Villagers: Letters to the Editor 2006-06-22
The clarion call of Ulster Unionism in 1912 was: "Ulster will fight, and Ulster will be right", not Ireland will never have Home Rule. Jack Lane (Village 8-14 June) continues to propagate blatant falsehoods relating to the aims of Carson, and the UVF, insisting that the intention of Ulster Unionists was to prevent the implementation of Home Rule for the whole of Ireland, to the point of skulduggery at a high constitutional level (the 1914 Home Rule statute).
The Ulster Unionist Rolald McNeill, MP for Canterbury, put forward a very different view declaring that: "The people of Ulster would not dream of offering physical resistance for the sake of preventing Home Rule for the rest of Ireland" (Freeman's Journal, 25 October 1913). This was the policy position of Ulster Unionism to Irish Home Rule; the very opposite to the scaremongering tactics of separatist propagandists.
Jack Lane refuses to acknowledge that following the Parliament Act of 18 August 1911 – a measure that effectively brought about the end of plutocratic rule through the House of Lords – Irish Unionism split between north and south. Carson was forced to face the inevitability of Home Rule in Ireland and, in a twist of fate, those who had relied on constitutional anti-Home Rule coercion suddenly found themselves on the potential receiving end. The aim of Carson after 1911 was to defend the six counties of Ulster, and nowhere else in Ireland, against Home Rule.
French irredentism regarding the provinces of Alsace-Lorraine did not require encouragement from any external power. Had war occurred between France and Germany over that region, the conflict would not have lead to a world war, and Britain would not have had the manpower to support France against the strongest power in Europe: Imperial Germany. The war would have almost been a re-run of 1871, resulting in a French defeat, and the emergence of an even stronger Germany – an outcome diametrically opposed to the policy aims of British dipomacy.
Casement and Connolly were skilful propagandists, rather like their latter day practitioners of the black art: Messers Lane, Muldowney, O'Riardon and Clifford. In his Crime Against Europe series of articles published in complete form before the war, Casement argues, under the chapter The Balance of Power, that "Ireland" will be the "island" upon which the British Empire will perish at the hands of Imperial Germany.
This was the other insurrection – the one that Eoin McNeill and Casement, together with Pearse, Clarke and Connolly, planned for. The one that never happened. The one that McNeill, the present Minister for Justice's grandfather, would willingly not only have joined, but lead.
The 1916 insurrection was bad enough, the McNeill/Casement version would have been horrific!
Pierce Martin, Celbridge, Co Kildare
Charles Haughey - Hypocritical reaction to Haughey pics
Isn't it amazing how the Fianna Fáilers and the media are so worked up about a few pictures of the late Charles Haughey and Terry Keane? How come they never got upset over the wholesale corruption and nepotism that went on during the Haughey years? Or the savage cutbacks that Haughey inflicted on the health service in the late 1980s, which are responsible for the current health service crisis, especially in A&E? Is it a question that they simply don't care?
Paul Kinsella, Santry, Dublin 9
Ruairí Ó Brádaigh - Ó Brádaigh kept the old party in tact
It seems Cliona Butler (Village 8-14 June) wasn't paying attention at that meeting she attended in 1986; the caretaker executive she speaks of was a caretaker executive of Sinn Féin, upholding the Sinn Féin constitution. How can a party which still doesn't exist set up a caretaker executive, and how can that caretaker executive found the party which set it up?
According to Section 1b of the Sinn Féin constitution in 1986, proposals supporting the entering of Leinster House were banned. Before Adams and Co put forward a motion to enter Leinster House they needed to change Section 1b by a majority vote. They did not do this so Adams' motion to enter Leinster House was breaking the existing Sinn Féin constitution.
Brian Feeney, in his book Sinn Féin 100 Turbulent Years, puts forward the argument that Adams had bypassed Section 1b by introducing a motion in 1983 allowing the "discussion" of any aspect of the SF constitution. This change may have facilitated debate on abstentionism but it did not infringe on the content or effect of Section 1b.
There was no question of Ruairí Ó Brádaigh forming a new party – he kept the old one in tact. The word poblachtach was added to emphasise the republican beliefs of the party.
Donnchadh MacGill, Chapelizod, Dublin 20
Hill of Tara - Haughey would have saved Tara
Over the last week, we have been inundated with details of Charles Haughey's life. We have been told in great detail what he did and what he failed to do. The only ommision was the subject of "what he would have done".
I am convinced that had Haughey been in any position of influence when the decision was made to route the M3 through the Tara-Skyrne valley, he would have successfully opposed it.
Should Bertie Ahern wish to erect a monument to Haughey, he should honour him by preserving the Hill of Tara and having the relatively short section of the motoway diverted from the Tara-Skyrne valley
Tommy Hamill, Navan, Co Meath
Graffiti - Dublin set for graffiti clean-up
An anti-graffiti pilot project will commence next month aimed at combating graffiti in Dublin city, Galway city and Bray in Co Wicklow. The project was initiated by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, in consultation with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.
The areas to be tackled in the initial pilot phase of the project are those most affected by graffiti. These areas are being identified by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform in conjunction with RAPID area coordinators, the local authorities concerned and An Garda Síochana.
Cleaning contractors have been invited to tender for the project and it is intended that the clean-up work will commence in the latter half of July 2006.
The allocated budget for the programme is €3m in 2006.
The pilot project will involve an initial major clean-up of the worst affected sites followed by a rapid-response cleaning maintenance programme aimed at keeping sites graffiti-free.
Should the programme prove successful in eliminating or significantly reducing the incidence of graffiti, consideration will be given to extending it to other areas.
I will urge the ministers involved to continue the project to include Clondalkin. Graffiti has become a major problem in Clondalkin of late and this initiative would go along way to tackle the problem.
This project will be separate from, and in addition to, the graffiti abatement programmes carried out on an ongoing basis by the local authorities
John Curran, Fianna Fáil TD. john.curran@oireachtas.ie
New runway - Dublin airport making a bad investment
I refer to Emma Browne's item in Village (15-21 June) where she correctly pointed out that the health risks due to the proposed new runway at Dublin Airport had not been properly assessed. However, she described UPROAR as "the community group against the airport".
I want to state categorically that, in opposing the runway, we are not against Dublin Airport. One must distinguish between the airport, which is important for the national economy, and this runway, which is not.
On the contrary, it will waste €3bn of public and private assets and the resulting traffic chaos will cripple ground access to the airport.
The health impacts have not been properly assessed, but neither has a proper assessment been made of the economics of this runway, in spite of EU rules and Department of Finance guidelines. In opposing this runway, UPROAR is defending, not only directly-damaged communities, but also the national interest – and the interests of Dublin Airport, which is planning to make a bad investment.
So, if, like UPROAR, you are for Dublin Airport, you should oppose this runway. Unfortunately, a misguided Fingal County Council has given planning approval. We have appealed that decision to An Bord Pleanála.
Matt Harley, UPROAR
Shannon - Government is directly assisting US 'war machine'
Dermot Ahern has been forced to admit (thanks to the vigilance of servicing staff) that at least one shackled prisoner has been brought through Shannon airport by the US military, without the permission of the Irish Government.
The US military was caught this time, not by gardaí or the State, but by a vigilant worker. This begs the question: if the US was willing to ignore the Irish Government this time, how many times has it happened before? Moreover, Dermot Ahern has asked us repeatedly to trust in hollow assurances from the Bush administration with regard to US military and CIA activity at Shannon. Once again, these assurances and the purported 'goodwill' of the US military have been shown to be worthless. Why should anybody trust the Bush administration or the Irish Government after this?
It seems very likely that US policy is to leave the Irish Government out of the loop, so that Dermot Ahern can 'honestly' claim to know nothing when incidents such as this occur.
However, the truth remains that this Fianna Fáil/PD Government is fully complicit in facilitating the US war machine at Shannon airport and is directly assisting imperial wars in the Middle East.
Fintan Lane, Anti-War Ireland
STATEMENT - Social partnership deal flawed
The latest social partnership deal is being portrayed as a "good deal" and the "best, given the circumstances". However, what was actually agreed is far from a good deal for public-sector workers and those who need quality public services.
There is a pay freeze for public-sector workers until 1 December, then two annual increases that amount to about 4 per cent per year. The media refer to a 10 per cent rise but fail to look at how the agreement is phased in. Inflation is currently at 3.9 per cent and that is before oil price rises and interest rates fully kick in. In the past, workers got a pay rise to match the rise in inflation and then did extra productivity deals to get beyond this. Now, workers are being asked to give extra productivity just to keep up with price increases.
Core work can now be outsourced if management say it is necessary to "avoid excessive delays in delivery of service". "Shared services" can also be used to hire non-union companies, opening the door for widespread privatisation.
The deal demands that workers either voluntarily agree to work evenings and weekends – with no extra overtime payments – or allow management to recruit new staff who will do so.
Irish workers have one of the lowest levels of public holidays in Europe, weak maternity-leave provision and no paternity leave. The deal brings no improvement in these areas.
There is little enthusiasm for social partnership deals among many trade unionists and others involved in social partnership, but they are often accepted out of fear that they could be worse.
People Before Profit Alliance. More www.people-before-profit.org
STATEMENT - Government commitments show that young people are 'valued'
The National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) welcomes the commitments given by the government to young people through the new Social Partnership Agreement. In particular, we welcome the pledge to reduce early school-leaving by 10 per cent by 2010, and the commitment for further resources for the Youth Work Sector.
As a social partner, NYCI lobbied intensively throughout the negotiations for additional resources for the National Education and Welfare Board to address the problem of early school-leaving, which affects almost one-in-five young people in Ireland.
We also welcome the allocation of an additional 100 staff to the National Education and Welfare Board and the National Educational Psychological Service in the next three years, stating that such investment will help to develop measures to reduce absenteeism and contribute significantly to addressing the problem of early school-leaving.
The agreement also guarantees that further resources will be provided to progress implementation of the National Youth Work Development Plan and the Youth Work Act 2001. It also agrees to review the Plan with a view to developing its successor.
A significant development is the commitment to abolish part-time fees for students attending public institutions who have never pursued third-level education before. This will make lifelong learning a reality for many and significantly improve access to higher education.
The 10-year agreement gives a commitment to implement the recommendations of the Sustaining Progress Working Group on Alcohol, taking account of the recommendations of the Report of the Strategic Taskforce on Alcohol to prevent and reduce alcohol-related harm.
Another successful outcome for NYCI in the negotiations was the commitment to reduce child poverty by introducing either a new or reformed child income-support payment to families on low income. This payment will be informed by a National Economic and Social Council study on a second-tier child income-support payment. NYCI welcomes the commitment to complete this report within one year.
Other significant commitments to improve the lives of young people in the agreement include:
• A commitment to reduce literacy and numeracy problems among children and adults.
• The rolling out of measures under the DEIS initiative for educational inclusion.
• An imminent review of eligibility criteria for assessment of medical cards.
• An independent review of the effectiveness of the policy measures introduced on foot of the Motor Insurance Advisory Board report to reduce motor insurance costs for young drivers.
• The development of a new strategic health promotion policy by end of 2007 to address the lifestyle factors undermining young people's health.
The commitments given by the Government to children and young people in Ireland over the next 10 years is a demonstration that young people are valued and valuable members of Irish society
National Youth Council of Ireland. communications@nyci.ie. More 01 4784122; www.ncyi.ie