Villagers 21-12-06
Asylum-seekers: The cost of compassion
Vincent Browne article: A misplaced compliment to Murtagh
Gangland Murders: ‘Respectable' drug users share blame
Lansdowne redevelopment: Well-heeled residents stop progress
Irish Health services: Children's hospital bugs Bertie
Great economy, bad health; In praise of St Vincent's staff; Correction
International relations: A blind eye turned to China
STATEMENT: Pharmaceutical companies and medicine for the poor
Decline of the Irish language: No way back for Irish as living wordEmail us at villagers@villagemagazine.ie, write to us at Villagers, Village Magazine, 44 Westland Row, Dublin 2 or fax 01 642 5001. The deadline for receipt of letters is 10am on the Monday before publication. Please keep submissions under 300 words and include a contact number for verification. Village retains the right to edit submissions for reasons of length or libel.Asylum-seekers: The cost of compassion
The recent PA Consulting group's report commissioned by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform stated that in relation to the cost of asylum seekers, “significant improvements to bring down the unit cost per applicant will only occur... if the level of expenditure on accomodation is brought down through a more effective removals process.” (Irish Times, 4 December.)
Given the great complexity of deportation and that both in Ireland and the UK, less than 20 per cent of “failed asylum-seekers” are deported, a more humane and effective means of cost-cutting presents itself.
There is no mention in the PA report of the problems faced by asylum-seekers who have been awaiting the result of their Humanitarian Leave to Remain (LTR) applications for years. (Asylum-seekers who failed to qualify as Geneva Convention refugees could apply under Section 3 (6) of the Immigration Act 1999 for Leave to Remain on humanitarian grounds.)
These asylum-seekers are not allowed to work – some are now in their seventh year of forced unemployment – which is an unnecessary extra cost to both the state and themselves.
The European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) has recommended that “with regard to asylum-seekers whose cases have been rejected and... who have been present in the host country for three years or more... and have thus put down roots in their host country, states should not enforce removals and should give people the opportunity to apply for a permanent legal status.”
It is true that the Irish government has recently introduced “Subsidiary Protection” procedures following an EU Directive. However, the reality is that there will most likely remain huge backlogs and endless delays for applicants, many of whom have already been in the system for years.
Justice is not always best served by consultants' reports. The Christmas message surely informs us that there are arguments that go beyond purely economic efficiency when addressing the needs of those in our country who have suffered greatly.
Valerie Hughes, Cabra, Dublin 7
Vincent Browne article: A misplaced compliment to Murtagh
Vincent Browne, in his review of Andrew Whittaker's Bright, Brilliant Days: Douglas Gageby and the Irish Times, pays me the compliment of having exposed the activities of the so-called “Heavy Gang”, along with Joe Joyce, during the editorship of Fergus Pyle.
While plaudits for that work are indeed due to Joe, they are shared not by me but by his Irish Times colleagues at the time, Don Buckley and Renagh Holohan. I had not yet joined the newspaper.
However, when I did join in 1980/81, Gageby was back as editor. To his great credit, he published everything I wrote about Sean Doherty and Charles Haughey (illegal tapping of journalists' telephones, improper interference in the Garda Síochána and the operation of the courts) even if, I suspect, it was occasionally through gritted teeth! He was a great editor, a very fine person and it was a privilege to have worked under him.
Peter Murtagh
Dublin 2
Gangland Murders: ‘Respectable' drug users share blame
Amid all the shock, horror and condemnation that has followed the latest gangland murder, we should remember that the killers did not act alone.
In addition to the evil thugs who ordered the killing, there was a large silent army of accomplices. These are people who probably don't even think of their involvement in the murder or of their share in the responsibility for the grief and tragedy that the killers inflicted.
I refer to the drug users, many of them in “respectable”, non crime-ridden areas, whose stupid, dangerous habit directly finances and supports gangland activity. Anyone reading this who injects heroin or swallows an ecstasy tablet at a party could share in the blame for a future gangland murder. Anyone snorting cocaine for a laugh must share in the moral responsibility when the gang that made the drug available decides to kill somebody.
The net of responsibility and complicity can be cast even wider. How many times in the past could a drug baron or one of the lower-ranking dealers or suppliers have been apprehended if only a so-called “respectable” citizen had bothered to report a vital piece of information to the Gardaí? Anyone withholding information on any aspect of the drug business is facilitating this cancer on our society.
I suggest that your readers pick up the phone right now if they have heard or seen anything that might help the Garda on this life-and-death issue. Such an act, or gesture, would be worth more in terms of “peace and goodwill” to decent people than a thousand Christmas presents.
John fitzgerald
Callan, Co Kilkenny
Lansdowne redevelopment: Well-heeled residents stop progress
If the objecting Dublin 4 residents living near Lansdowne Road were around when the railways were being built and electrification of buildings taking place, there would have been an outcry against mass public transport upsetting the horses of their Hansom cabs and outrage at the possible slide in their Dublin Gas Company shares. A definite human rights breach!
Keith Nolan
Co Leitrim
Sponsored swim: Taking the Christmas plunge
Village readers may be interested to know that on Christmas morning next, a brave, foolish and/or sober group of dedicated people will take to the waters of the Grand Canal in Dublin.
These swimmers have been sponsored to swim at least two widths of the Grand Canal in a tradition which first began in 1976.
Those who survive the ordeal will dry off as best they can at the turf fire, while dancing/listening to the music from the twin speakers and warming themselves up with – at the very least – a hot bowl of soup. The swim, organised by Cabhair, the Irish Republican prisoners' dependants fund organisation, will take place in the Canal waters opposite the Blackhorse Inn in Inchicore on Christmas day at 12 noon. Readers are all welcome to attend.
John Horan
Dublin 22
Irish Health services: Children's hospital bugs Bertie
The HSE task force which is planning the new high-rise single children's hospital (possibly to be known as the Bertiepagoda) on the Mater site has decided that it will have only 380 beds – 16 per cent fewer than the 450/480 beds currently available in the three existing paediatric hospitals in Dublin which it will replace. The same HSE told its own board in October that there were 41,000 births in Ireland in the first eight months of 2006 – an increase of 5.9 per cent on its own estimates for the year.
Over the Christmas, maybe Bertie Ahern might decide to freeze this project and have it reviewed carefully and objectively by a small group of wise people, preferably residents of the actual island of Ireland and the Greater Dublin area. Otherwise he might find that its eccentricities – as currently conceived – will dog him throughout his third, fourth and fifth terms as Taoiseach.
Maurice O'Connell
Co Kerry
Great economy, bad health
This Celtic Tiger economy has seen more wealth for this generation that in any other era of Ireland's history and yet our hospitals are in a shambles. The queues in A&E and the waiting lists for critical services are a scandal.
Children with issues around autism, speech therapy and orthodontics are being let down consistently at a time when vital intervention will prevent further, possibly more serious, issues from developing.
Land speculators who have government ministers in their pockets are controlling the government's agenda.
Jim Holland
Ballinteer, Dublin 16
In praise of St Vincent's staff
In spite of the recent story that came out criticising the medical staff of St Vincent's Hospital Dublin, I would like to commend them on the care that I received on a visit there. As I do not have insurance of any kind I was charged a fee of €60. Because of the urgency, I was only too happy to pay a small amount like this.
However, what if I had not been able to afford this amount? It is all very well for people who can afford such care, but it should never be the case that in this country a person has to think twice before finding help when they are ill because they feel it is too expensive. Do we not live in a compassionate society where those who need help get help?
The treatment received while I was in hospital was exceptional. I was seen and treated very promptly and with great professionalism by the doctors and nurses.
While there, however, it was brought to my attention by an A&E doctor that he was effectively having to put forward the strongest case possible to get patients admitted to the main wards. Only those on whose behalf he had argued to get more treatment were getting it, and even then some of the patients he had recommended for more treatment had not received it.
The increase in non-medical staff at the expense of doctors and nurses is a worry to us all. It is our duty to make sure that this government makes it a priority to ensure that the money set aside for hospitals will be invested in the areas that require it most, not wasted on over-the-top salaries for those who deserve it least.
Thomas Patrick Devine
Co Westmeath
International relations: A blind eye turned to China
The ongoing threatening behaviour of China in relation to its neighbour Taiwan must be deplored by all right-thinking people. The fact that only 24 countries in the world have recognised Taiwan since it achieved independence in the 1940s shows the greed of the world community, who view China with its hands out looking for scraps of world trade.
Look at the treatment China is handling out to some human rights activists and lawyers. This week they secretly tried Gao Zhisheng and Chen Guangcheng (pictured left), known as the blind barefoot lawyer, is still in jail. The world's leaders, namely Bush, Blair et al, call for democracy in the world, but when it comes to a country like Taiwan which has a thriving democracy, they do nothing to support it.
Paul Doran
Dublin 22
Correction
There was an error in the editing of my letter which was published on 7 December. A 29 November editorial comment I cited was wrongly attributed by Village to Alan Murray. In addition, an amendment I submitted was not included: the Kingsmill massacre was in 1976, not 1975, and Eugene Reavey lost three (not two) brothers the day before: three of six (not five) nationalists shot by UVF-UDR assassins.
Niall Meehan
Dublin 8
STATEMENT: Pharmaceutical companies and medicine for the poor
Pharmaceutical companies are now embroiled in three high-profile disputes over patents that could have a devastating effect on poor people's access to affordable medicines. The companies – Novartis, Merck and Pfizer – are resisting moves by India, Thailand and the Philippines respectively to use safeguards that are written into World Trade Organisation (WTO) intellectual property rules in order to protect public health.
Each company is trying to impose its patent monopoly on a big-selling medicine to stop the countries from exercising their rights to trade in cheaper generic equivalents.
Pharmaceutical sales across the world's four biggest emerging markets grew by 22.3 per cent in 2005 compared to single digit growth in the US, Europe and Japan. Of the medicines in dispute, Novartis' anti-blood-cancer drug Glivec is worth $2.1bn in annual sales and its patent begins to expire in 2013. Pfizer's hypertension drug Norvasc is worth $4.7bn in annual sales and it wants to extend its patent that has already begun to expire in some countries.
In a statement prepared for Oxfam, author John le Carré said, “By imposing one-to-one deals on individual governments, Big Pharma is dishonoring hard-won international agreements designed to allow lifesaving generic drugs to be produced and marketed in countries where there is urgent and demonstrable need. The present posture of Novartis in India is a classic example of Big Pharma's unbeautiful priorities. With unlimited legal resources, Novartis is challenging India's sovereign right under international law to supply cheap, non-patented drugs in situations where the public health is at risk. If the case succeeds, Novartis will have protected the health of its account books at the expense of those who will die because they can't afford the drugs that could save them.”
Since India is the main supplier of inexpensive medicines to the developing world, a victory for Novartis will curtail access to affordable medicines in Africa and Asia as well.
These three disputes show that the intellectual property system cannot work to protect public health if companies can continue to undermine developing countries from using legitimate health safeguards. In two cases, we have a legal battleground where poor people are losing out to vested interests.
Some companies including Merck and Novartis say they can discount prices or donate medicines to poor patients instead. This is not the long-term solution to sustainable access to affordable medicines and does not cover all patients who need them.
Donations can help poor people in specific situations, such as disease eradication programs. However, discount programs keep all decisions about who can get medicines and for how long in the hands of the companies. A sustainable and proven way to get affordable medicines to people is by generic competition. The companies should drop their lawsuits and their objections.
Oxfam, 9 Burgh Quay, Dublin 2. www.oxfam.ie
Decline of the Irish language: No way back for Irish as living word
I love the Irish language and I found that learning it was a deeply rewarding experience. So it is painful for me to have reached the following conclusion: the Irish language is now but a minuscule part of the Irish identity and it is doomed as a living language.
An ghaeilge remains important to the identity of certain Gaeltacht communities, notably those in parts of Conemara. The same goes for a certain number of Irish speakers throughout the country. But for the general population it is almost irrelevant.
In The Wind that Shakes the Barley, the Irish language is given a token role. Amhrán na bhFiann is sung going into battle and occasionally the insurgents exchange ‘cúpla focal', but few of the characters use it for everyday communication. It's a faithful portrayal of what happened. Certainly the fathers of rebellious Irish nationalism had a genuine competence in and desire to revive the language. But outside of a narrow group, interest was low.
The only time people seem to think about Irish is when they fill out the census form. Now and then, my friends talk about a programme they've seen on TG4, but invariably they were reading subtitles or watching an English-language programme. I know only a tiny number of people who speak Irish or read any Irish language literature. In bookshops, the section marked “gaeilge” has been shrinking for years and in some cases has disappeared entirely. This, I'm sure, is a reflection of demand.
Since so few people can speak the language, and so few are aware of its literary cannon, how can it be considered important to our identity? If it has no otherness about it, and people don't engage with it, then how is it central to who we are? If tomorrow the last Irish speaker were to die, no shock would be observed in Irish people's conception of themselves.
A further deficiency undermines the claim that Irish is central to our cultural life. Irish language media – TV, radio and print – has too narrow a reach and too few notable commentators to enable a distinct brand of debate about Irish society to take place as gaeilge. Inevitably, English is the language of our national debate. It is wishful thinking to claim that the Irish language supports a different perspective. Sadly, TG4's “Súil Eile” doesn't exist.
In my mind's eye, I imagine a stone bridge joining the banks of a river. The death of each native Irish speaker is like removing another stone from the arch of the bridge. It's a slow process, but one day the removal of a single stone will cause the masonry to collapse and the bridge will become impassable. We will be forever stranded on one bank, the side where no Irish is spoken.
ciaran mac aonghusa
Churchtown, Dublin 14