Sir, - The pleas of "guilty to manslaughter" have been accepted and cannot be changed. So there is little point in arguing that case. However, one must question why. Was there a deal done?
I am reluctant to criticise those who made the decision, without having the benefit of the information which was available to these people at the time. However, I find it very hard to see what could have changed so drastically the decision to charge the guilty ones with murder - a decision I am sure that was not arrived at lightly.
If the change was brought about by the reluctance of witnesses to testify due to intimidation, then we are left with the assertion that "for evil to flourish, it is only necessary for the good to remain silent".
I would ask what the reaction would be if a decision was made to arm all gardai - I would say there would be uproar. Yet the same public displays a certain ambivalence to armed criminals under the guise of republicanism marauding our countryside. They turn a blind eye to their activities, with the occasional outcry when these people murder gardai - some of whom were not even armed. But the public's horror and revulsion fades all too quickly. Our usual outspoken republican activists leave a deafening silence in their wake as they go to ground and wait for the dust to settle.
Following the murderous attack in Adare, the Republican spokesmen denied the Garda's immediate assertion as to the identity of the perpetrators, but like the rats they are they quickly disappeared into their holes as committed gardai quickly rounded up these so-called republican heroes who now admit to their evil deed. Shooting brave gardai in the back displays the true side of these people.
Again after the cowardly bombing in Omagh (more "republican heroes") their spokesmen quickly dropped back into their dens to once more "let the dust settle. We see evidence in recent days that even these heroes feel it is safe to again show their heads above ground.
After the news of the pleas being changed to manslaughter, spokesmen for the Republican masters of the guilty ones lay silent, as the public took to the airwaves to express their outrage and revulsion at what had taken place. However, as soon as ambivalence again sets in you will see the "Armalite and ballot box" brigade return to their venomous outpourings.
I say openly to the "silent majority" in this great country of ours to stand up and give your 100 per cent committed support to the brave members of An Garda Siochana whom you expect to make your country a safe place for your family members to grow up in. You cannot do this while tacitly accepting so-called "Republican activities" in your midst.
It is time for each one of our decent, law-abiding citizens to "out" these evil criminals, because that is their true title. They can only continue with their evil deeds through the benign eye of good people with a mistaken view of Republicanism.
Stand up and be counted. Or do you expect gardai to act like the subversives and go out "knee-capping" or carrying out "punishment beatings" when courts fail to convict due to witnesses being intimidated?
Remember: the Special Criminal Court was set up to counter intimidation of jurors. There is now nowhere else to push the responsibility. The ball is now in your court. - Yours, etc., Tony Fagan
(Det Garda, retd), Bellefield Road, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford.