Sir, - In his extremely long letter of January 20th, Danny Morrison states that he knew Sean O'Callaghan when O'Callaghan was on the ard comhairle of Sinn Fein. He also acknowledges that O'Callaghan has been an IRA member.
As Sinn Fein spokespersons have assured us that there is no joint membership of their party and the IRA, O'Callaghan presumably left one before he joined the other. I'm sure a Sinn Fein spokesperson will be willing and able to tell us when O'Callaghan joined and quit that party, but Sinn Fein can't be expected to have access to the IRA's membership lists, and therefore won't be able to demonstrate the non overlapping nature of O'Callaghan's, republican involvement. This is entirely reasonable.
However, I fear that O'Callaghan's sequential membership of the Sinn Fein and the IRA (or the IRA and Sinn Fein) may be used against Sinn Fein by the nasty people who would like to demonise it by blaming it for things. Such demonisation is very hurtful for Sinn Fein, as recent indignant letters from several of its members have shown. Sinn Fein clearly wishes to have the cake of democracy while the IRA eats it; let's treat that wish in a non demonising way and, in the words of Sinn Fein sadly misunderstood leaders, try to "move the situation forward". - Yours, etc.,
62 Broadford Lawn,
Ballinteer, Dublin 16.