Sir, - Hugo Hamilton (December 4th) has every right to attempt to defend Francis Stuart. However, even if he is the son of a German emigrant, he does not have the right to speak on behalf of victims of the Nazi holocaust.
I am sure that it has not gone unnoticed by your readers that whilst many friends of Francis Stuart, the writer, have written in his defence and praised his literary accomplishments, he has not written one word himself.
Red herrings have been strewn all over the place. The simple fact is that Francis Stuart supported and worked for the Nazi Regime from 1939 to 1944. He has never expressed any remorse whatsoever and said that he was unaware, despite having visited occupied Poland, of any crimes against humanity. During the course of the documentary he was asked very directly, now that he was aware of the Holocaust, did he never have any regrets. His reply was an unambiguous, "Je ne regrette rien" (I regret nothing).
In this writer's opinion it is a shame and a disgrace that our Aosdana should allow its honourable name and international reputation to be sullied by such an unworthy person. - Yours, etc.,
Harlech Downs, Dublin 14.