperfect MLAs?

BUSINESSES in Northern Ireland are being swamped with employees bringing smartphones and tablets into the office following Christmas and the January sales. But 64 per cent of companies in the area are trying to swim against the tide and just don’t want employees to bring these devices into work. Security is the overriding concern - over a third of UK businesses said it was the main reason why they don’t want this to continue.

BARELY a driver in Northern Ireland has not felt frustration at being caught behind a slow-moving vehicle such as a tractor.

I’M presently completing a dissertation on ‘The Conservative Party and Northern Ireland: 1921-2001’ and have been following with some interest the exchange of views between your columnist Alex Kane and various members and supporters of the local Conservatives.

THE proposals for the development of a Conflict Resolution Centre at the Maze, originally Long Kesh, is an obvious strategy by militant republicanism to tattoo their dirty struggle in the body British corporate.