Madam, - I am disgusted at the front-page photograph in Thursday's edition, showing the Minister of Defence pointing a gun at the photographer. In a week when three people have been murdered, this picture sums up this Minister and his Government's cavalier attitude to the ongoing cycle of violence. - Yours, etc,
PAUL DORAN, Monastery Walk, Dublin 22.
Madam I felt an involuntary shudder when, on opening The Irish Times, I was presented with a smiling face pointing a gun straight at me.
Our good Minister for Defence really should know better. From a safety point of view, military training always dictates (as does common sense) that one should never, ever point a gun at someone, even a photographer, unless the intention is to use it. Guns are not toys. - Yours, etc
AIDAN RINGROSE (Former corporal, FCA), Dalkey, Co Dublin.
Madam, - O'Dea, O'Dea! - Yours., etc,
KEITH NOLAN, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim.