Sir, – As a relative of an RIC officer, I have to respond to the irredentism and harshness of Dr Gordon Kennedy (August 5th). The RIC membership was overwhelmingly Irish Catholic, and the force provided an opportunity for social elevation that was denied many in the subsequent Free State of Cosgrave or De Valera.
As a child my granduncle saw his family threatened with eviction from the Ponsoby estate in Youghal in 1888, yet he joined the RIC as an adult – serving with distinction and honour, and settling peacefully in Dingle as a publican after the force’s disbandment. His career choice wasn’t seen as turncoatism, it was seen as an achievement. Can people like Dr Kennedy really wipe away the decent reality of these men’s lives and claim what came after was any better for ordinary people in this country? The first item on the agenda for armchair republicans once they have to put their policies into practice is compromise. We see it now with Sinn Féin and the policing commission.
These men who served in the RIC had the courage to realise that life is indeed about compromise – without republican posturing. – Yours, etc,