Letter: It would have pleased Sinn Fein if unionists had snubbed the US president

Ruth Dudley Edwards (‘From my sick bed I have enjoyed seeing Scots independence on the slide,’ April 11, see link below), unfortunately, hurt her spine but her brain is certainly doing fine.

In advising our pro-British leaders to meet with President Biden she wants us to avoid the previously well-meaning conduct of refusing to talk to those who refuse to reject their terrorist principles before having to find accommodation and sit with them in government. A considerable Irish American lobby is more persuasive than an insignificant unionist vote here, and the president is leader of a massive democracy and his nation has global influence. It would surely suit the terrorist-loving Sinn Fein/IRA to see unionist leaders snub the president while they accept him. As Ruth Dudley Edwards advises, we should be happy in our own skin to state our case.

The recent riots (‘They haven't gone away you know’) could be looked at as a plan by our traditional enemies to create a situation in which a new president flies into a violent atmosphere that serves as a historical reminder of a time when another US president encouraged a peace agreement. The global wagons circled us before, so we need to recognise the need to listen to friends like Ruth Dudley Edwards.

David Barbour, Ex UUP councillor, Coleraine

Ruth Dudley Edwards: From my sickbed I have enjoyed seeing the SNP on the slide