Madam, - Sean Russell's activities were treasonous. Like a lot of other Irish nationalists, he thought that his cause was somehow on a different and superior moral plane than every other issue in the world and that any action that advanced it was justified.
Despite his lack of any democratic credentials whatsoever, he still decided he had the right to launch a bombing campaign in Britain and to advance his own interests by inviting a dangerous regime to intervene in the affairs of his country.
His ideology may not have been the same as that of the Nazis, but his methods and attitude to democracy had a lot in common with theirs.
Defenders of Russell's reputation invariably claim that his motives can be used to justify his behaviour. But even if one is prepared to accept the ludicrous assertion that persuading the British to leave the Six Counties was somehow more important than preventing the Nazis from over-running Europe, Russell's methods put him beyond redemption. - Yours, etc.,
DAVID ROLFE, Leinster Road, Rathmines, Dublin 6.