Letters to the Editor 2006-01-26
Stand up to Aosdána - Censoring artists against the war
When is censorship not censorship? When it's carried out by the Toscaireacht (the elected committee) of Aosdána. My fellow members, other artists and anyone else with an interest in either the arts or the procedures of democracy, might like to know how this happens.
According to a circular letter to members, motions to be put forward at Aosdána's general assembly are to be "considered for inclusion on the agenda," by the Toscairí. This proviso clearly implies that some motions may not pass scrutiny, and will therefore be excluded from the agenda, with the result that the membership will never be able to express its opinion of them. I wrote to enquire as to the rationale for such a policy in what has always presented itself as a democratic organisation of equals. In reply, Aosdána's registrar informed me that motions must "relate to the status of the artist and the arts in society," that this was a standing order, and I ought to have known about it. No, I didn't know about it and I doubt if anyone else did: it had never been brought up.
Now, last year I put in a motion calling for Aosdána to demand of an Taoiseach that Shannon Airport should cease to be a war-port for the planes of belligerent powers. This was apparently dropped from the agenda; I asked about it during the meeting; another member argued that it should be voted on; a vote in fact was taken and the motion was passed (with a slightly amended wording). Have the Toscairí decided that this sort of potential political embarrassment must never be allowed to happen again? For if the effect of their ruling is not censorship, I don't know what else it can be: it surely means that the ten disparate members of our committee are the only ones to decide what is relevant or not relevant "to the status of the artist and the arts in society." They are, it seems to me, allowing themselves to slide into dangerous waters of pseudo-theocracy and would-be canon law.
My fear is that there is no way by which a motion rejected by the Toscairí can be brought out into the assembly and its rejection questioned. (Incidentally, I have discovered that the Arts Council is one of the few Government bodies not under the remit of the Ombudsman's office.)
Aosdána was set up and is paid for by government; but that does not mean we should keep our mouths closed on public matters because some members feel nervous lest Government take away our money or close us down or – horror of horror – lest we may end up on George Bush's blacklist. If we dare not make ourselves accountable and responsible, we shall be perceived as complicit in breaches of human rights, whether the rendition of prisoners to torture or the tearing-apart of families for enforced deportation. The crimes and cruelties of society necessarily affect our work in society. And what better place for an artist to raise these troubles than amongst fellow-artists?
Unfortunately I will be out of the country on the 8 February, the date of the next Aosdána assembly. I just hope that someone else will feel as strongly as I do and open up the debate.
Margaretta D'Arcy
Galway
Irish history - Honouring revolutionaries
Every revolution honoured in the annals of mankind was criminal, treasonable whatever, according to the powers that were, whether it was the deposition of Charles I, the Glorious Revolution, the Boston Tea Party, the fall of the Bastille or 20th century independence struggles, including our own. As Dorothy Macardle, historian of The Irish Republic, put it in the 1950s, shortly before she died, "perhaps the existence of the sovereign independent Republic of Ireland might seem a sufficient – indeed, a superb reward for all the toil and anxiety and sacrifice, despite its flaws."
Even John Dillon, John Redmond's deputy, was eloquent in defence of the 1916 leaders against the punitive actions and attitudes of the British, adopting a very different line from the censoriousness of some of his party's latterday champions. As my father, Nicholas Mansergh, wrote, "constitutional methods themselves were on their last trial between 1911 and 1914", and "they failed"; "the goal was reached but only on paper", and "Redmond and many of his colleagues during their long sojourn at Westminster had become dangerously detached from their own people" (The Shaping of Modern Ireland, edited by Conor Cruise O'Brien). The Irish Convention of 1917-'18 showed there was no meeting of minds even between Ulster Unionists and Irish Unionists, let alone with Redmondite Nationalists. The Irish people passed their verdict in 1918, and swept Redmondism aside. If it expressed any sense of popular betrayal, it was not directed against those who stood for the ideals of 1916.
No breakdown in Irish democracy in 1914? Leaving aside the question of how far it even existed under the Union, what was the importation of arms to Larne and the Unionist threat of revolution, aided and abetted by the Tory opposition, if not an undermining of democracy? The feeble British government response to the Curragh mutiny should be compared to the firm action taken by the Irish Free State government against the army mutiny in 1924, or the Spanish government's recent jailing of an officer who suggested the army could not tolerate more devolution (home rule) to Catalonia.
To call the politically progressive and democratic desire for national independence "antediluvian" is to adopt looking-glass logic to mark an extreme reactionary position. "Proto-fascist"?
Ireland is universally recognised as one of the most successful and stable democracies established in the 20th century on foot of an independence struggle. The State's position in all that is clear, drawing a sharp distinction with the more recent Northern Troubles.
An annual well-attended memorial mass was held on 8 January for Dan Breen in Donohill, who represented the people of Tipperary in Dáil Eireann for some 40 years. The Sologheadbeg commemoration around 21 January is often attended by relatives of the RIC constables shot dead, and is conducted in a spirit of reconciliation.
A very few correspondents may go on wishing Ireland had settled for a truncated home rule within the UK, ignoring that home rule lost its point, if it was rejected by Unionists as an historic compromise between Unionism and Nationalism. No amount of abusive epithets, either against the founders of the State, or against anyone who simply articulates the position of the State today, is likely to make the least dent in enduring popular respect for the value and legitimacy of the independence struggle and those who took part in it.
Martin Mansergh, Seanad Éireann, Kildare Street, Dublin 2
US 'torture flights' through Shannon -International law demands that we inspect flights
Since the large public demonstrations in February 2003 against the war in Iraq, a relatively small group of activists has consistently articulated their concern over the use of Shannon Airport by the US military. In early 2003 many people felt that allowing hundreds of thousands of US troops to pass through the airport meant that Ireland was facilitating a war of aggression which was contrary to international law and which would trigger an unending spiral of violence in Iraq.
Others have highlighted the use of Shannon to transport weapons to the Middle East, including patriot missiles to Israel, and as part of the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" programme, whereby persons unlawfully detained are sent to third states for interrogation and torture.
This continuing expression of protest has begun to pay off, as both the national and international media and other bodies have finally taken seriously the claims about activities at Shannon, which have been made repeatedly by peace groups. The Irish Human Rights Commission, supported by the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights, has called for inspections of all US flights passing through Shannon in order for Ireland to live up to its international obligations concerning torture. If the Government continues to simply accept the Bush administration's assurances that no prisoners have been transported through Ireland, a claim which is becoming increasingly unsustainable in the face of mounting evidence, there may be serious implications for individual Irish politicians who fail to curb the use of Shannon Airport and the facilitation of torture.
Being one of the most egregious of all human rights violations, torture is outlawed in many international and regional treaties, including the 1984 Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, ratified by Ireland in 2002. The establishment of the International Criminal Court in recent years marked the commencement of a new era in which the perpetrators of international crimes, such as torture, do not go unpunished. Ireland is one of the one hundred states which have signed up to the Court – the US is its most notorious opponent. The law governing the International Criminal Court is the Rome Statute, created in 1998 and reflecting customary international law, and in it there are some interesting provisions concerning criminal responsibility which should be of interest to certain Irish ministers.
The Rome Statute provides that civilian superiors have a duty to prevent crimes being committed by subordinates and other persons over whom they exercise effective authority and control. Criminal liability can accrue to those persons who either knew, or consciously disregarded information which clearly indicated, that persons subordinated to them were committing or were about to commit criminal acts, and where they failed "to take all necessary and reasonable measures within his or her power to prevent or repress their commission or to submit the matter to the competent authorities for investigation and prosecution". These provisions of the Rome Statute incorporate the internationally accepted requirements of civilian leaders, where there are serious allegations of crimes such as torture and the unlawful deprivation of liberty. Ireland has accepted these standards and agreed to incorporate them into Irish law – the International Criminal Court Bill 2003 is due to be passed into law later this year.
While US military and intelligence officials passing through Shannon are not subordinates within the typical meaning of the word, the Government can exercise control over their activities, within the meaning of international criminal law, given that the particular conduct is taking place on Irish territory. Individual Ministers are deliberately remaining blind to these goings-on, claiming that there is no evidence of detained persons passing through Shannon, despite their having refused the inspection of US flights. The prevailing rules of international law provide that there is more than just public and diplomatic pressure on An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern to ensure that Shannon is not part of the United States' extensive network for "extraordinary rendition".
Dr Shane Darcy, Transitional Justice Institute, University of Ulster and founding member of Human Rights for Change
Speaking in Irish - Irish confidence
I recently saw a programme (Chain Reactions) on RTÉ documenting how we as a nation have moved from a begrudging lot of poverty-stricken no-hopers to becoming a country awash with wealth and confidence. "From isolation and desolation to Oscar nomination".
The narrator, Simon Delaney, warned that all this confidence might turn to the undesirable trait of cockiness. But, while this is true, it struck me that Ireland still has a long way to go. The greatest act of confidence will be when we reclaim our deeper identity.
We have revived our national games, and we've revived our traditional music.
We will only show true confidence when we fully revive our own language and begin to speak to each other in Gaeilge once again.
Rossa Ó Snodaigh, South Circular Road, Dublin 8
Chomsky and anarchism -Anarchism: a reasonable set of ideas
Once again the Village does its job better than other, vastly better resourced, media. Despite all the coverage given to Noam Chomsky's visit, none saw fit to draw attention to the political ideas which motivate Chomsky and inform his outlook. None, that is, except Village.
For more than 60 years he has been a libertarian socialist, an anarchist. At a meeting on Thursday (19 January) with members and friends of the Workers Solidarity Movement he explained why.
"I was attracted to anarchism as a young teenager, as soon as I began to think about the world beyond a pretty narrow range, and haven't seen much reason to revise those early attitudes since. I think it only makes sense to seek out and identify structures of authority, hierarchy, and domination in every aspect of life, and to challenge them; unless a justification for them can be given, they are illegitimate, and should be dismantled, to increase the scope of human freedom. That includes political power, ownership and management, relations among men and women, parents and children, our control over the fate of future generations (the basic moral imperative behind the environmental movement, in my view), and much else.
"Naturally this means a challenge to the huge institutions of coercion and control: the state, the unaccountable private tyrannies that control most of the domestic and international economy, and so on.
"But not only these. That is what I have always understood to be the essence of anarchism: the conviction that the burden of proof has to be placed on authority, and that it should be dismantled if that burden cannot be met.
"Sometimes the burden can be met. If I'm taking a walk with my grandchildren and they dart out into a busy street, I will use not only authority but also physical coercion to stop them. The act should be challenged, but I think it can readily meet the challenge. And there are other cases; life is a complex affair, we understand very little about humans and society, and grand pronouncements are generally more a source of harm than of benefit. But the perspective is a valid one, I think, and can lead us quite a long way."
As individual and social freedoms cannot be separated from economic freedom, he supports "control of production by the workers themselves, not owners and managers who rule them and control all decision". He refers to this as "real socialism".
Much of the media associates anarchism with chaos, disruption and so on. So people are often surprised when intellectuals such as Chomsky speak positively of anarchism. Even more surprising to them is that the basic ideas seem reasonable when the clouds are cleared away.
Alan MacSimoin Workers Solidarity Movement, Dublin wsm_ireland@yahoo.com. www.struggle.ws/wsm. ?More: Dublin's Anarchist Book Fair takes place on 3 & 4 March www.struggle.ws/bookfair
Statement: Not the time to lose faith in Ethiopia
As the Government aid budget to Ethiopia remains frozen at 2005 levels, now is not the time to be suspending funding or increases in Irish development assistance to one of the poorest African countries.
Ethiopia is one of the newest democracies in the world, with the return to a parliamentary democracy only 14 years old. Under the old regime, famine, war and acute poverty became the yardsticks by which Ethiopia was measured.
More than 20 years after Live Aid, the average Ethiopian has a substantially shorter life expectancy than in 1984 and is living on a smaller income than in those days.
Ethiopia held its first parliamentary elections in 2005, in which the opposition parties made real and substantial progress, taking control of all the large urban centres and causing a major upset to the government. The elections were marred by allegations of fraud by the ruling parties and subsequent clashes left around 100 people dead and thousands of people in jail, including most of the leaders of the opposition. This has left the capital city Addis Ababa with an uneasy peace and a great deal of uncertainty about the future. As this is an unacceptable way to run a modern democracy, the indignation of western governments – including Ireland – was conveyed in no uncertain terms to prime minister Meles Zenawi. Adding to the tension is a border dispute with the equally impoverished Eritrea, which is threatening to erupt into war.
Could these be the birth pangs of a modern democracy? Can we, in our mature and functioning democracies, seriously expect that such a young democracy as Ethiopia can make a full transition to our western standards without blips along the way? Is the course of our own modern history not fraught with "blips" like those being experienced today in Ethiopia?
Nobody has the answer to these questions, but while doubt remains, we should remain steadfast in our support for our aid projects, which are making such a crucial difference on the ground there.
John O'Shea of GOAL has been vociferous in his condemnation of the Zenawi government, which has "blood on its hands", but that is only an aspect of the story. Ethiopia is internationally recognised as one of the countries with the least corruption in Africa and where genuine and sustained efforts are being made to improve the lives of their citizens by its government. Reputable sources on the ground in Ethiopia, who work in the aid sector, maintain that the vast majority of aid gets through to its intended destination and is well and responsibly spent.
While the human rights abuses which appear to be taking place can't be defended, it hasn't at this point descended into civil war and we shouldn't take any action to tip it that way.
By withdrawing or suspending any increases in the aid and support given to Ethiopia, we will actually precipitate that kind of crisis. As long as the government there continues to function and carry on much of the good work that they do, the transition to democracy and the improvement in the living standards for the people there have a fighting chance of remaining on course.
There's an argument for substantially increasing Irish aid to the country to bolster the practitioners of progress and defeat the forces of disorder, who will only look to the withdrawal or suspension of aid increases, as an excuse to achieve a change – whether on the government or opposition side – by force.
Brody Sweeney, Co-founder of African Connections, a new organisation focussing on twinning businesses in Ireland and Ethiopia. He is also founder of O'Brien's Sandwich Bar
Statement -€1 to save a schoolboy in Pakistan
2005 will be remembered as a year of disasters. Barely had we grasped the full magnitude of the St Stephen's Day tsunami before other disasters announced themselves: hunger in Niger, Zimbabwe and Malawi; hurricanes in Central America and New Orleans; the shattered mountains of Kashmir, where 87,000 people died. And then there were the ongoing crises: Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Iraq, to name just a few.
Invariably the poorest people suffer most during disasters. They live in the most precarious places, they have the fewest resources to fall back on; and they do not – as the poor of New Orleans discovered to their terrible cost – have the means to move to safer places.
Aid agencies felt unprecedented pressure last year to respond to these humanitarian disasters. At Christian Aid we helped half a million people in the aftermath of the tsunami, and many tens of thousands more: from the camps of Darfur to the victims of the storms of Central America.
But what have we learned from all this activity, in this year of disasters?
There are, of course, lessons about the timeliness of aid and the quality of response. But there are other, more profound, lessons. The first is that local people's ability to face disaster – how prepared they are – can make a vital difference.
In virtually all disasters, wherever they happen, local people are the first to respond. The stronger the local communities, the better the chance of responding in a timely and effective way that saves lives. Local organisations in India and on the east coast of Sri Lanka had community kitchens already up and running by the evening of St Stephen's Day. Communities with a basic understanding of disasters are actors in their own recovery, instead of passive recipients of other people's generosity.
The second is so obvious that even mentioning it may feel trite: prevention is better than cure. We cannot prevent natural disasters from happening. But we can prepare for them. At just one school in Kashmir, 500 boys died when their school building collapsed. Do we dare calculate how many children's lives could have been saved if school buildings in Kashmir had been built to withstand earthquakes?
In south Asia the difference in cost between constructing an earthquake-proof rural primary school and a non-earthquake-proof one is a mere €700… just over €1 for each of the boys who died in Kashmir, crushed beneath the roof and walls of their school.
We must also remember that even the best systems in the world will fail to save lives if not matched by local-level warning systems: linking the proposed Indian Ocean tsunami warning system to mobile phone networks, for example.
We need to educate local communities about what to do when disaster strikes – arming them with FM radios, bicycles, whistles and megaphones so they can sound the alarm. It's not glamorous, it's not up for debate at the UN, but without these simple methods the Indian Ocean early warning system will be the hi-tech icing without the low-tech cake.
Paul Valentin, International Director, Christian Aid Ireland, www.christian-aid.ie. ? More The Christian Aid Ireland exhibition, Every time I see the sea... Life after the Tsunami is on in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin from 20 January to 3 February