ON FEBRUARY 26, 1962, the Army Council of the IRA announced the end of the Border Campaign: ''All arms and other materials have been dumped and all full-time active service volunteers have been withdrawn.'' As a direct consequence, when four years later, in 1966, Gusty Spence and his friends, every single one of whom was a fully paid-up member of the Orange Order, resurrected the UVF and set about indiscriminately targeting Catholics for extermination, the IRA was in no position to defend its own.

As things deteriorated for the Catholic community between Easter 1966 and January 4, 1969, when the RUC, in the full glare of the TV cameras which recorded matters for posterity, brutally assaulted the Civil Rights marchers from The People's Democracy as they entered Derry, the IRA leadership failed to listen to those who pled with them for something to be done to enable the northern Catholics to defend themselves.

Even as the Orange-led pogroms were launched across the Six Counties during the latter part of 1969 and throughout 1970, the IRA could not defend their own communities. What is the position today as we read of Jack Ramsay's highly biased comments on IRA weapons (The IRA weapons, Letter, February 4)?

According to the Irish Times in September of 1998, there were 138,727 licensed guns held in private hands in the Six Counties comprising of: shotguns and airguns 111,014, small-bore rifles 13,736, full-bore rifles 326, handguns 12,771, miscellaneous firearms 880, total 138,727.

These guns (and would anyone seriously disagree that it is safe to assume that the overwhelming majority of them are in Protestant/Unionist/Loyalist/Orange hands?) continue to be held unsupervised in private hands because a pan-Unionist alliance led by David Trimble and Ian Paisley demanded that the post-Dunblane gun control legislation be not enacted to cover their God-fearing, law-abiding domain. Why? And why did Tony Blair cave in to them?

In addition, the Catholic community still find ringed around and ranged against them the massive arsenals held by the RUC, the Royal Irish regiment (recently so embarrassingly photographed supporting Mr Ramsay's fellow Orangemen at Drumcree), and the British Army. Moreover, there are the guns and bombs held by all the loyalist terror gangs: the UDA, UFF, UVF, LVF, Red Hand Commando and, let us not forget, the Orange Volunteers.

With what level of equanimity can the Catholic people of the Six Counties be objectively expected to view unilateral IRA disarmament at this time? Do turkeys vote for Christmas?

Hugh McLoughlin

24 Russell Street,

Bellshill.

February 4.

The stiff-legged bristling stupidity of the Irish Republican Army all but beggars description. After 30 years of armed struggle, the negotiating skills of Adams, McGuinness, and McLoughlin (aided by the IRA threat of the return of violence currently withheld) have put Sinn Fein into government and overthrown the doctrine of the perpetual Britishness of Northern Ireland.

All that is now required is the making of love, not war, and demography will deliver the final victory. Give up the guns, lads. They are no longer necessary.

Brian D Finch

20 Whitelaw Street,

Maryhill,

Glasgow.

February 6.