A chara, - Niall Ginty's letter of October 17th could well have been extracted from any pre-election tabloid newspaper article on Sinn Féin. He adopts a simple ploy: link Sinn Féin with illegality and negativity, produce no evidence and hope some damage will be done. Former Minister for Justice Michael McDowell was a particularly strong exponent of such tactics.
Mr Ginty writes that "Sinn Féin had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into the peace process". This is factually incorrect as Sinn Féin was part of the peace process from its inception, encouraged its development and helped bring that process to fruition. It should also be recalled that in the early stages of the peace process many of those involved, including John Hume, were openly criticised by politicians and the media based in Dublin. If anybody was dragged kicking and screaming into the peace process it was they.
Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, an elected TD, suggested in your newspaper that there has been a complete failure to deal with serious drug and gun crime in this country. Mr Ginty's response was to state that "Sinn Féin should examine its own ambiguous stance on crime before preaching to the rest of us". Perhaps Mr Ginty could elaborate on this ambiguity referred to. There is no such ambiguity and it would appear that sound bites form the total of Mr Ginty's argument.
No political party should be spared a critical eye. It is part and parcel of a healthy democracy and such criticism can be helpful. However, snide, unfounded comments with no basis in fact should always be challenged. - Is mise,
EF FANNING,
Churchtown,
Dublin 14.