Sir, - May I reply to Mr W.J. Murphy's letter of November 4th in which he chided me for challenging Kevin Myers to prove that he has the courage of his convictions?
I must have been reading the wrong newspaper, as Mr Murphy assures us that Mr Myers "has shown support for those who genuinely believe such sacrifice was necessary". If he ever did pen lines to this effect, I did not see them, and quite a number of readers I've canvassed on the matter, didn't either.
I would refer Mr Murphy to Kevin Myers's most recent diatribe (An Irishman's Diary, October 14th) and if he can find any passage remotely conciliatory, he's a more perceptive reader than I am.
As for my challenge to Kevin Myers, as far as I am concerned, and for what it's worth, the challenge still stands.
Mr Murphy's suggestion that the carnage of the years 19191923 could have been avoided and that Ireland might have "evolved" into an independent state by peaceful means has all the irrefutable logic of hindsight. And hindsight was pretty thin on the ground in the Ireland of 80 years ago. - Yours, etc.,
John Clarke, Tullamore, Co Offaly.