The real fraudsters
Most media coverage of the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor
General has concentrated on ``official waste and fraud'' including
£13.6 million on ``suspected welfare fraud''.
This is made to sound like a huge amount (and it is!) but it is
less than a hundredth of the £1690 million outstanding in tax
arrears, mostly from companies and the self-employed. There was
no outcry at the Revenue Commissioners' admission that they would
fail to collect an incredible £1140 million of this.
In the same vein, the Companies Registration Office reported that
less than 35% of Companies had filed annual accounts as required
by law - and many of these were inaccurate. Only last week a
study by the Economics Department of TCD found that the tax
system over the last 15 years had greatly favoured the wealthy
over the poor.
Could there be any connection between this continuous favourable
treatment for the rich (and the consequent discrimination against
the low-paid and unemployed) and the recent revelations of
surreptitious large donations to politicians from wealthy
companies and individuals?
Given the current domination of Leinster House by parties which
benefited from such donations, I doubt that a tribunal will be
established to find out.
Sean Marlow
Bloody Sunday inquiry
A chairde,
Mo Mowlam's recent statement at the Labour Party conference that
internment without trial is to be taken off the statute books is
to be welcomed. However, such a move can hardly be seen as a
concession to nationalists and republicans as suggested by some
unionist politicians, who have called for internment to be
reintroduced many times. The removal of the power to intern under
emergency legislation can be seen largely as a cosmetic move as
such powers have not been used since the early 1970s and
internment without trial was recommended for removal by the
Standing Advisory Commission on Human Rights as early as 1978.
What would be very welcome from Mo Mowlam, and a significant
contribution to the peace process, is a commitment from the
Labour government for an independent public inquiry into the
events of Bloody Sunday in 1972, which resulted in 14 unarmed
civil rights protesters being shot dead by the First Parachute
Regiment. Despite new evidence which emerged last year,
successive British governments have failed to admit
responsibility for Bloody Sunday and by adhering to the
`findings' of the Widgery Inquiry, they have actively suppressed
the truth.
The annual march in Britain to remember those killed on Bloody
Sunday and to call for an new inquiry takes place on Saturday, 24
January 1998 in London.
Enda Finlay,
Bloody Sunday March Organising Committee.
Only certainty in peace process
A chairde,
I have come to the conclusion that there is only one certainty in
the peace process. It is that six months after No Other Law
writes a letter to An Phoblacht, events prove that what she/he
has written is total and absolute claptrap.
Last week's letter is a case in point. No Other Law is quite
happy to take as gospel every mischievous report from every
discredited anti-republican journalist and use it to bolster
his/her argument that Sinn Féin's strategy is against republican
principles.
Aren't we lucky to have someone like No Other Law to keep us on
the right track?
Tony McKeown
Belfast
Better communist than fascist
A chairde,
Did David Trimble succumb to political naivety when branding Sinn
Féin as fascist? Had he lambegged, sorry lambasted them as
communists, he might have gained support from the hierarchy in
Maynooth and the Pentagon, Washington.
Jack Kennedy,
London.
Dismay at McAliskey case
A Chairde,
I am writing to express my dismay at the handling of the Roisin
McAliskey case by the British authorities. It is a disgrace to
see this fiasco carrying on for so long. Roisin was arrested in
November 1996 and, as we know, was pregnant at the time. She has
since had her baby and is now in a special psychiatric unit.
It is time for the Irish government to do all that it can to stop
all extradition proceedings against Roisin. She has suffered
enough.
Liam Frahill,
Limerick.
Running for POWs
A chairde,
Ex-POW Michael Burke will be running n the Dublin City Marathon
in support of the Repatriation of Republican Prisoners from
English jails.
This will take place on Monday 27 October (Bank Holiday).
Sponsorship cards are still available from the POW Department, 44
Parnell Square, Dublin 1. Every effort from supporters to get
sponsorship for this will be very much appreciated by the POW
Department.
yone who would like to make a personal donation can do so by
sending money to POW Department, 44 Parnell Square, Dublin 1.
If supporters would like to turn up at the end of the marathon to
give Mickey a cheer for all his efforts, please do so.
Bernie Farrell,
Sinn Féin POW Department.
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