Sir, - I have no doubt that at the time the Papal Encyclical Humanae Vitae was published in 1969 there was a wide-ranging debate on the issues involved. There are, however, many people in this country today who, like me, were not born then or who were only young children. In the climate that evolved many could have grown to adulthood without a proper understanding of the moral issues involved in the use of contraception - or, indeed, without an awareness that there are any such issues involved. If Archbishop Desmond Connell's paper of March 2nd did nothing else, it at least raised awareness of these issues and for that it is to be welcomed.
Archbishop Connell has begun a tentative exploration of some of the less immediately obvious issues which arise from the debate on contraception - specifically, the reaction of a child to the knowledge of the context in which he was conceived. In this the archbishop has demonstrated a genuine concern for the welfare of people in such circumstances as he outlined. For this he deserves credit which he has not been given.
The discussion of such complex issues must, of necessity, be conducted in terms which do not lend themselves to the making of sound-bites. Perhaps when the present furore has died down we can have a reasoned and reasonable debate. - Yours, etc., Patrick Carr,
Peter Street, Drogheda.