Sir, - I refer to J. P. Sykes' letter of September 7th, to yours' editorial of that date and to your trenchant, apposite defence on the Morning Ireland radio programme of the decision to publish the murder photograph of Michael Brady on your front page (about which I telephoned your office to express my wholehearted agreement).
I am fully conscious of how distasteful such a picture can be to those removed from the scene, but in my view it is no more than an overdue reminder of the finality of death and a graphic depiction of what is happening in our small country today, where murder is in danger of becoming worth only a shoulder shrug of Mafia nonchalance. (If J. P. Sykes had been listening to Mr Brady's mother in law being interviewed on the Pat Kenny radio show of September 9th, would his/her views on the distress caused to immediate relatives remain unchanged?)
In your editorial, you so rightly say: "There is still no coherent strategy on crime. . . no commitment to the root and branch reform of the criminal justice system needed to produce effective policing. (I note that the "Soldiers of Destiny" are already climbing on the electoral bandwagon to promise us once again the sun, moon and stars on law reform. What hypocrisy from the party which presided over such a lowering of standards in public life during the last twenty years!)
One can legitimately ask how in heaven's name we can expect efficiency from a Garda force as it exists, split in two by internal wrangling. No wonder one hears more and more the terms "inefficiency" and "indifference" intruding wherever discussion on garda performance arises. Even the Gardai themselves must be conscious of the level of public unease and disillusionment at this stage. Their frequent demand for additional resources has a hollow ring to it, in such circumstances.
Nor does the periodic issue of Garda statistics, showing that crime levels have fallen over a set period, provide any crumb of comfort. Many murders remain unsolved, while action on fraud seems dilatory and drug barons (what a misnomer!) cock a snoot at the law.
And whither the DPP (arguably the most secret and most powerful organisation in the country)? What is one to make of the recent disclosure that the office does not consider almost 50 per cent of the files submitted by the Gardai as worth pursuing?
Surely there is a crying need for the "root and branch" reform of the criminal justice system you advocate in your editorial of September 7th. For what my views are worth, I have made them known to the Minister for Justice. - Yours, etc.,
Ballyroan Road,
Dublin 16.