Madam, - Kevin Myers rightly pays tribute (March 25th) to the history of Dublin Fire Brigade written by the former firefighter and member of SIPTU's national executive Tom Geraghty,together with Trevor Whitehead. He is also justifiably proud of the evidence presented of the outstanding physical courage shown by his own great-uncle, Captain John Myers, the Brigade's Chief Officer from 1918 to 1927.
But he makes no mention of his great-uncle's further display of considerable moral courage on the occasion of the pogrom unleashed on Cork City by Britain's RIC Auxiliaries in December 1920. Geraghty and Whitehead quote the Freeman's Journal as pointing out how the heart of the centre of Cork had been burnt out: "Damage estimated at up to two and a half million pounds has been inflicted on the inhabitants. The destruction caused by this deliberate act of incendiarism by the military mirrors the German burning of Louvain".
As Franco would unleash the Nazi Condor Legion to bomb Guernica in April 1937 and then go on to claim that the Basques had done it to themselves, Britain's Chief Secretary for Ireland, Sir Hamar Greenwood, had claimed that it was in fact the citizens of Cork who had gone around blowing up and destroying their own city.
John Myers had every reason to feel particularly outraged. Just as Dublin Fire Brigade rushed north during the 1941 Nazi blitz of Belfast, Captain Myers had led it south a generation earlier to assist Cork. They found themselves immediately placed under arrest by the RIC Auxiliaries and their fire equipment impounded.
When eventually released, they spent a further two days helping their Cork colleagues continue fighting the British fires. John Myers pointed out that it was perfectly obvious that most of the fires had been set with incendiary bombs and by professionals. Geraghty and Whitehead further quote him as saying: "The only way to bring home to the people of Dublin the extent of the destruction is to say that Cork is even worse than O'Connell Street and Abbey Street were after Easter week 1916".- Yours etc.,
MANUS O'RIORDAN, Head of Research, SIPTU, Liberty Hall, Dublin 1.
Madam, - Recently, Kevin Myers noted the lack of famous people who share his surname. He lamented, by way of example, that no Myers is included in The Guinness Book of Hit Singles.
I don't know how much of a spaced-out groover Kevin is, but, in fact, at least one Myers played a central role in pop history.
The writers of Bill Haley's hit, Rock Around the Clock, were Max Freedman and the late James Myers.
The latter, who sometimes wrote under the name Jimmy de Knight, once estimated that the song had earned him $10 million in royalties. He died not too long ago. Perhaps Kevin should do some urgent genealogical research. - Yours, etc.,
JOSEPH O'CONNOR, Pilot View, Dalkey, Dublin.
Madam, - Kevin Myers writes (March 25th): "The projectionist in the Volta was of course James Joyce."
This is incorrect. Joyce was, in fact, the originator of the whole idea, part owner and general manager of the Volta, Dublin's first cinema, which opened its doors in 1909.
The projectionist was in fact the late Lenny Collinge. I invited him because of the connection to a banquet in Trinity as part of the 1977 International James Joyce Symposium.
He was then very elderly but remembered Joyce clearly and affectionately, telling me in response to a question about the Volta: "Ah, poor Mr Joyce. He was a gentleman. He wasn't able for them Italian electricians."
It seems that Joyce's fellow investors in Trieste insisted on Italian workmen being employed in order to keep an eye on the situation. - Yours etc.,
DAVID NORRIS, Seanad Éireann.
Madam, - Good news for the Myers dynasty. Kevin is not correct when he states that no Myers ever won an All-Ireland Medal. Bill Myers won medals with Kerry in 1937, '39 '40 and '41. Should do your research better, Kevin. I am a Dub and even I know that. - Yours, etc.,
D. O'CONNOR, Cairnhill, Foxrock, Dublin 18.