Sir, - I write in answer to Sinn Fein joining in the calls for the release, under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, of those responsible for the brutal killing of the heroic Det Garda Jerry McCabe and for the serious injuries inflicted on his brave colleague, Det Garda Ben O'Sullivan.
Sinn Fein representatives were quick to deny any Republican involvement in the atrocity but had to eat their words when some excellent Garda work proved the identities of those involved. Republican sources, normally so outspoken with their views, disappeared into the mist to allow the anger of the Irish people to subside.
Those who have succeeded in conning our Government and their British counterparts into releasing all "political prisoners", without handing over one bullet or one ounce of explosives, presumably felt the Irish people would have forgotten so quickly.
In their pre-Christmas press briefings calling for the release of the callous killers from their Castlerea holiday camp, they offered disgusting words of sympathy for the feelings of the McCabe family. How low can these people stoop?
Sinn Fein compares the killing of RUC personnel to that of gardai. Mr Adams and company must remember that when RUC personnel were being savagely gunned down, those responsible were calling them legitimate targets. They termed them part of the "British Establishment", with which they claimed to be at war.
Not for one moment agreeing with the above claims, I ask: can Mr Adams, McGuinness or any Sinn Fein person explain in clear details who exactly the Republican movement was "at war" with when the Adare attack was carried out?
The Irish people in numerous polls have shown quite clearly where they stand regarding Jerry McCabe's killers. Our Government is elected to carry out the wishes of the electorate; let it be so.
I pray that we shall forever have brave men and women to serve in An Garda Siochana against those whose real purpose is to overthrow our democratically elected Government. - Yours, etc.,
Tony Fagan, (Retired Detective Garda), Bellefield Road, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford.