Madam, - I'm afraid Philip Donnelly's letter of March 29th ("No Excuses for Terrorism") has got me mad enough to put finger to keyboard.
How would Mr Donnelly feel if his public transport system forced him to sit at the back of the bus; if he was not allowed to own a house (or a dog) because of his colour/religion/race? Would having to carry an ID card and being subject to military roadblocks and checkpoints on his way to work raise his temperature?
How about having his front door smashed in and his house searched and ransacked by soldiers while he watched at gunpoint? Would he be content to let his house be demolished so that the government could build a golf course in its place?
Like Mr Donnelly, I cannot condone terrorism - all it succeeds in doing is justifying further oppression. Things would be a lot better if there were more Gandhis in this world and a lot fewer al-Zarqawis. But there are peoples in this world - in Iraq, in Palestine, in Myanmar, for instance - suffering appalling injustices.
How can Mr Donnelly, or I, or anyone who has not experienced such oppression condemn the actions of desperate people? - Yours, etc,
JACK DOWNEY, Old Cratloe Road, Caherdavin, Co Limerick.