Madam, - Dermot Meleady (April 17th) peddles a rather grotesque line in guilt by association; indeed, he truly plumbs the depths of political chicanery in his crude attempt to associate Raymond Deane and other Palestine solidarity activists with a farrago of obnoxious regimes in the Middle East.
Mr Meleady ranges wide, from the Iranian and Syrian regimes to the anti-Semitic content of Saudi and Egyptian TV, but his imputation is clear: if one speaks out in favour of justice for the people of Palestine, one joins an axis of evil. Has political discourse sunk so low?
I congratulate Raymond Deane and the members of Aosdána on their recent decision to "reflect" on the treatment of the Palestinian people. I suggest that Mr Meleady follow their good example. - Yours, etc,
FINTAN LANE, Palmerstown, Dublin 20.
Madam, - A search of your paper's online archives reveals that Raymond Deane's name has appeared 107 times on the Letters page since 1997.
One has to wonder whether Mr Deane's one-dimensional crusade against the state of Israel is the kind of artistic endeavour the members of Aosdána had in mind when they invited him to join. - Yours, etc,
DAVID ROLFE, Leinster Road, Dublin 6.