Aims of Reform (Letter by Robin Bury)

Madam

Niall Cusack's scurrilous sideswipe against the Reform Movement (letters, September 23rd) and Tom Cooper's misrepresentation of Reform's aims (letters, September 28th) cannot be allowed to pass unchallenged. Reform is not, as Mr. Cusack's letter implies, "racist", "supremacist", "West British" or "unionist".

Reform's agenda for change in Irish society is liberal and pluralist. It stands for tolerance and for the harmonious co-existence of all the different identities and traditions in this country, including those of recent migrants who are changing Ireland into a multicultural and
multiracial society.

Reform does not aim at the restoration of the Union with Britain, as implied by Mr. Cooper, and nor does it support Protestant supremacism in Northern Ireland. Reform stands for better Anglo-Irish relations and for the closest possible co-operation and integration across these Islands, including in a modern, changed Commonwealth context, which we think Ireland should consider joining.

Reform is not a "West Brit" or a even Protestant organisation. It is a non-denominational, non-party movement that includes in its ranks people of different faiths (religious and secular) and different Irish identities. Reform does value the British connection and the Protestant tradition in Ireland, but that does not mean that we are not Irish patriots.

Reform's aim is to provoke and contribution to a debate about how we can continue to move beyond the sectarian and divisive traditions of the past and reshape Ireland as a postnationalist, pluralist society. Our conference was a contribution to that agenda and we fully intend to continue to make our voice heard, notwithstanding the efforts of Mr. Cusack and Mr. Cooper to silence us by abuse and misrepresentation.

Robin Bury