Sir, - The Irish Times could be setting a dangerous precedent by allowing disgruntled authors to respond to their reviewers (other than in the Letters page, of course). I would not have bothered replying to Eoin Neeson's diatribe (Opinion, November 20th) against my review of his book (November 11th) but for his wild contention that "prejudice and spleen" informed my assessment.
"Spleen" - what a quaint, old-fashioned word! It reminds me of an aspect of his book, in that he quotes outdated authors such as Dorothy Macardle and P. S. O'Hegarty. Indeed, his bibliography reveals how little he is au fait with modern historians of early 20th-century Ireland.
I have absolutely no reason to feel either prejudice of spleen (save the mark!) towards either Mr Neeson or his work. I am accused of taking points out of context, of misrepresentation and distortion; doubt is even expressed about my having read the book at all.
I can assure Mr Neeson that I spent some weeks perusing it. He referred to my review as "quite a short article." I must point out that the Literary Editor of this newspaper (splenetic being that he is) permits only 600-word reviews, which explains why contexts may not be as fully set as one might wish. My apologies for any failure on my part in this regard.
I realise that Mr Neeson was writing about what he calls the "republican thrust" and I did not "rubbish" his book for not being about something else. (I hope I did not "rubbish" the work at all, for that would be to do it an injustice). I simply pointed out that he exaggerated the violent republican and plays down the peaceful constitutional strands in Irish nationalism.
I do see a contradiction in how he wrote about the role of minorities in the 1910-1923 period. He is hard on the unionists but defends the anti-Treatyites.
As to his point about my "contradicting authorities" when I stated that Griffith opposed de Valera's decision not to lead the delegation to London, what I say is in accordance with the authority on the Treaty negotiations, Lord Longford. To my knowledge, only Macardle claimed Griffith supported de Valera. I have found no other "authority" to do so.
I did not like the tone of Mr Neeson's article. I think he is old enough by now to be able to take a bit of criticism. He is certainly old enough to have learnt a little courtesy. - Yours, etc., Brian Maye,
Mountain View Road, Ranelagh, Dublin 6.