Sir, - The people of this island voted for peace. Those who represented the complicated shades of opinion - Hume, Trimble, Alderdice, Adams and others - came into the light and showed us their faces and, although we did not always agree with their points of view, they argued them with us. They looked us in the face and verbally fought their corners. There was anxiety, fear, distrust, discomfort as the first tentative steps towards a new Ireland were taken. The one, overriding factor uniting the people was that they fervently desired peace - an end to the murder and bombing - above all else.
The men (and women?) with no faces, however, decided that they knew better than the people themselves what was good for this country. Come out into the light, let us see your faces. Don't hide behind words like "Real", "Continuity", "Liberation Army". Stand before the people so grievously damaged in Omagh and let them see you. Explain to them, and to us all, why it was necessary for their mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, babies (born and waiting to be born) to be blown to oblivion in pursuit of your vision of Ireland. I'm sure when they see you, and you put your arguments to them, they will understand the great deed you have done for Omagh, for Northern Ireland, for all of Ireland. Let us see you, our great Irish heroes. - Yours, etc., Bernie Cregan,
Offington Drive,
Dublin 13.