Sir, - Mary Raftery and Eoin O'Sullivan, the co-authors of the book Suffer the Little Children, seem determined to react defensively when faced with any kind of challenge to their research. Their continuing failure to engage with what the editor of The Irish Times has described as "valid and sustainable" criticism does them no credit.
For example, in a letter to this paper (January 13th) they claim, erroneously, that an incident described in their book involving the death of a boy in Artane in the 1950s is the subject of an ongoing Garda investigation. (An event, incidentally, about which their main witness has now given three very different accounts.)
Later that same day on Eamon Dunphy's The Last Word radio programme, it was put to Mary Raftery that the Garda Press Office had confirmed that this incident had been investigated previously but was no longer the subject of investigation, and that unless new evidence were to emerge there would be no further investigation. Mary Raftery's unbelievable response to this information was: "This is complete rubbish. This is rubbish. This is rubbish!"
Ms Raftery has recently accused others of denial. How does she account for her own?
Failure to face up to unpalatable truths and name-calling those who differ with your opinions simply places more obstacles in the search for a fuller understanding of child abuse past and present. For the sake of justice for all, this has got to stop. - Yours, etc., Brendan Conroy,
Mulvey Park, Windy Arbour, Dublin 14.