The SDLP seem to be reeking with Catholicism if the abortion debate is anything to go by. Pat Ramsey has declared his party's position on the matter in the most emotive manner possible, with all the usual desperate anti-abortion rhetoric associated with those who have lost the debate.

There is a very clear smell of the Republic in the SDLP taking aggressive views on the abortion issue and trying to shout down others who are pro-choice. The Republic has in many respects the same problem as Northern Ireland; women want to terminate unwanted pregnancies. The SDLP constantly pretend to offer alternatives to voters, but on this issue there position is extremely partisan and reflective of Fianna Fáil's position down south, who can't move without support from the Catholic hierarchy. Moreover, 99% of Dáil Éireann is Catholic, who vote along with the Catholic psychology.

The Republic, of course, has been living in the same denial as Northern Ireland, pretending the majority don't want abortion, when there is considerable evidence to doubt it with thousands of women travelling to Britain and elsewhere.

Majority and minorities aside, the issue of family planning is a personal one, and some believe the state should have no role to play in totalitarianising their decisions.. The SDLP have there minds made up on this issue and should not be considered a party which reflects the wider community, and actually reflect a party with a very narrow outlook who have clear fundamentalist lines.

Maurice Fitzgerald,

Ringaskiddy, Co. Cork