Madam, - I feel I must take issue with Kevin Myers's Irishman's Diary of September 16th, which vilified Michael Collins as "an utter failure: a homicidal, dysfunctional buffoon who corrupted an entire generation of young men". I find this dismissal of one of our great heroes and patriots to be offensive and insulting.
Does Mr Myers not realise that in contemporary Ireland, an entire generation of young men (and women) are so profoundly disgusted with the corrupt and morally bankrupt institutions of this State that they look back to the idealistic values and vision of the founding fathers of the State to find some sense of pride in their identity?
Does he not realise that to trample on the cultural memory of a nation in the form of its enduring folk heroes is to to deeply insult his fellow Irish citizens?.
The period between 1919 and 1921 saw a legitimate war of independence to free this nation of an occupying power. Michael Collins, along with others, made it possible for us to be independent, sovereign, and free. No amount of revisionism can change that simple fact.
I find it strange that while Mr Myers expends a great deal of energy writing articles about the necessity to remember those who died in the Great War with respect and ceremonial commemoration, he continually insults those who died in the name of Irish independence. He seems not to understand that for a great many Irish people, pride in one's history does not mean support for terrorist organisations in the Ireland of today.
For a journalist of Kevin Myers's stature and talent not to respect the memory of all who have died, not to respect the traditions of a majority of one's fellow countrymen and women, is to diminish his message and undermine his own contributions to An Irishman's Diary. - Yours, etc.,
CHRISTINE O'DOWD-SMYTH,
John's Hill,
Waterford.