Madam, - After a failed attempt to throw off the yoke of Chinese rule in 1959 and the subsequent brutal repression of its people and culture, a desperate Tibet presented its plight to the United Nations General Assembly. The then Irish minister for external affairs, Frank Aiken, was one of the few to stand at the ancient Buddhist nation's side: "Looking around this assembly, and looking at my own delegation, I think how many benches would be empty in this hall if it had always been agreed that when a small nation or a small people feel in the grip of a major power no one could ever raise their voice". In light of the latest bloody crackdown in Tibet, Ireland and the EU should raise their voices as Aiken did, and boycott the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games. - Yours, etc,
PHILIP NEWSOME, Ranelagh, Dublin 6.
Madam, - What "game" is Dick Roche playing when he says that it's best not to talk about Tibetan human rights while in China? As minister of State, representing the State while abroad, he declares on this issue: "I think the appropriate way is to do it at home". Isn't this the same game the Chinese are playing? Can it be made an Olympic sport so we can see clearly who excels at giving human rights the run around? - Yours, etc,
BRENDAN DOLBY MCCANN, Sandymount, Dublin 4.