Sir, In his latest column in The Irish Times, Vincent Browne returns once again to the bosom of his Provo associate and source. Finally, Browne finds the courage to mention Danny Morrison's name. Morrison of the "ballot box and armalite" fame.
Morrison - the man who, nudge, nudge, lets Browne on to the Provo inside track. The man who for many years was IRA/Sinn Fein Director of Publicity. Morrison tells Browne, "we knew (O'Callaghan) was a tout" - that is absolute rubbish and no one, I can assure Vincent Browne, knows that better than Danny Morrison.
"He was heavily doped (with, medication) and in a bad way," says Morrison - "complete nonsense. Not one grain of truth in it."
Then the Kerryman and its editor, Gerald Colleran, are once again brandished by Browne as his own personal weapon. In my letter to The Irish Times on 11th January I pointed out clearly, clearly enough surely for Vincent Browne to understand, that any interview with the Kerryman or any other person or newspaper in the period 1988-1989 has to be seen in its historical context, that of maintaining a credible cover story which had successfully deceived the IRA over many years. Most readers of The Irish Times are quite capable of understanding this.
When I spoke, for two hours or so, to Danny Morrison in C Wing in Crumlin Road prison in January 1990, I had been in the company of approximately 90 Provisional IRA prisoners for ten months or so. In fact, I had written a Christmas play which the Provisional inmates performed on Christmas day. Perhaps known "touts" are traditionally chosen to perform this duty?
I had walked the prison yard daily for ten months in the company of the man who was the IRA OC in the jail. During that period, the IRA tried to stage a mass break out from Crumlin Road. The plan was foiled because the authorities had been forewarned. Like the then OC, Danny Morrison would have no credibility left if his fellow IRA men knew just how much he really said to a known "tout".
Vincent Browne can go on believing Danny Morrison and his Provo friends for as long as he wants. The question is why is he so eager to believe them. One thing is for sure, every word that Browne has written on this issue has been of comfort only to the Provos. Every word has exposed his soft smug southern nationalism. Every word has underlined the depth of his respect for men like Danny Morrison. Men who throughout the 1980s worked day and night to destroy democracy. Browne chooses his own associates and sources, he is welcome to them.
I will not be gratifying Browne or helping him to fill his column inches with more of the same rubbish. Since when has accepting the word of a Provo spokesperson been described as investigative journalism? - Yours, etc.,