Madam, - Kevin Myers is to be commended for his courage in protesting against the absurdity of the manslaughter convictions given to Dolores O'Neill and Norma Cotter, each of whom killed her husband as he slept. The absurdity resides in the credence given to the idea that what is sometimes called "slow-burn" provocation is a legitimate defence to a charge of murder.
It shouldn't be accepted as a defence for the simple reason that it isn't provocation in any recognisable sense of that term; rather it is a kind of festering resentment which, however well-grounded it may be, does not itself justify homicide.
Advice to estranged husbands intending to sleep: don't. - Yours, etc.,
GERARD CASEY, Ballinclea Heights, Killiney, Co Dublin.
Madam, - I wish to wholeheartedly concur with Kevin Myers's analysis of the trial of Dolores O'Neill for the murder of her husband.
I cannot add to what he has said, except to record my own utter disbelief at the process of the trial and the moral bankruptcy of the verdict. - Yours, etc.,
FERGUS BEATTY, Leixlip, Co Kildare.
Madam - I agree with Kevin Myers. I support him, I applaud him. Although I read his column regularly and find myself in full agreement with him frequently, I never previously bothered to put that support in the public domain. Apologies.
His article on the Dolores O'Neill trial speaks volumes about the rights of women and lack of equal rights of men in Irish society today.
As Kevin Myers says, we have no idea why evidence of Dolores O'Neill's history of violent abuse towards her husband was not disclosed in court.
Shouldn't we be asking? Would we need to even ask if the situation was reversed? - Yours, etc.,
AUDREY C. ANDREWS, Herbert Street, Dublin 2.
Madam, - I would like to publicly express my whole-hearted support of Kevin Myers's stance on the outcome of the Declan O'Neill case. He is a brave and principled man in addition to being a witty and entertaining journalist. The outcome of the case is indicative of the woolly "reasoning" that is suffocating the course of justice and a sense of a clear and even-balanced morality - not just in Ireland, but in the entire EU. To put it in perspective, many "liberal" Europeans would like Americans to examine what motivated al-Qaeda to carry out their September 11th attacks. Perhaps it would be worthwhile for these same people to ask why Americans, in the post-September 11th world, have re-examined the reasons as to what it means to be alive and have re-elected a man whom they believe is the best candidate to stand up for the values they cherish. - Yours, etc.,
FIONBAR LYONS, Balbriggan, Co Dublin.