Madam, - In reply to Ms Suzanne Kelly's letter of August 12th I agree fully that it is "akin to the coward's kiss" to assassinate the character of someone recently deceased.
However, this is somewhat more tolerable if there is balance in media comment. Ms Kelly cannot deny that her father has received more than his fair share of media coverage over many years. My father, the late James Gibbons, has not.
My sister's successful challenge to the Broadcasting Authority regarding the Prime Time programmes on the Arms Trial supports this contention. My father has, since his death, been a soft target and has been subjected to sustained vilification. This certainly is "unkind" "to the salient facts".
Ms Kelly is also correct in saying that it is "unkind to the recently bereaved". My family knew all about this as they listened to Jim Gibbons's name being blackened on the national airwaves no more than a few hours after his last breath by none other than Ms Kelly's father, Captain James Kelly. - Yours, etc.,
ELIZABETH SWORDS,
Dalkey,
Co Dublin.