Sir, – Over recent weeks I have been disturbed by media reporting regarding the possible return of Lisa Smith to Ireland. Regularly she is referred to on the airwaves, including numerous broadcasts on RTÉ, as “Lisa”. I wonder if her name was John Smith and he was an Isis sympathiser, would he be referred to as “John”?
Ms Smith is unapologetic and she clearly thinks that the world of Isis is a good thing. She seems to ignore the medieval, murderous barbarity that tends to exist in an Isis caliphate.
It seems strange that we are bending over backwards to bring her back to Ireland when we don’t have to. From my soundings, I believe that a significant proportion of people living here would prefer if she stayed away and got on with her chosen life abroad. The Irish Muslim Peace and Integration Council don’t seem to want her here. Yet virtually all the public representatives and other individuals who offer opinions on radio and TV, etc, seem to think otherwise. Why is this so? Is it because they are afraid to be honest, or is it too easy to sound like a soft and concerned representative?
I think a number of people have been blinded by Ms Smith’s previous work with the Air Corps and the fact that she is female.
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They forget that she has been radicalised, and furthermore they choose to ignore the numerous atrocities that Isis has committed over the last number of years.
Isis simply represents a brand of evil that is hard to comprehend. We should keep that in mind while discussing the return of “Lisa”. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN CULLEN,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 16.