One size doesn’t fit all in confession box
Sir — Your choice of Letter of the Week ‘God’s mercy is unlimited’ (Sunday Independent, November 6) is mystifying. I, too, have read Jody Corcoran’s description of his confessional in Rome.
All we know is that he is in a second relationship. We do not know any details which were outlined to the priest in the confessional. Therefore, how can anyone presume what the priest did was wrong?
I agree God is merciful and forgiving to penitent sinners. We know that Jesus forgave Mary Magdalene for adultery, but He also told her to sin no more.
Not all separated people in second relationships are the same, so it’s not one size fits all. Therefore, it is not for people to decide one another’s fate, but pray a solution will be found. E McCormack,
Dublin 17
Eoghan Harris and the Cork Spy Files
Sir — The attack by Eoghan Harris (Sunday Independent, November 6) on the Cork Spy Files project is unwarranted. He incorrectly suggests that we over-relied on Bureau of Military History witness statements, which are an important source on this topic, revealing in a number of instances who the perpetrators were, regardless of their well-known limitations.
We have also drawn on British government records and other records. While some police and military reports comment on the innocence or guilt of individual fatalities, these are the exception rather than the rule.
Harris criticises us for “putting the names of civilians who may not have been spies on the same list of those who were definitely spies”. In doing so, he misses the purpose of the project. It is not to declare the “guilt” of civilian suspects executed by the IRA in County Cork, but rather to identify the victims and gather all available evidence on their cases. Our research indicates some victims were innocent and some were guilty. In many cases, the evidence remains too inclusive to draw firm conclusions, but the project aims to develop a fuller picture, based on research rather than unwarranted speculation.
Finally, Harris confuses and conflates material relating to Protestants on our list.
He informs us Protestants constituted 10pc of the population in Cork city (actually, it was a bit higher), then goes on to state Protestants comprised 30pc of our database victims, thereby proving a “sectarian agenda” in the IRA campaign. Here he misdirects his readers. Our victim listing is for County Cork, not just Cork city. We established the religion for 28 civilian suspects killed by the IRA in Cork city during the War of Independence. Of those 28, six were Protestants, a little over 21pc of the total population.
This provides little evidence of a sectarian killing spree in Cork city and its suburbs. Far more significant was that 19 of the Cork city victims were ex-soldiers, all of them Catholic (except one). Should we conclude that the IRA was targeting Catholics in the city? No.
What we can conclude is that the IRA (rightly or wrongly) suspected those who formerly served in the Crown forces more than any other group, including Protestants or tramps (the latter being an insignificant category of victims).
Finally, Harris asks what ex-soldiers, Protestants or tramps knew about major IRA operations. British intelligence was not focused solely on IRA operations, but also on identifying and locating IRA members. In this area, civilian informants could be very useful. Andy Bielenberg, School of History, University College Cork
Time to use our national anthem
Sir — While it is fantastic that Ireland defeated the All Blacks, what takes the shine off it is that our rugby team still doesn’t sing our “real” national anthem. The WRU says we can’t play two anthems as there’s not enough time, yet New Zealand has time for an anthem and the haka. Ireland is being victimised. Brendan Savage, Swords, Co Dublin