Sir: Alan Watkins in his review of Conor Cruise O'Brien's
Herod: Reflections on Political Violence says that 'whereas the Welsh go in for a sort of maudlin sentimental boastfulness, the Irish like the Sicilians have a disposition to kill one another. This is an unfortunate fact verifiable both from the study of history and the observation of the present state of affairs.'
He also says in the same review that the Irish State was established by thugs and murderers. I think it is a fact worth noting that since the Irish State has been established fifty-six years ago, the Irish, under their own system of government, have shown no particular disposition to kill one another. On the other hand in that part of, the island which is joined to the United Kingdom there has been a consistent record of civil strife. A conclusion that could be drawn from these facts is that the killing in Northern Ireland is in some way associated with the British presence there. Certainly in the Republic of Ireland there has been no instance of the army firing on and killing thirteen uninvolved civilians as has happened in Northern Ireland. The Irish were quite prepared to settle the situation in 1912 by constitutional means but it was a group of British Tories led by Lord David Cecil and F. E. Smith who introduced violence into the situation by their refusal to accept the Home Rule Bill and their use of what Winston Churchill called 'a treasonable campaign' to resist it.
As for Conor Cruise O'Brien (whose book Alan Watkins reviews) and his devotion to liberty. When Dr O'Brien was Minister for Posts and Telegraphs in Dublin his Department took away my telephone because I had criticised the service on the telephone. I had to teach him manners and the right of free speech by taking the matter to the Irish High Court who restored my 'phone within half an hour.
May I add, Mr Watkins is somewhat out of touch with current affairs in Northern Ireland. I am not at all sure that the majority of Protestants at present do welcome the link with Britain. I had some positive evi dence recently on a visit to the North that a strong section of working-class Protestants there regard the British link with as much loathing as the Catholics do.
Ulick O'Connor 15, Fairfield Park, Rathgar.
Dublin
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