Madam, - I would like to express my horror at what I experienced last Saturday afternoon in Dublin. Having been in Ireland for a fortnight with my extended family, on the last day of our vacation we got caught up in the riots on O'Connell Street. As watched the scenes later depicted in the media unfold around us, what was deeply shocking was the general feeling in the crowd - the well-dressed, ordinary man in the street giving vent to the most virulent anti-British and anti-Protestant invective. So extreme was the racist element that I was fearful for my youngest grandchild, who is of mixed race.
Perhaps I should have been less shocked, having experienced continual jibes and comments about the "Brits" throughout our stay.
I have never before experienced such an obsessive and intimidatory nationalism - and what an insult to those of us, the offspring of the Irish people who had to leave your shores in order to support family at home, the ones who have been so neglected in your booming economy.
When will people who live on your island understand that they do not have a monopoly on victimhood, that it was only the tiniest minority of the "British" who were responsible for colonisation? We left feeling despair, disgust and the deepest of shame. - Yours, etc,
Dr GERARD DONNELLAN, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England.
Madam, - Once again we are hearing, both outside and on this Letters page, spurious nonsense about the FAIR demonstration being provocative. By this astonishing logic, it is the FAIR supporters, who actually never marched, and not the actual rioting hooligans who were responsible for the destruction and fear visited on the city. Their assault was not even on the cancelled march, but on gardaí, innocent passers-by and shopkeepers. What so-called "provocation" impelled these hooligans to attack their own police force and the citizens of their own city, as well as destroying property?. Once again the specious excuse of provocation is being used to allow people to abdicate responsibility for their own actions.
I wonder would any of the people who consider this march provocative and unwise have any objection to the parading of the Tricolour through Belfast or London? Or is it only unionists who can offend in Dublin? There have been several republican demonstrations and assemblies on O'Connell Street over the years at which dark glasses, berets and other paramilitary trappings were displayed. These could be considered highly offensive and, indeed, an incitement to illegality, but I have rarely seen these condemned.
Val Nolan (February 28th) considers the proposed march "a provocative affront to the majority of the people in the Republic". Strangely enough, neither I nor any people I know were either affronted or outraged by the attempted march, though I have encountered reactions ranging from approval through indifference to irritation. Perhaps I can only be considered not fully Irish? - Yours, etc,
GERARD DOCKERY, Westfield Park, Bray, Co Wicklow.
Madam, - When I came to Ireland from England 18 years ago, to work as a priest in the Church of Ireland, I noticed that, while Protestants were very happy to get on with running their businesses and their farms, there were very few engaged in either national or local politics.
When I asked about this, I was told: "Oh, ever since 12922 we have kept our heads down." At the time of the foundation of the State a number of Protestant farms and businesses had been attacked, and as a result the Protestant population had either moved to Northern Ireland or England or, as my informants, had said, "kept the head down". My response was that as all that happened over 75 years ago, and as we now had a republic where all were meant to be cherished equally, these reasons no longer applied.
I truly believed this to be the case, but last Saturday's events in Dublin have made me think again. It seems there are certain people living in this country (by no means just young football hooligans) who do not like it when Protestants "raise the head", even if they are doing it to draw attention to what they perceive to be suffering at the hands of "republican" terrorists.
Would it not be a good idea if we used the next 40 days, not just to give up sweets or cigarettes, but to engage in a nationwide examination of whether we really are a true republic where all residents (not just citizens), irrespective of colour, class or creed, are not just tolerated, but cherished? - Yours, etc,
MICHAEL NUTTALL, Anglesborough, Kilmallock, Co Limerick.
Madam, - For the record, last Saturday's parade in Dublin was not an Orange parade. It was organised by a coalition of victims' groups in Northern Ireland, led by FAIR. Presumably those who have described it as an Orange parade have their own agenda. - Yours, etc,
DREW NELSON, Grand Secretary, Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland, Belfast 6.
Madam, - The riots in O'Connell Street were entirely predictable. Most Irish people couldn't care less about who marches down O'Connell Street, but it takes only a small number to start a riot. There is a strong republican element in Dublin and some of them saw the parade as provocative. There are always troublemakers and the rubble in O'Connell Street simply ensured they would have more than enough "ammunition" to cause serious damage.
The gardaí on duty come out with great credit and their entire handling of the riot deserves full recognition. Senior gardaí yet again have egg on their faces. This is not the first time their competence has been brought into serious question. Minister for Justice Michael McDowell must deal with this matter. It is unfair to rank and file gardaí that they have to bear the consequences of crass stupidity at the higher ranks. - Yours, etc,
LOUIS RYAN, Athlone, Co Westmeath.
Madam, - Kevin Myers writes that last Saturday we witnessed Dublin's first anti-Protestant riot (An Irishman's Diary, February 28th). The riot by mindless thugs masquerading as Republicans was not anti-Protestant, but was a sad, unjustifiable reaction to a provocative parade by Ulster loyalists. There were sectarian riots in Dublin, in the 18th century, incidentally, between the Protestant and Roman Catholic weavers of the Liberties and the Coombe. There were also Protestant-Roman Catholic confrontations, known as the "town and gown" riots, around the statue of King William on College Green, - Yours, etc,
Rev DAVID FRAZER, Laytown, Co Meath.
Madam, - The State seems incapable of guaranteeing security on its main streets, except during the visit of an American president. To ease the minds of citizens attending the Easter Parade, would it be prudent to hand over security arrangements to the FBI and CIA? - Yours, etc,
KEVIN 0'CONNOR, Edenvale Road, Dublin 6.