Letter of the day: John Finucane sides with political wing of the IRA despite having lost his father to sectarian violence

AS a member of the Protestant community and someone who lost a cousin during the Troubles, I found the article from the new Lord Mayor of Belfast, John Finucane (News, May 23), where he states a willingness to engage with the unionist people, the Orange Order and members of the royal family, very plausible and, if sincere, very welcome.

Mr Finucane has personally been affected by the Troubles, having seen his own father murdered. He knows only to well what it's like to grow up without a father's presence in his life and the pain and suffering that causes. He has seen his mother left a widow and lives in the knowledge that his own children will never know their grandfather.

So, I don't need to preach to Mr Finucane regarding the suffering of victims from the Troubles, as he himself has experienced it first-hand.

However, what does perplex me is what was it that Mr Finucane found so appealing in the political wing of the IRA, alongside members of the IRA, many of whom brought the same murder and devastation to other families as that which his own family experienced?

Mr Finucane is unapologetic about being a republican and that is his right. He could easily have pursued his political aspirations through the more moderate SDLP, Alliance, or as an independent.

Through your paper, I would like to ask him why he felt, as a victim of the Troubles himself, more comfortable among the victim-makers?

LESLIE MARSHALL