Sir, - In answer to Kevin Myers: Patrick Pearse welcomed the Home Rule Bill when it was passed by the House of Commons in 1912.
He spoke in O'Connell Street with John Redmond and Eoin O'Neill:
"I should think myself a traitor to my country if I did not answer the summons of this gathering, for it is clear to me that the Home Rule Bill which we support today will be for the good of Ireland and that we shall be stronger with it than without it. Let us unite and win a good Act from the British; I think it can be done."
One of the reasons Pearse welcomed the Bill was because it would give us control of the educational system. His views on education were the subject, some time ago, of a eulogy in the London Times by Lord Rees-Mogg, who praised them effusively and lamented that his countrymen should have executed such a magnificent man.
Anybody interested in the legacy of Pearse should, like Lord Rees-Mogg, read his collected writings. They are in print and available. - Yours, etc.,
Ulick O'Connor, Fairfield Park, Rathgar, Dublin 6.