It so saddens me that a country blessed with such breathtaking natural beauty as Northern Ireland is still marked by violence. A “terrible” beauty indeed.

One does have to bear in mind though that these acts are carried out by a minority of the kind of uneducated, primitive yobs we seem to breed more and more of and that they are in no way representative of the Northern Ireland population at large – I found them to be very educated, lovely people while living among them once.

I don’t think the recent events have anything to do with religion or politics; the annual parades are just an excuse for these troublemakers to “have a go”.

Barbara Hudson, Badger Hill, York.