Sir, - I have three front-page photographs in my possession from your newspaper. One dated May 15th, 1996, of a very old man and woman with the caption "An old man holds his wife tightly as the couple, injured in Monday's tornado, make their way to a clinic near Mantala, Bangladesh. At least 300 people died when storms battered large areas north of Dhaka."
The second photo is of a very young girl badly scarred: "Ms Donna Marie Keys, who was severely burned in the Omagh bombing, bows her head in remembrance of those who died yesterday, the exact anniversary of the explosion."
The third (June 7th, 2000), is of an old man: "Mr. Peter Logan (83) recovering in Tullamore General Hospital yesterday after the attack in his Co Meath home on Sunday in which his brother, Paddy, died."
I have kept these as personal reminders of the dignity of each human being and how "cheap" life can appear from time to time. The publication of the photo (July 20th), showing the clothes of the two drowned children was most unsettling, to say the least. It did, however, point out to me in a most vivid way the seriousness of children using unsuitable "boats". In this instance, it was an inflatable water toy bought recently for the five-year-old.
Instead of infringing on insensitivities - I believe the seriousness and fatal consequences of using unsuitable buoyancy equipment was brought sharply home. Ar dheis DΘ go raibh a nanamacha. - Yours, etc.,
Brenda Morgan, Asgard Park, Howth, Co Dublin.