Diversionary tactics of McGuinness’s critics

IT SEEMS from the letters of Eamon Reilly and Brendan Cafferty (March 19) there’s a new policy that “if you can’t stop the message getting out, try to undermine it by attacking the messenger”.

Such seemed to be the case in relation to the recent calls for Cardinal Brady to resign and in particular in relation to one such call made by the North’s Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness.

That these two correspondents would try to divert attention from the real issue by focusing on Mr McGuinness’s past shows how far out of touch they are in relation to public opinion on this matter. It was so similar to Msgr Maurice Dooley’s recent comments that abuse has been around for hundreds of years in families and so the church shouldn’t be singled out.

Mr McGuinness has never hidden his past but, like most other people in the North, he has moved on and people there have consistently endorsed his leadership at the polls and maybe in the not too distant future they will endorse him as their First Minister.

Perhaps the two self-righteous gentlemen should be reminded that Fr Brendan Smyth’s campaign of abuse and rape of children didn’t recognise any border and that the Deputy First Minister has a role and duty to uphold here by speaking out.

If the Deputy First Minister is guilty of anything here, it is of offering leadership to those who placed their trust in him by electing him to office.

Cllr Kieran McCarthy

Pebble Beach

Rushbrooke

Cobh

Co Cork