Sir, - Along with sense, much nonsense has been written under the above heading. The aim of the 1916 leaders, as of the subsequent War of Independence, was to establish an Irish nation-state. The nation-states of Europe had not been established by democratic or peaceful means. Why should the Irish case be different?
To assert simply that it "ought to have been" is as sensible as saying that England or the Netherlands "ought not" to have been created. - Yours, etc.,
Desmond Fennell, The Hardwick, Brunswick Street, Dublin 2.