Hard questions were not answered

IN his letter on the IRA, headlined ‘Why salute one generation of rebels and condemn another’ (Irish Examiner, May 29), John Fitzgerald offered us a sanitised and airbrushed version of history.

He made excuses for the 30-year slaughter while at the same time telling us he doesn’t condone violence in any form.

Nowhere did he answer the following hard questions about the so-called ‘freedom fighters:

1. Why did they kill a young mother of 10 children, blacken her name and hide her body?

2. Why did they rob banks and post offices in the South and kill gardaí?

3. Why did they blow up innocent people in pubs, shopping centres and on streets?

However, Mr Fitzgerald is right about one thing — we shouldn’t celebrate one set of terrorists and blame the others. We shouldn’t celebrate murder in ballads. So-called revisionists come in for a lot of criticism. Maybe a revisionist is someone who doesn’t swallow all the rubbish he or she has been brainwashed with since birth.

Edward O’Raghallaigh

Fiodhanatha

Muilleancearr

Co na hIarmhí