Sir, - Pity Robert Barry (January 24th) who is prepared to believe the Raymond Seitz accusation of Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith being "an ardent IRA apologist".
Seitz was miffed from the early stages of his appointment because of the interest shown by the Ambassador to Ireland in the Northern troubles. He saw this as his ambassadorial territory and expressed his annoyance to Washington. Clearly Seitz's reading of the Irish problem was different from Mrs Kennedy Smith's.
It is in the nature of the troubles in Northern Ireland that they engage the attention of both British and Irish governments and it is therefore utterly appropriate that the American Ambassador to Ireland should take an interest in Northern Ireland affairs. Washington would appear to have had fewer problems with this than Mr Seitz.
This country has a great deal for which to thank Jean Kennedy Smith since her appointment in 1993. Her commitment to a peaceful solution in the North has been absolute. Her abhorrence of violence from the IRA is as absolute as her abhorrence of violence from loyalist, or British, or any other sources. She has made a commitment to assisting all parties in trying to find a solution that will last and has used her energy to get President Clinton engaged in the affairs of Ireland. It has been widely accepted in communities in Northern Ireland for some time that the political associates of the paramilitary groups would have to be brought into the dialogue if a lasting peace was to be found - ask David Trimble. Jean Kennedy Smith used her family name, her political connections in America and any other influences she had to help bring Sinn Fein and Gerry Adams into the dialogue. Her position in American political affairs and in Irish diplomatic life enabled her to be of particular influence on the nationalist side, but it would be wrong to conclude that her points of influence should be equated with shared beliefs.
None of us knows whether the current talks will succeed, but there is a sense of wills being focused to succeed in a way that has not been happening in the past. The nightly killings of recent days signal the need for all parties to try harder. But it is hardly helpful for the petulant Mr Seitz, or Mr Barry, to be hanging, without any basis of fact, labels such as "ardent IRA apologist" on people who are working for a peaceful solution to the problems in Northern Ireland.
The people of Ireland know and appreciate the contribution of Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith to Ireland and I, for one, am happy to pay public tribute to her for it. - Yours, etc.,
Michael Geaney,
Terenure, Dublin 6W.