Sir, - Nuala O'Faolain (Opinion, December 15th) chose to remind us of the dangers of human vengefulness when it comes to criticism of Bishop Casey, Charles Haughey or Francis Stuart. The main part of the case deals with Francis Stuart arising out of Maire Mac an Tsaoi's unsuccessful attempt to remove the accolade of tSaoi conferred on him by Aosdana. The article is certainly a remarkable example of apparent high moral principle overlaid with confused thinking and (uncharacteristic) humbug.We are to understand that it was nothing less than inhuman effrontery on the part of Maire Mac an Tsaoi to challenge Francis Stuart over his actions in Berlin during the War (no-one surely believes that he was other than a welcome guest and a useful propagandist so far as the Nazi regime was concerned).Nuala O'Faolain is of course right to remind us that generally it is unbecoming and frequently unjust to criticise the elderly. But not always - certainly not if the point (as Maire Mac an Tsaoi made clear) is not to threaten a defenceless and very elderly old man but to question the public conferment of the honoured role on Francis Stuart despite his actions during the second World War. What a message Aosdana has sent out. Happily, however, not everyone will choose to endorse that message. Maire Mac an Tsaoi is to be congratulated for her clear-headed views and for her courage.Not content with the references to Maire Mac an Tsaoi, Nuala O'Faolain proceeded to state that Maire's husband, Conor Cruise O'Brien, was a "devoted servant" of the late Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana. She rightly characterisedNkrumah as a despot. Yet the record reveals that it is simply untrue to suggest that Conor Cruise O'Brien was a devoted servant. It is well known that Dr O'Brien was the champion of academic freedom at the University of Ghana during his period there in the early 1960s and that he took this stance in the face of Nkrumah's threats to that freedom - a fact, incidentally, recognised by an overwhelming vote of Dr O'Brien's university colleagues at the time.One might perhaps mention that Lord (formerly Sir Eric) Ashby, someone who, perhaps more than anyone, was aware of the problems which faced African university education in the 1960s, observed that "for three years, with masterly skill and extraordinary patience, O'Brien worked to preserve automony in the university and to ensure that it served Ghana's needs." Some devoted servant of a despot!Finally, Nuala O'Faolain tells us that when these days she sees Francis Stewart "He talks about the cosmos, and the cat sits on his lap and watches him." Cat lovers everywhere have reason to be impressed. - Yours, etc.,Brian Garrett,Berkeley Court,Belfast 9.