An Phoblacht/Republican News  ·  Thursday November 30 1995

Dawning of sanity?

A Chairde,

In the months that have passed since the cease-fire was declared, I have been tempted on numerous occasions to put pen to paper and churn out words such as inept leadership, sellout, traitors, etc, etc!

Admittedly I have more faith in the persuasion of the sword over the spoken word.

At such times I have realised that whatever my own personal feelings, over the course of time it must be the politicians who settle Ireland's conflict with England, but at the same instant we must not be afraid to say talking is not working, we must return to war if the British government has no real interest in peace.

Does the government have a genuine interest in peace? I believe that this is the only question that needs to be debated within the Republican Movement.

I don't believe that they do; what does the Republican Movement honestly believe?

If the answer reached is the same as my own, then sooner rather than later the armed struggle must be renewed.

I'll finish this letter with an extract from Nelson Mandela's speech to the court, shortly before he was jailed in 1962.

``Government violence can only breed counter violence. Ultimately, if there is no dawning of sanity on the part of the government the dispute between the government and my people will be settled by force.''

Michael Power,
Surrey,
England.

Ordeal of West Papua

A Chairde,

I am writing this to draw your attention to a place called West Papua (Irian Jaya), which is the western half of the island of New Guinea. Indonesia colonised West Papua in 1963, and since then the 900,000 West Papuans have lived under Indonesian rule against their will.

The amount of tribal people killed by Indonesian troops since the takeover is uncertain, but 300,000 has been quoted as the number.

Authorities try to stop foreign journalists investigating atrocities, so it is almost impossible to know exactly what is currently going on. Although there have been reports of murder, intimidation and torture.

West Papua has been systematically suppressed with the help of weapons like Hawk ground-attack aircraft, supplied by British Aerospace.

The Indonesian propaganda machine ensure that the views of the West Papuan people, who want independent, are unheard.

These people have no means of appealing to the outside world for assistance.

Laura,
South Armagh.

British Labour & Ireland

A Chairde,

Regarding Mo Mowlam's article in AP/RN as reprinted in the Irish People:

Ms Mowlam opens her article by patting herself and her party on the back, claiming that Labour's policies in 1981 were precursers to the declarations and agreements currently at work in Ireland. If this is true then that is fine, but Labour did nothing in 1981 to act on its policies, that I know of. She then goes on to write that ``every attempt must be made to diffuse issues'', etc. Any idea as to how, Mo? She speaks then of reconciliation, which is one of the popular cries of all politicians today that are followed by no bold actions. She goes on to conclude that ``Dialogue must be matched by actions on all sides to diffuse tensions and to build trust and confidence.'' In this, I cannot help ut feel she wants us to infer that disarmament would diffuse tensions.

Ms Mowlam wasted my time in this article, with political hogwash and mere lip service to the peace process. As a poet and lover of language, I found no word throughout this article which showed fire, commitment or conviction on the matter of Ireland. You know, the type of word that leaps from the page and invades your consciousness and forces you to say ``I think she means it.'' No, rather this article was meant to keep the Irish voters from completely turning their back on labour in the wake of Tony Blair's snub.

Frankly, I think that Tony Blair is less than mature, and that he is afraid of getting involved with ``dark and shadowy Irish republicans'' lest he get in over his head, somehow. Just what we need, another spineless head of state in jolly old intransigent England. Keep the guns well oiled, people.

Stephen Dodge,
USA.

Tom Muldowney

A Chairde,

In this week's edition of your paper you pay a nice tribute to Tom Muldowney who died recently in South Australia.

There is one item I wish to draw to your attention. Tom was born in the townland of Tullinacurra, in the parish of Swinford and not Bohola as mentioned. We grew up together and while I am some years older than Tom other members of his family and myself were teenagers together.

On his last trip to Ireland a few years ago we met and chatted for some time. Tom was all your described him in the obituary notes this week.

Go ndeanfaid dia trocaire ar a anam.

Michael Geraghty.

Credit to Ireland

A Chairde,

With your kind permission we should like to congratulate Dara Mac Neill on his excellent article highlighting the continuing barbarism of the US blockade of Cuba.

Like Ireland, Cuba has, for many years, been subjected to military, economic and cultural aggression by its powerful next door neighbour. The trilingual inscription, in Irish, English and Spanish, on the famous plaque in Havana's O'Reilly Street, recognises this identity of interests between the two countries: ``Muintir dhá oileán sa bhfarraige coibhlinte agus dóchas céanna, Cúba agus Eire''. (Two island peoples in the same sea of struggle and hope, Cuba and Ireland.)

The Cubans, however, are fiercely nationalistic and, above all, have their own language as a barrier against the onslaughts of US cultural imperialism. The national slogan is ``Patria o muerte''! - Fatherland or death! Go mair síad!

A legend in his own lifetime, Castrol is Latin America's folk-hero. He has already taken his place alongside the great liberators of the 19th Century, Simon Bolivar, José de San Martin and the liberator of Chile, our own Bernardo O'Higgins. Time magazine used the following headlines to describe his recent visit to New York: `Fidel takes Manhattan'; `Fidelmania rocks the Big Apple'; `Castro turns his ostracism by US into a public relations triumph'. The Irish Times' David Shanks, closed his recent article on Fidel as follows: ``His country's severe economic predicament has not quelled an audacity of spirit that now reflects the world's most progressive thinking on democratising the world order - and the United Nations.''

Despite our dependence on President Clinton to push forward the peace process, it is to Mr Spring's credit that Ireland proudly took her place amongst the nations of the earth, at the UN General Assembly, and voted with the 116 other countries to condemn the US embargo. Our President, Mary Robinson, was seated beside Fidel at the official UN reception on 22 October and was, without a doubt, invited to visit Cuba. Let us hope that she will be allowed to go.

Tomás O Raghallaigh,
Oifigeach caidrimh phoiblí,
Cuba Solidarity Campaign,
Reachtas Dlúthpháirtíochta Eireann le Cuba,
20 Seaview Terrace,
Howth,
County Dublin.
Telephone: 832 4169/677 2612
Fax: 706 1195.