Letter: Unionism has failed to exploit political movement from the Republic of Ireland

Doug Beattie (Being in the arena is always better than being on the outside, August 16) rightly says that politics is about the art of persuading.

That, however, need not rule out a little manipulating. Look how Sean Lemass obscured his de facto recognition the Republic gave to Stormont in his 1965 visit to O’Neill in pursuance of getting a necessary rescue Free Trade Agreement with the UK. The following year he trumped up the 50th anniversary of Easter 1916.

Similarly Dublin having a say in the Anglo-Irish Agreement was used to obscure the recognition (contrary to 1916) given to unionism as an equally patriotic stance in Ireland with London having a legitimate interest. Unionism allied to the “never, never, never” never exploited this.

WA Miller, Belfast BT13

Doug Beattie: Being in the arena is always better than being on the outside