NEIL BLANEY,
Sir, - It was with customary pleasure and amusement that I read Kevin Myers's Irishman's Diary of October 1st in which he, understandably, questioned the seeming surprise of many at the findings of Mr Justice Flood.
However, Mr Myers (unable to resist the need to have a go at republicans whenever he is having a go at anyone else) places Arthur Morgan and Martin Ferris of Sinn Féin, together with my late father Neil Blaney, in the same company as Lowry, Lawlor, Haughey and Burke.
In an article dealing ostensibly with corruption those latter names would surely spring to mind. It would be my view, however, that what unites Morgan, Ferris and Blaney is that they acted for principles they believed in (whether you agree with them or not) and each suffered in varying forms for these beliefs. In failing to distinguish in this context between acts undertaken for one's own benefit and those taken at a cost to oneself Mr Myers once again displays his myopic vision when confronted with the existence of a vibrant republican movement.
No doubt he will observe that it would be better the country exist as the most corrupt known to man than anyone might feel it worth the sacrifice of a single life to advance the ideal of, God forbid, a unitary republican state. Then again, if the sacrifice was to preserve the integrity of the Empire, perhaps not.
Keep up the good work, Mr Myers, but wipe the mote from your eye. - Yours, etc.,
NEIL BLANEY, Swords, Co Dublin.