I’m one republican who would vote DUP

Sir — I consider myself an Irish republican and suggest that I have the credentials to back that up. My grand-aunt was a founder member and first secretary of Cumann na mBan; my grand-uncle fought at Stephen’s Green and later carried the coffin of Michael Collins.

Yet in the unlikely event of a united Ireland in my lifetime, the only political party that I would feel comfortable voting for would be Arlene Foster’s DUP. This is not because of its unionist policies, but rather because it is the only political party to oppose the redefinition of marriage in order to accommodate same-sex marriage; and also because it is the only party to unequivocally defend the right to life of unborn babies from conception to natural death. Some issues transcend nationalism.

Although I am blessed to be a practising Catholic, I would not seek to argue my position from any religious point of view. The State should rightly be separated from religious control.

Rather, I would argue my position on the principle of the primacy of the greater common good over individual rights.

Sometimes we need to look down the generations and ask ourselves where certain policies are likely to lead us. We simply need to look at other societies that are a little further down the slippery slope than we are, and extrapolate from there. Conor Ward, Rosses Point, Co Sligo