Madam, - Republican spin and downright lies have succeeded in making even such political sophisticates as Vincent Browne forget how terrible was the recent IRA campaign of violence. In his column of December 1st, he refers with staggering understatement to "the murder of over 1,000 people by the IRA".
According to the universally accepted figures given in Lost Lives - that harrowing litany of all those who died as a result of the Northern Ireland Troubles - the correct figure is almost twice that. Between 1969 and 2004, the Provisional IRA was responsible for 1,782 deaths; of these, 36 per cent were civilians and another 9 per cent were members of the IRA or other republican organisations. The IRA didn't much bother with loyalists, who made up only 1.6 per cent of its total number of victims.
Although the ubiquity of paramilitarists' commemorations of their dead might suggest otherwise, paramilitary organisations got off extremely lightly. Republican paramilitaries killed 2,157 and lost 397 and loyalists killed 1,100 and lost 171. The British army killed 301 and lost 503, local defence forces (Ulster Defence Regiment/Royal Irish Regiment) killed eight and lost 206 and the Royal Ulster Constabulary killed 50 and lost 303. In the Republic, the Irish Army and police killed five and lost seven to republicans; police in England killed one and lost five.
We owe it to the memory of the dead at least to make the effort to get the figures right. Yours etc.,
RUTH DUDLEY EDWARDS,
London W5.