I'm glad the war in Northern Ireland is over although, what with all that blarney about 'hearts and minds' I hadn't twigged that we were at war.

I was as surprised as anyone when we were told that so-called terrorists convicted of vicious killings were actually honourable prisoners of war.

The IRA was telling the truth all the time!

It follows that General Tony is absolutely right not to bother his head about decommissioning.

There's nothing necessarily sinister about the IRA troops refusing to hand in their weapons.

I dare say they simply want to keep them handy for their victory parade.

William Dixon Smith,

Welland Rise,

Acomb,

York.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.