KEVIN BLANEY,
Madam, - An Irishman's Diary in your issue of October 1st listed my late brother Neil with others described as liars and crooks, convicted IRA terrorists and tax cheats.
In 1969/70 Neil certainly supported the nationalist people of the six counties of Northern Ireland and felt that they should be supported militarily in circumstances where they were under attack. As we now know he was completely in line with government policy in this; it was the Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, who put this policy into effect through his Minister for Defence, James Gibbons; a policy with which Neil co-operated wholeheartedly.
For doing so he was falsely charged with conspiracy to import arms illegally - a charge which did not even survive the preliminary stages of returning him for trial in the district court.
At the time he was also aware that the political action necessary to survive a descent into war in the six counties was the prorogation of Stormont.
Instead of following this through, Jack Lynch committed his government to acting as second guarantor to the British war effort in 1970.
As we know this involved a Kitson-type counter insurgency campaign based on "psychological operations" which inevitably led to the evolution of the IRA as a "People's Army" defending the nationalist people of the six counties.
In these circumstances Neil remained a constitutional republican, for which he never saw any reason to apologise. Neither do I. - Yours, etc.,
KEVIN BLANEY, Salthill, Galway.