Sir, – A passage in Roy Foster's review of Dermot Meleady's biography of John Redmond (Books, January 25th) caught my attention: "There is an argument, indeed, that his [Redmond's] Woodenbridge speech, where he committed the movement to fighting for the Allies, was part of a deliberate ploy to drive out the extremists. Here and elsewhere, he was a formidable political operator."
Redmond’s sending tens of thousands of his followers off to war (and in many cases to injury and death) is here effectively endorsed. Adopting the – surely rather extreme – tactic of sending one’s followers off to war as a way of isolating extremists: does Roy Foster endorse this as a general principle in politics or will any argument serve when it comes to enhancing the reputation of John Redmond? – Yours, etc,
BARRA Ó SEAGHDHA,
Martin’s Row,
Chapelizod, Dublin 20.