Sir, - At the remote Republican shrine of Knockanafrinn where the Civil War was finally concluded, Jack Lynch bridged for the first time the political gulf that existed in my pro-Treaty mind between the Fianna Fail position and myself. Fifty years ago for me and for many another on both sides it had been a case of "them-or-us" but in Lynch's speech to that gathering of the faithful there was an inspiring vision of an inclusive "we" who could together build a new Ireland.
I had gone there with some convinced Republicans in an effort to understand better the roots from which they came and their objections to Northern Ireland. Somehow at that Hill of the Mass, Jack Lynch raised us all to the belief that we belonged together in an Ireland of which we could feel proud.
On a green hillside with vibrant Republican connections the peace process had begun. - Yours, etc.,
Una O' Higgins O'Malley, Oughterard, Co Galway.