Sir, – Vincent Browne is mistaken in his article on Sinn Féin TDs Gerry Adams and Dessie Ellis (Opinion Analysis, January 2nd). Aside from activity dealt with by the courts, no former member of the IRA is at liberty to speak of it, or else the Irish and British states would not let them be at liberty for long.
The criminalisation of the conflict was a weapon of war. While the IRA was asked to declare the war over, those who opposed them are in effect pursuing it by other means. One method is to ask republicans what they did and to await the inevitable non-response or denial, giving a false impression that republicans are ashamed of their past. The other side that acted with state approval is not subject to criminal sanction, even though the violence they meted out was also frequently illegal. The worst they may suffer (as in the south) is a long-running and expensive tribunal of inquiry with varying outcomes, whether in public or in private.
End the criminalisation of the conflict and the non-response problem ends. Those who claim they seek answers will not think this through. They are too busy pointing fingers, usually in one direction. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – It is only Vincent Browne’s twisted logic that would expect Enda Kenny to desist from stone-throwing on the basis that certain Sinn Féin TDs were not involved in terrorism. The fact remains that while the three or four leading spokespeople for Sinn Féin in the Dáil would not know an Armalite from a pig’s ear, they were well aware of the party’s dark past when they joined.
And I am quite sure that most reasonable people would be very reluctant to associate themselves with the likes of Gerry Adams. So if you lie down with dogs, don’t complain if you are criticised when you get up with fleas. – Yours, etc,