Madam, - I have been distressed to hear that Gary Mitchell, the Belfast playwright, has been driven out of his home and had his car burnt by paramilitaries, and is now in hiding. Apparently he has offended by his portrayal of life in "loyalist" areas, in one of which he has been living.
I hope that writers in particular, in Ireland, the UK and elsewhere, will not fail to assert Mitchell's right to free expression without which literature perishes. - Yours, etc,
ROBERT GREACEN, Member of Aosdána, Sandymount, Dublin 4.