Sir, - At the heart of Muiris Mac Conghail's disapproval of Patrick Magee's RTE interview (September 6th) is his refusal to accept that a war situation, however loosely described, has existed within and vis-a-vis Northern Ireland, for the past 30 years. That this has been the case is now accepted by all the parties to the peace process, including the British and Irish Governments, as the Good Friday Agreement and all its outworkings show.
To accept this does not mean that one has to approve, or indeed disapprove, of the many violent acts committed by all sides of the conflict. It does mean that one cannot be selective in one's moral judgment of the individual acts of any of the parties to the conflict.
That is what Muiris Mac Gonghail is seeking to do. He refers to Patrick Magee "having paid his debt to society" through his time in prison. He does not tell us if or how the many violent acts of the British Government and its agents in Ireland should be expiated. - Yours, etc.,
Patrick Fahy, John Street, Omagh, Co Tyrone.