Sir, - In response to W.G.A. Scott, (December 23rd), I believe that the most fitting person to unveil the sculpture to the victims of drug abuse in Dublin's north-east inner city was indeed President McAleese.
It seemed to me, at the time, that the President of Ireland, the highest personage of the State, should be the one to honour the memory of those whom many perceive to be the lowliest, and certainly the most neglected, of our citizens.
Mr Scott appears to criminalise all whom the memorial represents, yet its very location symbolises the community's reclaiming of the streets from the criminal heroin dealers. It was here until quite recently that heroin was sold openly on the public footpaths.
While the image of drug abusers, for some people, may well be that outlined by Mr Scott, they are to me, for the most part, the innocent victims not just of the scourge of heroin, but of the inequality of our society.
Many of those who succumbed to heroin in Dublin's north-east inner city were initiated into its use when they were as young as 14 or 15 years old and simply vulnerable children.
To describe them as "architects of their own downfall" merely heaps injustice on injustice. By agreeing to unveil the memorial at Buckingham Street, President McAleese showed that she subscribes to Christ's Gospel (Matt. XXV): "As long as you did it to these my least brethren, you did it to me."
I thank her for so doing. - Yours, etc.,
Tony Gregory, TD, Dail Eireann, Dublin 2.