Sir, - I would have thought that a journal of such pretentious esteem as The Irish Times would hardly give credence to any spoof letter purporting to come from such an exalted party as Fianna Fail, the party of reality. However, Renagh Holohan (Quidnunc, February 27th) would seem to have flung that regard out the window.
I am not for one moment casting Renagh Holohan as the fall guy for all her NUJ colleagues in The Irish Times for their excessive exuberance in Fianna Fail bashing, for to do so you lose the argument and descend to reach for a common denominator - that of personality assassin.
A newspaper should be free and fearless to present controversial issues giving a fair hearing to either side, for surely this is what democracy is all about. Nevertheless, I do consider her reference to myself and the spoof letter from the so-called "paradise" Cumann to be in bad taste, and in the present climate of tribunals more than a little insensitive.
I have not always agreed with what your journal or your contributors have had to say, or I am sure they with me, but I would always defend their right to say so. - Yours, etc., Michael J. Stokes, PC,
Willington Green, Templeogue, Dublin 6W.