Sir, – Vincent Browne (Opinion, December 4th) and Padraig Yeates (December 9th) are both correct when they agree that it has been the political culture of Murphy rather than Larkin that has dominated Ireland since the 26-county Civil War.
However, it is necessary to correct the assumption implicit in their analyses that this was due to Murphy’s victory in the actual Dublin Lockout. In fact, though his alliance could claim to have won, their achievement was like that of Pyrrhus when he defeated the Romans: a victory that cost almost as much as a defeat.
This was shown when, two years later, Murphy urged the Dublin Chamber of Commerce to finish the job and his peers didn’t want to know.
What prevented the workers from doing as the Romans did to Pyrrhus in the end was due to the over-cautious strategy of their leaders after 1916. It would seem as if the present generation of their leaders has still to learn that lesson. – Yours, etc,
DR O’CONNOR LYSAGHT,
Killester Avenue,
Dublin 5.