Sir, – People too young to have witnessed the activities of pre-peace process Sinn Féin now have the opportunity to observe how secretive, tightly controlled, obfuscatory and simultaneously holier-than-thou the organisation was and remains. Hopefully, that will contribute to cross-generational understanding of the party’s unsuitability for government in a parliamentary democracy. – Yours, etc,
DAVID McKENNA,
Dublin 8.
Sir, – Surely the most pertinent question in all of this is whether Sinn Féin would have acted in exactly the same way if Senator Niall Ó Donnghaile had been living in the Republic and these matters had been reported to An Garda Síochána.
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One can ask the same question if a similar situation had arisen in relation to a Sinn Féin MLA in the NI Assembly.
It would appear, however, that a Sinn Féin Senator, living in Belfast, can resign from the party, be reported to the police by that party and remain in post but our national parliament does not need to know. – Yours, etc,
MARTIN McDONALD,
Terenure,
Dublin 12.
Sir, – It is, perhaps, not surprising that a party that once espoused the Armalite and the ballot box should shoot itself repeatedly in the foot in the run-up to a general election. – Yours, etc,
CHRIS FITZPATRICK,
Dublin 6.