A courageous democrat in the line of fire
His fairness in representing the people of his constituency has been demonstrated by outspoken and it now seems - courageous criticism of those who would try to impose their views on others.
Billy Leonard would wish to rid us of all ghettos where intimidation exists.
Those who, like myself, admire how he is striving for fairness in society here must hope that whoever shamed themselves by throwing a tin of paint through a bedroom window of his family home and leaving a hoax bomb at the front door will explain why they perpetrated such a wicked act.
Otherwise we may conclude that there was no reason for such action and therefore no justification for it. An admission of blatant ignorance.
It has been reassuring, nevertheless, to hear Gregory Campbell, a member of a different political party, condemning in forthright terms what took place at the Leonard home.
In so doing he highlighted how this cowardly attack could be seen as an attack on democracy itself.
Later, on the same day that we heard Mr Campbell's statement, a group of people attacked the car of an MLA who had come to Ballymoney to meet local people. So much for freedom of speech!
The vicious kicking of the visitor's car was despicable. The people whose names appear on the nearby war memorial were prepared to risk their lives for freedom and democracy.
Surely they would have been ashamed of the denial of such outside the council offices in Ballymoney.
John Robb,
85, Charlotte Street,
Ballymoney,
Co Antrim
