Madam, - I enjoyed Pádraig Ó Cuanacháin's Irishman's Diary of October 15th on the extraordinary life of Mata Hari and brave death at the hands of a French firing squad 90 years ago.
While Mata Hari was no saint, she certainly did not deserve to die on false charges of counter-espionage against France during the first World War. For anyone really interested in her life I would recommend Sam Waagenaar's book The Murder of Mata Hari(1964). Waaganaar was a researcher on the 1930s MGM film Mata Hari, starring Greta Garbo. His view is that she spied for France but not for Germany and that the French government should issue an official pardon.
Mata Hari's life and death is so full of drama that it is hardly any wonder that several films and plays have been made about her. I have researched her life for about 10 years and always felt that "Mata Hari - The Musical" would work well, so I wrote it. Backers welcome. - Yours, etc,
PAUL MacARDLE, Roden Place, Dundalk, Co Louth.