Dear Editor, Thank you so much for your extended coverage of the life and passing of the heroic Fr Alec Reid. A man given to humility and quiet efforts, he was nevertheless – as Fr Gerry Reynolds described him – “a great man”. For all that, however, The Irish Catholic was the one publication to fully reflect on the historic legacy of the man who sowed the seed for peace in Northern Ireland. Despite such a worthy ‘claim to fame’, I was saddened by the standard obits offered by other press outlets, and especially annoyed at one daily paper which offered an entirely incorrect picture of Fr Reid. Are heroes that quickly forgotten if they wear a clerical collar? Well done to The Irish Catholic in bucking the trend.
Setting aside any reluctance Fr Reid might be expected to demonstrate at the suggestion, perhaps a statue at Clonard, or some notable memorial is now warranted to remind those future generations, whom we hope continue to enjoy peace, of who the real Peacemaker was.
Yours etc.,
Paddy Noonan,
Dundalk,
Co. Louth.
