Letter: Is Pat Cullen associating herself with the Sinn Fein mantra of 'no alternative' to violence?

A letter from Kenny Donaldson:

Pat Cullen has again been urged to state her position on IRA violence. The former head of the Royal College of Nursing, now Sinn Fein election candidate for Westminster, recently asserted that suffering in the Troubles 'felt the same' for both sides.

Values or ideology - What matters most? Ultimately it's a question of values for Pat Cullen - is the sanctity of human life able to be traded, to be cast aside through the use of terrorism and for the prize of so-called political change?

Pat Cullen cannot evade these issues. Due to her background, she perhaps more than most will continue to face direct challenge of these issues for the next number of weeks.

Yes it is true that a minority of Sinn Féin’s current MLA team have past associations with terrorism, through receiving criminal convictions.

Letter to the editor

The same is true in respect of their MPs and TDs and increasingly councillors - a minority remain as elected representatives who were directly involved in waging terrorism.

However, 100% stand by the Provisional IRA’s campaign of violence and the chilling words of their leader in NI - Michelle O’Neill – that there was ‘no alternative’.

Is Pat Cullen now associating herself with this mantra, that there was no alternative to the violence which saw nurses and other medical staff murdered and others psychologically tortured through having to care for the broken bodies and minds of those attacked through bomb, bullet and other methods of terror?

Being Radio Silent on these issues for the totality of this election campaign and beyond is not an option for Ms Cullen.

We do not divide PUL (Protestant, Unionist, Loyalist) and CNR (Catholic, Nationalist, Republican).

Rather we divide on the basis of our values; those who used, justify or excuse violence are them'uns and us'uns are those of us who stand consistently against such activities - this transcends denominational religion and constitutional politics.

Kenny Donaldson, SEFF director, Lisnaskea, south Fermanagh