TOBY JOYCE,
Sir, - With regard to the letters of Ms Gildea and Mr Dockrell regarding Bloody Sunday (February 1st), I find it hard to accept that, while the British state must be held accountable for Bloody Sunday, no such accountability can be demanded from any paramilitary group.
The Saville Inquiry is certainly essential, and what is striking about it so far is evidence that Derry rioters had become so dehumanised in the eyes of some peopel in 1972 that killing them was seen as acceptable. A British officer wrote as much not long before Bloody Sunday. John Hume is absolutely correct when he asked who in officialdom (in Belfast or London) had approved, or directed, plans towards this end. That is the truth the Saville Inquiry must seek out.
But there is also the truth of other acts, acts that were just as devastating to relatives and victims. I would like to know how neighbours could become so dehumanised in the eyes of groups (whether they called themselves the "Army Council", or the "Command Council") that it was considered legitimate to kill country cops going about their duty, to bomb a community mourning its dead, or murder working-class folk going to their jobs.
I would like to know who drove the "long war" strategy of the IRA, which prolonged a needless conflict by 20 years and directly caused the killing of about half the total number killed in the Troubles.
If healing and reconciliation is the goal of this inquiry, where is the justice in having all the focus on a few? As Gerry Adams said, "There is no hierarchy of victims." - Yours, etc.,
TOBY JOYCE, Navan, Co Meath.