For the tabloids, both national and local, meanwhile, it was open house for vitriol and personal abuse. Until my experiences of the past 12 months I had always been a staunch defender of a free press. There are those of us who would have relished the opportunity of doing the same when we, too, were the subject of their pernicious, moralising cant but couldn't fight back for lack of access to your front page. Had such tables been published in 1960, say, how many secondary moderns would have featured?STUART RUSSELLCirencester, Gloucestershire. Sir: Well done to Polly Toynbee for striking the first blow against the scourge of the tabloids (6 June). They also enabled gifted children in certain areas such as sport, art, music and drama the chance to fulfil themselves irrespective of their ability in the more academic subjects. The failure of the system to fulfil many of the hopes at its inception is the result of the misguided attempt to introduce mixed-ability teaching; the greater emphasis on children "taking responsibility", which, sadly, resulted in many schools becoming pools of indiscipline; and the comprehensive schools being generally too large.However, the the success of the comprehensive experiment can be judged by the Government's own league tables.

However, they also achieved a social purpose, allowing children from all socioeconomic groupings the opportunity to work and play together. Comprehensives led to the extinction of the pernicious secondary moderns, and if they did nothing else would be worthwhile for this alone. The trick must be to draw the poison of the extremists of both sides. The aim must be to convince a large majority of Catholics and Protestants that the age-old, visceral desire for the triumph of one over the other can be replaced by a peace that offers both prosperity and a respect for the rights of both communities. All the participants in today's talks, and any others who may join in as the talks continue, deserve a chance to open the road to peace.. Sir: Tony Blair's commitment to ending mixed-ability teaching (report, 7 June) is to be welcomed, as is his continued commitment to the comprehensive ideal. Sooner or later, the machinery of violence would be set in motion once again.

British officials tend to stress their pragmatic, co-operative nature; Irish nationalists see them as forerunners of all-Ireland institutions.It is possible - just - to imagine a settlement that encompasses the mainstream unionists and the moderate wing of Republicanism. It is impossible to imagine any settlement that includes Mr Paisley. Unlike, say, John Hume of the SDLP, whose contribution to progress has been immense, the DUP leader is defined by his refusal to compromise; in the end, the peace process will have to work around him.But any settlement that leaves a large and embittered minority of either Catholics, or Protestants, would be pointless. The mood - and strength - of the Republican diehards remains anyone's guess. There should be some recognition that, for a portion of the population, a united Ireland remains the ultimate goal - but an acceptance that it will only be reached by democratic means. All terrorist weapons must be surrendered as part of a settlement and, if possible, as a token of growing trust, they should be surrendered by increments during the talks.The hardest part may prove to be the nature and scope of the "cross-border" economic and political institutions foreseen by London and Dublin last year.

There must also be renewed guarantees of economic and educational fair-play for Catholics. Why, after so much effort, and against the background of 1995 being the warmest year on record, and with satellite pictures of huge icebergs being carved off Antarctica, do we get such a cautious conclusion? The reasons for caution go to the heart of scientific advice on complex issues. On the face of it, the rise in global temperature of around 0.5C since the mid-19th century is incontrovertible. There are, however, worrying discrepancies between different measurements of temperatures around the world.