Sir, – It is deeply ironic that Youth Defence has decided it is at the vanguard of free speech in Ireland (July 2nd).
Its suggestion that critics of its misleading and disingenuous poster campaign are illiberal proponents of censorship is obviously ludicrous, but would carry more weight if Youth Defence did not have such a public record of opposing free speech, most obviously in the campaign against a constitutional right to information in 1992.
Futhermore, its predecessors in the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child were sufficiently opposed to free speech to pursue Irish students (among them, Ivana Bacik) through the courts for many years after they exercised their right to free speech by publishing information during the 1980s.
I thank Senator Bacik for raising an issue that many people feel strongly about.
I expect I am not alone in never having contacted Senator Paul Bradford of Fine Gael about anything and would gently suggest to him that his empty email box is not indicative of popular attitudes on any subject. – Yours, etc,