Sir, - After the IRA atrocity at Warrington, and after the breakdown of the first IRA ceasefire at Canary Wharf, the good people of the Republic of Ireland, especially in Dublin, saw it appropriate to express their solidarity with the victims of these acts. Books of condolences were opened throughout the land, and public demonstrations were organised against IRA violence. Last autumn, books of condolences were opened in memory of the late Princess of Wales.
As someone from Belfast, living in Dublin now for over 20 years, I feel sad that these same people do not feel the need to express their condolences and sympathy to the victims of loyalist murder gangs. No books of condolences for Sean Browne or Terry Enright, no public demonstrations of sympathy for John McColgan and all the other victims over the past six months. But then again, the deaths of Northern Catholics do not bring embarassment on the name of the Southern Irish. - Yours, etc.,
Liam McGuigan,
Tallaght, Dublin 24.