Brendan Ryan (Labour)

Gandhi was a man who brought an empire to its knees on the sacred principle that he would not take up arms against anybody. My two greatest heroes are Gandhi and Martin Luther King. Both achieved enormous change in their societies but said it was not morally justifiable to kill one person to achieve that change. The idea that a man who tells lies about his past and who leads a party that was directly or indirectly responsible for the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of people could even be mentioned in the same sentence as Gandhi, let alone afforded the political adulation that was tagged on at the end of the piece, is among the most appalling editorial decisions I have seen from RTE for a long time. It deserves to be dealt with with the utmost firmness by anyone in RTE who believes it needs to be balanced in reporting the news.

I live about 160 miles from Dublin so I cannot add anything to the discussion on the murder of Joseph Rafferty except that it is wonderful to see people taking their courage in their hands in the face of disgusting intimidation and saying they will no longer be silenced. I met the McCartney sisters and they are wonderfully impressive people. I have never met Joseph Rafferty's family but they are brave people. The only thing the Oireachtas and the Government can do is promise unqualified solidarity and support.