Sectarian or not? Presbyterian view of IRA actions in War of Independence

IN his letter headlined ‘Why IRA killers of the Pearson boys were guilty of a war crime (December 17), Brendan Cafferty gives what appears to be very damning evidence of republicans’ attitude towards Protestants during the War of Independence.

He quotes from an editorial in the Belfast Presbyterian paper, The Witness, on June 17, 1921: “The plight of the Protestants in the south and west is sad in the extreme. They are marked, they are watched, they are raided; some of them have been dragged out and shot like beasts. An air of suspicion and dread is about them day and night.”

Like knowledge, a little quoting is a dangerous thing. Mr Cafferty should have quoted some more of the editorial to give this extract its proper context.