Villagers: Letters to the Editor 2006-06-08

RSF 100th ard fheis - Ó Bradaigh was founder member

With great amusement I read Donnacha McGills assertion that Republican Sinn Féin (RSF) celebrated its 100th ard fheis last year. I am only 34 and was present in the West County Hotel Lucan in 1986. This followed a walk-out from the Sinn Féin ard fheis at which the policy of abstentionism was dropped. A group of people – including Ruairí Ó Bradaigh, Daithí O'Connell, Des Long, Lita Campbell, Mary Ward, Geraldine Taylor, John Joe O'Neill and Eimear O'Connor – were placed on a caretaker executive from which the party RSF was formed. That was 1986. Hence the original assertion that Ó Bradaigh was a founder member of RSF would be correct. However, I am happy to say that when I turned 16 I didn't join the new party RSF.

Cliona Butler, Mallow, Cork

Home Rule - Home Rule denied to the Arabs

I would like to point out that a glitch in the production process last week completely altered the thrust of my letter on the subject of the 1916 Rising, inserting the sentence "Home Rule was an empty promise" before my opening line. My point was substantially different, pointing out that we will never truly know whether the rising killed off any prospect of Home Rule but we do know that a similar promise made to the Arabs during World War I, was betrayed while they were still fighting and dying for the Allies.

Michael O'Kelly, Upper Leeson St, Dublin 4

How the Irish ended up in Flanders

I do hope you will not put a premature end to the correspondence on 1916. It has become the definitive debate on the subject and I know

several people who buy the magazine because of it.

Pierce Martin says: "Had Redmond recognised the principle of consent, he could have had Home Rule in 1912" (Village, 25-31 May 2006).

What was on offer in 1912 from the Unionists was total opposition to Home Rule in any shape or form for Ireland. That was opposition not just to Redmond but to the governments's policy.

It seems that what Pierce Martin means by "the principle of consent" in the matter of the Home Rule conflict is consent by the government to the demand of the Opposition that it should not implement a measure for which it had a parliamentary majority. On that principle democratic government becomes impossible.

Pierce believes that the UVF and Carson were bluffing. He says it was "implausible" that Carson would "plunge Ireland into the horrors of civil war" over Home Rule. The government of the time,which was in a better position to know, did not think Carson or the UVF were bluffing. It capitulated to the Unionist organisation of physical force and it only enacted the Home Rule Bill on the basis of an agreement with the Unionists that it should not be implemented. That was the beginning of the end for the great Liberal Party, which broke up under Unionist pressure two years later.

Pierce is also wide of the mark when he says: "If conflict had arisen between France and Germany, or Germany and Britain, such disputes would have been settled by negotiation, not war."

The Great War into which Redmond lured tens of thousands of Irishmen to their deaths, had its source in Alsace-Lorraine, a mixed German/French region which was willing to settle down in either state. France gained it in the 18th century, and lost it in 1870 when it made war on Germany and lost.

In the Peace Settlement, France accepted the loss of the region but never reonciled itself to it. If it had done so, there would have been no major point of dispute between France and Germany. Germany had no territorial demands of any kind on any of its neighbours, or on Britain.

But Britain encouraged French irredentism with regard to Alsace, with a view to gaining an opportunity to make war on Germany, whose economic power it was finding difficult to cope with, and whose peaceful foreign policy was helping the Ottoman Empire to consolidate its state apparatus in the Middle East and block the expansion of the British Empire.

Germany's declaration of war on France was not the reason given by Britain for making war on Germany. Surely Pierce knows that the reason given was the marching of a German army through Belgium. Germany sought to ascertain Britain's conditions for neutrality.

If Britain had made a strict observance of Belgian neutrality such a condition, Germany was prepared to observe it. But Britain concealed its conditions until the German Army crossed the Belgian frontier, and then used that as a reason for declaring war. The reasonable conclusion, then, is that it misled Germany into providing it with a reason for declaring war.

If Connolly and Casement had not been reduced to icons, if their writings on Britain's conduct in 1914 were read, there would be a much better understanding of how it came about that tens of thousands of Irishmen died in Flanders and Gallipoli and Mesopotamia.

Jack Lane, Aubane, Co Cork

STATEMENT - Oxfam brings aid to Indonesia

Oxfam's emergency teams are working around the clock to bring clean drinking water and essential supplies to thousands of people made homeless by the Yogyakarta earthquake. The powerful earthquake, measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale, struck central Java near Yogyakarta, a city of approximately 800,000 people, on 27 May.

Oxfam staff have been working hard in the affected areas to gauge the needs of the many thousands of people affected and to plan the response.

Three Oxfam teams carried out assessments in Bantul, the worst effected district in the south west of Yogyakarta, and in villages further to the south. In some villages south of the city up to 90 per cent of homes have been destroyed. Many houses constructed from mud and brick have collapsed.

Bantul is a densely populated area, and was closest to the epicentre of the earthquake. Medical facilities in Bantul are overcrowded with injured people. Conditions there were described by an Oxfam aid worker as "pretty grim".

Oxfam's teams have delivered 90,000 litres of water, 12,500 tarpaulins and 20,000 other non food tems including jerry cans, soaps, sanitary towels and sarongst.

They estimate that around 30,000 households have been affected by the earthquake, and many people will be sleeping outside tonight.

Oxfam has been working in Yogyakarta for ten years and has a team of 20 staff there, all of whom are now accounted for. Additional staff from Aceh, Jakarta and Bangkok have also travelled to the city.

Oxfam has a stock of relief supplies including shelter materials and water and sanitation equipment in Yogyakarta. Oxfam's teams are also arranging for 5000 buckets and jerry cans to be sent from Jakarta. In Yogyakarta, electricity supplies have been lost in some areas and the mobile phone network has been erratic. The system has been overloaded as people try to contact their families.The Yogyakarta airport is also temporarily closed because of damage caused by the earthquake. Oxfams has pledged €50,000 for immediate relief.

?More www.oxfamireland.org and 1890 606065

Planning - Rezoning isn't the answer

Who are the real beneficiaries of the so-called housing boom in Ireland? Banks with their 40-year mortgages, developers with their constant building, and landowners with the inflated prices being paid for land. As least the first two actually do a bit of work for their money. Landowners just go to the local politician and get their land rezoned.

It appears that politicians in their concern for the plight of house hunters believe rezoning swathes of land, regardless of the amount already zoned, is the best way to lessen house price inflation. This is a flawed way of thinking. One only has to look at our capital city stretching into neighbouring counties to realise what a failed policy this is.

The stated aim of the Dingle Draft Development Plan is to create a compact and accessible town. With this in mind, the Kerry County Council zoned over 170 acres of land for housing. Not content with this, our councillors rezone more land again outside the town boundaries. What is 'unusual' about this is that the extra rezoning is on lands that An Bord Pleanála has refused planning permission on, or where applicants had their applications withdrawn. If our councillors are that concerned with providing land at a reasonable cost, isn't it time to call on the Government to allow local authorities to buy land at agricultural prices plus 25 per cent.

Eoin Ó Mhurchú in his piece on Michael O'Riordan (Village 25-31 May) mentioned the struggle against landlordism, English rule and local gombeenism. It is sad to say but landlordism and gombeenism are alive and well and sustained by our local councillors.

Seán Brosnan, Dingle, Co Kerry

STATEMENT - Economy relies on immigrants

ISME, the Independent Business Organisation, welcomes the encouraging news in the Central Statistics Office (CSO) Quarterly National Household Survey that an additional 89,400 individuals were in employment in the 12 months to the end of March.

However, that evidence of labour tightness in the market needs to be addressed by ensuring a ready supply of labour to fill new vacancies over the next few months. The figures announced confirm the enormous reliance on non-nationals to fill vacancies as they arise. This is substantiated by the fact that non-nationals are estimated to have accounted for almost 50,000 of the annual increase in the numbers in employment.

At the same time the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.4 per cent confirming that displacement of Irish workers, as alleged by the unions, is an unsubstantiated myth. It is obvious that, without non-nationals entering the workplace, the Irish economy would be operating well below capacity and we would not be experiencing the level of growth generated over the last number of years in many sectors. It is essential that we maintain a steady stream of labour to fill future job vacancies which cannot be filled from within. Among the measures required is a comprehensive immigration policy with a well-planned system to identify and attract foreign workers to ensure that employment opportunities are filled without delay.

On the negative side, there is a continuing upsurge in numbers employed in the public sector, with almost 31,000 or 35 per cent of 89,800 jobs created in areas dominated by the public sector, despite the Government's commitment to reduce numbers. In comparison, manufacturing is shedding jobs at an alarming rate with 12,300 jobs lost in the last 12 months. The excessive cost environment, which continues to undermine competitiveness, is eating away at our manufacturing base.

It is crucial that the country maintains a strong manufacturing sector for the future benefit of the economy as a whole.

?More ISME, 17 Kildare Street, Dublin 2; 01 6622755; jim@isme.ie