A Chara, - In his piece of July 14th, your Northern Editor, Gerry Moriarty, accuses me of "once again chastising" The Irish Times and RTÉ. He suggests that the reason for this may be because I and other Sinn Féin representatives had to "take considerable gyp" from Ardoyne people following events there on the 12th.
He is wrong. First of all I chastised no one, I didn't even mention RTÉ. I did protest to an Irish Times reporter about the use of the term "Provisional Republicans" in a piece in Tuesday's edition. This was before the Ardoyne meeting.
I have raised this issue in the past, particularly over The Irish Times's use of the term "Provisional Sinn Féin".
My position is straightforward and consistent. A paper of record should be just that. There is no such organisation as Provisional Sinn Féin. Gerry Kelly is not a Provisional Republican. He is a republican, full stop. He is also a North Belfast MLA.
A paper of record should reflect that.
Gerry Moriarty is right about one thing. The courage and discipline of republicans saved lives in Ardoyne last Monday. And not just the lives of British soldiers. Many other people could have died as the result of an outrageous and sordid little coat-trailing exercise which was facilitated by the British Secretary of State, Paul Murphy. - Is mise,
GERRY ADAMS,
Ard Oifig Sinn Féin,
Baile Átha Cliath.