A chara, – I see from his column ("Never mind the evidence, feel the 'truthiness' of what Gerry says", Opinion & Analysis, October 28th) that Fintan O'Toole is now an expert on me. This on top of his other accomplishments. – Is mise,
GERRY ADAMS, TD
Teach Laighean,
Baile Átha Cliath 2.
Sir, – Fintan O’Toole should remember that the equivalent of “truthiness’ for the IRA is “mental reservation” for the Catholic Church. – Yours, etc,
NICK STRONG,
Glin, Co Limerick.
Sir, – I was drawn to the recent story in The Irish Times which declared dramatically in its headline "Adams and Sinn Féin suffer drop in support" (October 27th).
I was surprised to discover that on closer examination the story which followed declared that the Sunday Business Post poll indicated support for Sinn Féin had dropped by 3 per cent, while another poll in the Sunday Times showed support for the party unchanged. In the same polls, it was reported that Fine Gael support was down by 2 per cent in one poll, and up by 2 per cent in the other poll. Fianna Fáil remained unchanged in both polls. How can this be declared a slump in support for Sinn Féin and Gerry Adams?
Would a far more accurate headline not be “Kenny and Adams show drop in support, Fianna Fáil unchanged”?
The past week has seen a media frenzy, most of it directed against Sinn Féin and in particular Gerry Adams. The coverage was unbalanced, with an antiGerry Adams and Sinn Féin agenda permeating the entire coverage. What seemed to be forgotten in the media frenzy was that at the heart of this story was a young woman who had suffered a great deal.
Media outlets in Ireland have not covered themselves in glory in recent decades, failing to predict the economic crash, not giving support to the peace process in its infancy, and failing generally to act as a critical watchdog for the people of Ireland. The worry is that while the media outlets are once again in overdrive over Sinn Féin, what really important story are we missing?
I wonder if your readers would agree that having had the banks tested recently, a Dáil committee about to investigate the banking collapse, numerous inquiries into the Catholic Church, that the time has come for the media in Ireland to be stress-tested? It is the only institution that has avoided intense scrutiny. – Yours, etc,
MARTIN HANRAHAN,
Rathfarnham, Dublin 14.