Sir, - "Sinn Fein wil not be scapegoated" - Gerry Adams, on RTE, nine o'clock news, June 17th, 1996.
The gentle reassurances of Mr Adams serve to make one wince: Sinn Fein is not the IRA; anyone who suggests otherwise is involved in the "politics of condemnation".
Sinn Fein is not the IRA: this type of message is akin to the International tobacco companies driving home their message that smoking has never been scientifically proven to cause cancer.
The smoothness of Mr Adams's delivery, his thoroughly benign appearance, his realisation that it is possible to beguile and deceive with incredible ease through astute usage of the international and national news. Current affairs media can lead only to one conclusion - that the Broadcasting Act ban on Sinn Fein should be immediately reinstated.
As a propagandist, Mr Adams leaves Goebbels in the ha'penny place; with a CNN (or indeed an RTE) team in the palm of his left hand and murderous mayhem in the palm of his right.
Bring back the ban! Yours, etc.,
Mount Pleasant Av. Upper, Ranelagh,
Dublin 6.