The choice of McGuinness is particularly telling as he has historic and well developed links
The choice of McGuinness is particularly telling, as he has historic and well developed links with the IRA, having been convicted of membership of the organisation in courts in the Republic of Ireland and having been a frequent guest at funerals of IRA men. Clinton, after all, needs to take something of substance back with him to America, and, weakened though he may be by the Lewinsky affair, he is still able to exert influence and pressure on this side of the pond to help him do so. But, clear as these proximate reasons may be, there are still more fundamental factors at work. SO MARTIN McGuinness has been appointed by Sinn Fein to be its representative to deal with the independent international commission on the decommissioning of arms. The decision to support more actively the decommissioning process comes, of course, shortly after Gerry Adams's declaration that "Sinn Fein believe the violence we have seen must be for all of us now a thing of the past, over, done with and gone".
With his background and seniority in the republican movement, he should prove, at least, a man with whom the leader of the decommissioning body, General de Chastelain, can do business. It is good news, if a little startling for the naive few who believed Sinn Fein's tireless protestations that the IRA was really nothing at all to do with it. Sir: The Shellfish network was formed four years ago to campaign peacefully against cruelty to these animals ("Think shrimp", Magazine, 29 August). Standard cooking methods are to boil, steam, grill or cut up while they are alive and fully conscious. It is a much-neglected subject compared with other issues of animal abuse.
Though relatively "humane" techniques for stunning crabs and lobsters before cooking have been put forward by animal welfare organisations these are not required by law in Britain. We were active in the protest that made Waitrose and Tesco abandon plans to sell live lobsters. We believe we are the only organisation to give a consistently high profile to the shellfish. But they remain at or near the bottom of the league-table of public sympathy. We are running a national petition calling on the Government to ban the exploitation of shellfish for human consumption and to press for this at European Community level.JULIE ROXBURGHLeatherhead, Surrey. Thus, if coursework were to replace exams, the comparatively slow and illiterate could appear as well-qualified as the quick, efficient and literate. For these reasons, conventional exams should be retained.
If, as a society, we value literacy, we can thereby ensure that those who have taken the trouble to acquire it are identified by their degree results. This is only fair to them and to their future employers. TOM SHEPHERDBrighton, East Sussex. Coursework does not give the bright student credit for completing a given assignment to a given standard quickly; and because coursework is usually done on computers, it allows the student who cannot write grammatically, spell or punctuate to appear just as able as his colleague (and future competitor for jobs) who can write well without recourse to spell-check and grammar-check functions. Sir: Coursework and exams are unlikely to be able to furnish "genuinely equivalent academic qualifications" (letter, 28 August). It is true that Diana left behind two sons, but people with children die every day, without ever experiencing a meal at the Ritz in Paris, and their children are left without the benefit of an estate of millions. She lived the life of a privileged aristocrat, who used charitable activities as a public relations exercise to justify a luxurious lifestyle. The fact that working Britons perceived Diana as having a "common touch" and uncritically supported her endless vacations, extravagant wardrobe and worldwide shopping expeditions, indicates just how successful the public relations exercise was. FRANCES WIDDOWSONToronto, Ontario, Canada.