Madam, - In his article commemorating the 90th anniversary of the execution of Roger Casement, Roger Sawyer properly recalls Casement's great compassion and determination, qualities which made him a world-renowned humanitarian (Opinion & Analysis, August 3rd).
He is on less solid ground when he claims that Casement's man-servant Christensen offered to betray him in Norway in 1914 for the then massive sum of £5,000 and that the two men were sexually involved. These are uncorroborated allegations put out by the most secretive and conspiratorial forces within British officialdom.
Extraordinarily, Dr Sawyer writes that "the unanimous verdicts of no fewer than four forensic examinations" bear witness to the authenticity of the "black diaries". A forensic examination, properly so called, is one carried out to such a standard that its results are admissible as evidence in a court of law. Nobody has claimed this for any of the shadowy "forensic examinations" carried out on the black diaries over the years. Only one of these, that of Dr Giles in 2002, got as far as the comparative extravagance of a written report. - Yours, etc,
TIM O'SULLIVAN, Homefarm Park, Dublin 9.