A chara, - Kevin Myers writes (An Irishman's Diary, August 26th): "Not one of the 1916 leaders had ever stood for election. It was not that democracy had let them down: they had never tried it. They preferred the gun."
Major John McBride, who was second-in-command to Thomas McDonagh at Jacob's Factory in 1916, stood in a infamous by-election for South Mayo in 1900. His candidature was supported by Arthur Griffith, Maud Gonne and Willie Yeats. MacBride was executed on May 5th, 1916. - Yours, etc., Tony Jordan,
Gilford Road,
Dublin 4.