Sir, - During RTE's "It Says in the Papers" segments on August 9th and 10th, its presenter, whose name I believe was Orla Burke, repeatedly referred to the 22-yearold jailed in Cyprus for making false accusations of rape as a "girl" and also spoke of her "plight".
On those same airways not so long ago a female TD referred to a male sex-offender as a "15-year-old man". Perhaps the Animal Farm school of feminism could let us know how young a male criminal must be to still be a boy and how old a female criminal must be before she stops being a girl?
On August 11th, Olive Braiden, speaking about the offender on RTE, spoke of "other victims". Now, you can have a goat and other goats or a sheep and other sheep but you can't have a goat and other sheep. Nor can you have a perpetrator and other victims. Ms Braiden seems to have difficulty telling her goats from her sheep.
The victims in this case were those incarcerated, albeit briefly, for a crime that didn't take place, not to mention their families. Ms Braiden didn't mention their families. She confined her expressed concern to the criminal and her family.
If Ms Braiden were falsely accused of child abuse would she regard her accuser as another victim? - Yours, etc.,
John Carr
Drimnagh Road, Dublin 12.