A chara, – Some of the presidential candidates’ opening addresses as part of the TG4 díospóireacht must rank among the most patronising and tokenistic actions so far. To paraphrase Messrs Gallagher and McGuinness and Ms Scallon: I will take Irish lessons, vote for me. It was in effect saying, “Oh muise, ye poor Gaelgóirí, what use ye of ‘vision’ and ideals, I speakee de Gaeilge.”
Can it be taken that the same approach is to be adopted towards other themes and priorities, that heretofore have yet to be tested? Flann O’Brien, many years ago did it in An Béal Bocht, now it seems a part of a presidential strategy – a fitting tribute if nothing else. – Is mise,
Sir, – My thanks to Paul Cullen of your political staff for his succinct report on the business background of Presidential candidate Seán Gallagher (October 19th). I suspect that many will be somewhat unhappy that his “entrepreneurship” would appear to have been built on the back of a Fianna Fáil-inspired property bubble that has burst with such disastrous results. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – A recent disturbing addition to the landfill of inanities in the presidential campaign is the promise to increase “positivity” and confidence. I’m not sure what positivity is, but I think it’s a derivative of the positive thinking disease which contributed to the near-collapse of the global financial system and squandering of Ireland’s wealth.
Can we delete the positive from this peculiar oxymoron and just think? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – David Enright (October 18th) asserts that in the early 1970s “there were three options open to Irish nationalists” when they were under attack, “to bend the knee and submit . . . to flee and seek refuge in the Republic or to stand and fight for their communities”.
As someone who was involved in the Civil Rights Movement and subsequently joined the SDLP, may I point out that your correspondent has either failed to recognise or deliberately ignored the democratic option of “fighting for your community” through the political process, in John Hume’s words, spilling sweat rather than blood.
Along with very many others in those dark and difficult days I chose this option. The ballot box rather than the bomb and the bullet. The majority of the nationalist community supported us as we argued, with the support of all the nationalist constitutional parties on the island for an inclusive, agreed Ireland respecting all its traditions, argued above all that violence in pursuit of Irish unity was morally wrong and practically counterproductive.
The strong mandate given for this approach by Northern nationalists allowed John Hume and the SDLP leadership to present an unanswerable case to the British government for the principle of power sharing and all-Ireland institutions. The result was the Sunningdale Agreement of 1973 allowing for power-sharing institutions in Northern Ireland and a Council of Ireland. It was described by Sinn Féin, on the one hand, as a sell-out by the SDLP and the Irish Government; and by the Ulster unionists and loyalists as a sell-out of them by the British government. The IRA and loyalist paramilitary violence continued for another 25 years. To what end? And with what terrible consequence for the thousands of victims, dead and alive!
I write this letter because I fear the future consequences of Mr Enright’s retrospective justification of the atrocities perpetrated with the stated aim of Irish unity and “Brits Out”. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – In all of the coverage of the presidential election in the print media, on radio and on television, we learned a little about the candidates. However, we learned a frightening amount about the bias,bitterness and downright unprofessionalism of the great majority of the journalists and the media presenters. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – When this is all over, I wonder will Martin McGuinness still long for a United Ireland? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Many world leaders support violence. President Obama, for instance, increased drone attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan soon after he was elected: we will never know how many innocent people have been killed by those attacks. The Queen of England, as head of the British armed forces, is ultimately responsible for the long list of killings by the British army in the north and also the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. The list of world leaders who have been at one time being described as terrorists is endless.
However RTÉ and the Irish media in general are blind to this fact. Their concern about violence is selective: only IRA violence is mentioned.
This is nothing new. It is sad to say, but the Irish media still wants to stick people in a box and explain issues away in a simplistic good guy/bad guy way. Irish people in mid-Ulster have elected Martin McGuinness on three occasions as their MP and they are well aware of his past. Unlike our blinkered and vindictive journalists who use history as propaganda, he is not afraid to face the electorate. – Yours, etc,
A chara, – The difficulty with “áras ’11” so far has been that it hasn’t really been “a rás”. The difficulty now is picking someone without “amhras”. – Is mise,