Madam, - I would agree with Dermot Meleady (September 24th) that the so-called "War of Independence" was not a battle for democracy.
Furthermore I would argue that neither was it a war of independence.
The conflict from 1916 to 1921 was simply a war to force unionists into all-Ireland home rule, or, more precisely, a war to force Britain to force unionists into all-Ireland home rule.
We nationalists lost that war and finally settled, in 1921, for a deal that had been on the table for at least the previous 10 years.
So, in the words of the song The Green Fields of France "The sorrow, the suffering, the glory, the pain, the killing and dying were all done in vain".
Sadly, the terrible legacy of blood sacrifice, armed struggle, murder and maiming unleashed by our nationalist icons during those years remains with us to this day.
As the Willie McBride of the song might say, "It all happened again and again and again and again". - Yours, etc.,
DICK KEANE, Silchester Park, Glenageary, Co Dublin.