Sir, - I have just heard of the murder of Veronica Guerin and I am speechless with rage.
There will be many eulogies, all richly deserved. There will be expressions of outrage. Editorials will call for a return to law and order. Politicians will posture. And then what? Then we go back to the way things were.
We accept violence and murder provided they're wearing the colours of 1916. We pretend that there is no connection between Sinn Fein, the IRA and the dealers of death by drugs, when we know that they share a chain of command. By our silence, we permit the godfathers of crime to indoctrinate some of our children and kill others by giving them lethal drugs. And, of course, we stand by while they murder a journalist who tries to enlighten us. We even call these people godfathers when we should call them what they are: sewer scum.
It is little consolation to the beloved family of Ms Guerin that we share their pain and wish we could do something positive to help them. We must do something. We must drop this awful double standard we have embraced with such devotion. So what, if our grandfathers were in the General Post Office in 1916. That was then; this is now. We must stop wallowing in our so called patriotism and muster our pride in ourselves and our country. We must insist that all our countrymen obey our laws or suffer the consequences. We have laws, good laws, but they are simply not enforced against all our people, equally.
There must be, somewhere, a leader who is not afraid to undertake the reforms needed to give us back our pride and I pray that this horrible murder will bring that person forward and that we shall all unite to rid ourselves of this evil. - Yours, etc.,
827 Sea Pines Lane,
Las Vegas NV 89107.