Sir Like the Irish people, we were shocked and saddened by the callous murders of Veronica Guerin and Garda McCabe. However, Kevin Myers (July 4th) is wrong when he says that the Irish Council for Civil Liberties is alone is warning the Irish Government not to pass panic measures in the understandable wave of reaction to these horrific events.
British Irish Rights Watch has also recently made representations to the Dail, urging it to think long and hard before introducing seven day detention. Experience of similar laws in Northern Ireland has shown that the entirely predictable result of any such move will be an increase in serious miscarriages of justice.
Kevin Myers's attack on ICCL and the Committee on the Administration of Justice in Belfast, who have a long and honourable record of defending the human rights of all communities in very difficult circumstances, is regrettable. It was in marked contrast to Mary Holland's balanced and thoughtful piece in the same issue.
It is an unpalatable fact of life that when we are outraged, we do not always act reasonably and sometimes we act wrongly. For example, newspaper reports that one of those arrested in connection with Garda McCabe's murder was so badly injured, apparently in custody, that he was unable to stand up when he appeared in court are deeply disturbing.
It does a disservice to the memory of campaigning journalists and policemen killed in the performance of their duties to overreact by introducing measures which will seriously damage the system of justice both have sought to uphold. - Yours, etc.,
Director.
British Irish Rights Watch. Cursitor Street,
London EC4A.