ON the brink of a real attempt to find a peaceful solution, the IRA explode a bomb in Manchester.

If I had a neighbour who annoyed me and I went into the park and knocked an old lady down in protest, I would be called a coward and the lowest of the low.

But this is how this so-called army fights.

If we had a plague of rats, the pest controller would be brought in and soon we would be rid of the rats.

So we need a pest controller for vermin worse than rats and fewer excuses. Start by allowing anyone to protect their own homes - if they kill an intruder, give them free rates for a year.

If yobs break the law three times, have them put down.

If we tried this for three years, we would be able to take the metal covers off shop windows. People could walk tall and smiles and friendly greetings would be the order of the day.

LEN RUSHTON, Bowland House, Larkhill, Blackburn.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.