Sir, - Three years ago a family member arrived from a prestigious English university with a whole rugby team in tow. These undergraduates were extremely courteous and well behaved and as the days went by and food flew out of the fridge, conversation eventually turned to the problems of Northern Ireland.
To my amazement these fellows from a university which produces more Tory ministers than any other, knew nothing about the origin or cause of the Northern conflict. They simply thought the IRA had started it all 25 years earlier for no particular reason and unilaterally kept the fight going since.
At first I was aghast at such ignorance, but then realised that their narrow view was formed by years of biased journalism in their national newspapers.
So, it is with some alarm that in a week where the London Times is still attacking Gerry Adams and Sinn Fein that your editorial of January 7th is exactly in the same vein. Has anyone ever read an editorial in either country berating John Major for 18 months of intransigence?
The "vast majority of people of this island" that you refer to have also chosen not to appraise themselves of the full facts of the cause of the conflict in the North. But then how could they know the truth, or the breadth, or the depth of the tragedy that is Northern Ireland, if your paper chooses not to inform? - Yours, etc.
North Circular Road, Dublin 7.