Wrong assumption

Peter Mulvany (Letters, Aug 28) in response to my letter in which I opposed the retired Garda commemoration for members of the Royal Irish Constabulary, said “there are many Irish citizens who have a British dimension to their Irishness and vice versa; and no doubt there are members of the Garda who may have family links with the former RIC who feel it is their duty to remember the fallen”.

I am an Irish citizen, with not just a British dimension to my Irishness, but also a Protestant dimension to my faith.

This does not mean that I feel duty-bound to condone, justify, defend or associate myself with the brutality of the RIC or their colleagues in the Black and Tans and Auxiliaries. I believe that the sole criteria to influence our morality, ethics, values and standards, is right and wrong, not political, religious or family associations.