Madam, - The "Troubles" have been analysed, reconstructed, redefined and reinterpreted by hundreds in the last decade, with most contemporary analysts reaching the conclusion that partition was the cause. Partition and injustice to Catholics gave birth to the IRA, etc., so Northern Ireland must be absorbed in an all-Ireland state if we are to have peace.
But problems are not usually solved elsewhere by dissolving states and abolishing identities, because that simply leads to further violence. In the case of Ireland even more power would be allocated to those who carried out atrocities such as that described below.
The discovery of the remains of Jean McConville reveals once more the brutality of the IRA which, even now, refused to disarm. No words can describe the barbarity of those who abducted this poor woman from her humble home and children, transported her to a lonely beach in Co Louth, then slaughtered her with a bullet to the back of the head.
Those who carried out this atrocity were very brave men indeed, when one considers the terrible threat of a vulnerable five-foot-tall women to their miserable existence.
Imagine the terror experienced by Mrs McConville on that night! Can we even begin to contemplate her thoughts on that nightmare two-hour journey from Belfast to her final destination? They would have centred on her children, from whom she had been dragged to a waiting vehicle, and with each passing mile her fear would have increased. Her mind would soon have descended into an inferno of fear, but any appeal to her callous captors would have been worse than useless.
Most people at this stage will wonder why it happened. What crime had she committed to warrant such a fate at the hand of an organisation that operated on her doorstep, and the members of which would probably have been known to her by sight?
Her crime alas, was her Protestant background, and the fact that she showed compassion to a dying man who happened to be a soldier, sealed her fate.
Those who murdered her receive their mandate from the blood sacrifice of 1916. Pearse and the other mythical leaders told them that it is right to kill, and killing is justified by historic events, and should continue until Ireland is free.
This message has been passed on to every generation in order to perpetuate the killing, and Jean McConville is one of its victims.
It is time for the civilised majority to assert itself. No one should have any truck with terrorists of any persuasion while they remain armed and intent on achieving their objectives at the expense of ordinary people.
Apologists for terror should be given short shrift by the media, even if some of them are in powerful positions in government. Is it unreasonable to expect this in the light of such an atrocity? - Yours, etc.,
SEÁN KEARNEY, Belfast 15