A chara, - According to the IRA statement issued on Thursday, the organisation "has no responsibility for the tiny number of former republicans who have embraced criminal activity. They do so for self-gain. We repudiate this activity and denounce those involved."
Does this apply only to those who may have been engaged in hijacking a lorry transporting vodka, or does it apply also to those involved in the Northern Bank raid, or to those responsible for the McCartney and Rafferty killings, or even the bank raid that resulted in the murder of Det Garda Jerry McCabe?
Could the IRA or Sinn Féin leadership clarify what is meant by "criminal activity" and on what date did something which was previously part of "the struggle" become a crime? Do they now also totally accept that it is the Garda Síochána and the PSNI that are the appropriate bodies to investigate such crimes and to bring the perpetrators to justice? - Is mise,
MALCOLM BYRNE, The Chase, Gorey, Co Wexford.