Where's the `S' word?
A Chara,
Last week, Tommy Gorman queried if the republican leadership had abandoned the quest for a socialist Ireland, and if that is so, had all our struggle and suffering been in vain. I certainly share his concerns that the `S' word seems to have been banned by Sinn Féin speech-writers and spokespersons.
Indeed, our local Sinn Féin cumann has, on two occasions in recent years, had Ard Fheis motions discussed urging the party to speak out on this issue and to make our economic policies those of a movement striving for socialism.
However, while I still believe that our primary objective is a reunited country, our ultimate goal remains a socialist, secular republic. The reunification of Ireland shall only be the start - then comes the struggle for our vision of what that nation should be.
So to answer his question, `Has the leadership decided to accept a 32 County Free State?' - I don't believe so. But in the case of reunification, `Will Sinn Féin as a party stay united in the quest for a socialist Ireland?' - I don't believe so.
Unfortunately, for many in the party, and some in leadership, national freedom might be enough. But I do believe that there are enough people with the vision and the energy to make the Sinn Féin of the future the vehicle for that struggle and even to work along with the socialists in the Protestant community who would share that goal in a nation free from partition and British interference.
Has it all been in vain? No, I don't believe so, as long as no one forgets that this struggle is far from over, and a new flag flying over our land is only another step on the way.
Sean Oilibhear,
Newington,
Béal Feirste.
Knocking Patten
A Chara,
It is important that republicans should knock the Chris Patten Report on the head from day one.
This document is not worth the paper it's written on. It is clear that the RUC should be disbanded now. Just because they change their rotten name doesn't mean they change their murdering members.
These are the so-called police force that have shot dead Pearse Jordan and others and have colluded in many more. Their name is known all over the world in particular for their brutality.
They are the people who stood by and watched Robert Hamill being beaten to death.
Disband them now.
Don Bullman,
Cork City.
Women - the rock
A Chara,
As a mother of seven children and a member of Sinn Féin since 1969, at the early age of 19, I strongly agree with Martina Anderson's view while remembering Volunteer Ethyl Lynch (An Phoblacht, 26 August).
She wrote that too often the women who played their part in the struggle of the last 30 years are forgotten. For over 20 years, I wrote to prisoners in the North, Portlaoise, and England, none of whom I even knew. That is how the late Mick Murray became a dear friend to me. That was the easy part of being a republican, though.
There were many hard times for women, especially the Heavy Gang years, when our husbands and partners were being brutally beaten in Garda stations throughout the 26 Counties, and Heavy Gang detectives were telling us our children would be taken away from us by social workers if we didn't back out of Sinn Féin. I bet many a woman remembers that phrase.
They were hard times, but many women became the rock of their partners and stuck by their republican ideals.
The women joining our struggle today will hopefully never experience what we went through.
Teresa O'Connor,
Offaly.
Religious strife
A Chara,
I was mildly amused by Mícheál Mac Donncha's somewhat bizarre letter (An Phoblacht, 9 September) implying that my review of Towards a Celtic Church was specifically aimed at prosletysing him in particular. At risk of seeming uncharitable, Mícheál's spiritual well-being is, frankly, the least of my concerns.
As an ex-editor of An Phoblacht, however, he should be well aware of book review procedure. In accordance with this, I was sent a copy of the book by the An Phoblacht editorial board and asked to review it, which I did. The content matter had to do with religion, not quantum physics or gardening, and my review reflected this reality accordingly.
Elsewhere in the course of his curious literary fulmination, Mícheál takes umbrage at my use of the term ``Keep the Faith'' and appears to lose the plot completely.
As every dyed-in-the-wool republican knows, this is an old political catch-cry and has nothing to do with religion. I used it as a pun in the context of the article - so much for nuance. One really shouldn't have to explain basic republican phraseology to someone as long in the tooth politically as Mícheál.
On a more sinister level, his letter smacks of censorship and intolerance when he demands a ban on religious reference in the pages of An Phoblacht. Republicans have had enough of this nonsense over the years, and while many of us dislike the coverage of English soccer in the paper, we nevertheless believe in the right to freedom of expression.
It ill-behoves a former editor to tell us what we can or cannot write or read. Whatever hang-ups Mícheál may have about religion, he is not entitled to prevent any sections of the broad republican family from exercising their right to free speech. I've had enough of the ``Papists Out'' brigade in the Six Counties and can do without similar attitudes from fellow republicans.
Gerry McGeough,
Tír Eoghain.
Surrendering Weapons
A Chara,
On the issue of surrendering arms, it is useful to remember what Michael Collins had to say on the matter in 1920. I quote:
``The actions taken indicated an over-keen desire for peace, and although terms of Truce were virtually agreed upon, they were abandoned because the British leaders thought these actions indicated weakness and they subsequently decided to insist upon surrendering of our arms. The result was the continuation of our struggle.''
This is an extract from his own book written by himself between the Treaty and the Civil War. Substitute the Good Friday Agreement (GFA), massively endorsed by the whole people North and South, for the Collins words above, ``Terms of Truce''. The GFA cannot be renegotiated - it must move ahead in spirit and to the letter. It is the clear duty of the two governments to move ahead with or without those who are now deliberately obstructing it.
A majority of unionists supported the Agreement and a recent Irish Times opinion poll showed that the position has not changed. However, time is clearly running out and unless the political elements of the Agreement are moved forward quickly, the vacuum may at any time be filled with the unthinkable abyss of a return to violence.
It is probably now necessary for the two governments to exercise joint sovereignty and appoint civil servants to fill the posts in all the bodies envisaged in the Agreement, in the event of the political parties failing to fulfill their responsibilities. This will entail the engagement of a neutral police force and a neutral peacekeeping force.
The onus is clearly on the Irish government, with the full backing of all parties in the Dáil, to apply the necessary pressure to move the political agenda forward. If the British government continues to bow to the Orange Card it should be challenged to put it to a referendum in Britain.
Hugo Flinn,
Newtownmountkennedy,
County Wicklow.
Tyrone expulsions
A Chara,
In response to SDLP Councillor Patsy McGlone's recent letter in the Irish News following the recent expulsions in County Tyrone, his attempt to use the noble words of Pastor Martin Niemoller out of context was nothing less than a piece of baseless political opportunism.
Where was his voice when the political and military forces of this statelet were:
Criminalising our political prisoners in the H Blocks and Armagh;
Maiming young children with plastic bullets;
Censoring the voice of elected republicans;
Denying the right to silence of political detainees and human rights activists;
Shooting unarmed nationalists and colluding with loyalist death-squads in East Tyrone and South Derry.
I could continue relentlessly with violations of political and human rights, but for some unknown reason Councillor McGlone is preoccupied with condemning the mote in the eye of the oppressed while ignoring the beam in the eye of oppressor.
John Kelly,
Sinn Féin Assembly Member,
South Derry.
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