Republican News · Thursday 11 October 2001

Sellafield insult

A Chairde,

I would be grateful for the opportunity to express my concern and dismay at the British government's decision to expand the facilities at the Sellafield Nuclear Reprocessing Plant, particularly in light of the fact that this matter is currently the subject of international arbitration.

Having turned the Irish Sea into a toxic dump, British Nuclear Fuels now proposes to further endanger the people of this island with a reckless expansion programme of what is already an environmental disaster waiting to happen. Scientific opinion has indicated that a serious accident at Sellafield could lead to a scenario that would dwarf even the Chernobyl catastrophe of 1986. We should not forget that Sellafield is only 60 miles from the Irish coast and poses a far greater threat to Dublin and the Eastern seaboard than it does to Londoin. Once again, the decision makers in the British establishment have shown their contempt for the people of Ireland. Is this an example of the 'New Era' in Irish/British relationships as set out in the Good Friday Agreement?

I would urge all concerned people in Kerry and throughout the island to write to the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, at 10 Downing Street, Whitehall, London SW1, expressing their opposition to this proposal in no uncertain terms.

Councillor Martin Ferris,
Tralee,
County Kerry.

The right to choose

A Chairde,

The Saturday morning of the Ard FhÈis, I discovered that the Labour Party was a more radical, more progressive force in Irish political life than Sinn FÈin. At least in the area of a woman's right to choose.

A political organisation I have mocked, ridiculed, abused and treated with contempt in every way I know, had just endorsed, by one vote, the right of Irish women to choose to have an abortion in their own country.

Suddenly, Sinn FÈin's stance on abortion, always an irritant to me, became something to be ashamed of. The radical, fresh, cutting edge alternative to the politics of the 'establishment' appears, on this one, though crucial issue, to be the same tired, stale, conservative morality driven rubbish we've been fighting for decades.

By the time the next Ard Fheis comes around, thousands of Irish women will have made the trip across to Britain. They will go through one of the most traumatic periods of their lives and in many cases they will do so alone, and on borrowed money. And oddly, we find this acceptable. We, the party who would never accept a British solution to an Irish problem in any other area, are more than happy to let them look after this one for us. We, the party who claims the time has come for the Irish people to take their rightful place among the nations of the world as a free and united state, are happy to duck responsibility and cede our sovereignty to Britain on this issue.

We do this, I believe, out of a moral cowardice, because we're afraid of the so-called Pro-Lifers, a name which is perhaps one of the greatest triumphs of branding the world has known. If someone is Pro-Life then their opponent must, logically, be Anti-Life and opposed to all things good and decent and moral. Well it's time to call a spade a spade. It's not Pro-Life, it's Anti-Choice. The only thing these people are 'Pro' is a continuation of business as usual.

Don't get me wrong. I don't get up every morning grateful that abortion is possible. I personally find the idea disturbing on every level. I even have the extra facet of self-interest. My brother, whose level of political interest is so great that he occasionally checks in with me to make sure Bertie Ahern is still Taoiseach, made the very good point that had abortion been about when he and I were conceived we, being adopted and therefore unwanted pregnancies, might never have made it out of our birth-mother's womb.

I can understand why people are opposed to abortion. I can understand why people find it difficult and morally questionable. Or I can understand as much as any man can. But I cannot understand the belief that being anti-abortion means being anti-choice. Advocating a woman's right to choose is simply that. Advocating their human right to control over their own bodies. I feel neither the obligation nor the right to enforce my moral beliefs on abortion on anyone and this should be the stance of the party and movement that I love and support.

Come Hell or high water, let's make sure abortion is on the agenda at the next Ard Fheis. And then when the motion is on the Cl·r we fight every step of the way to get it passed.

d yes, it might damage us electorally. Any yes, it might lead to people calling us murderers and baby-killers (though in fairness we get that anyway) but it's still the right thing to do. It is time for Sinn FÈin, a party which more than any has stood up for the disadvantaged, the despised, the hated, the ignored and the defenceless, to stand up for the Irish women who are going to board a ship or a plane for England tomorrow.

Justin Moran,
Dublin.

Gender balance and Sinn FÈin

A Chairde,

The failure of the recent Ard fheis to pass motion 189 dealing with the gender imbalance in the Ard Comhairle has again brought the issue of gender balance to the fore in our party. The arguments for and against the motion are, in my view equally compelling.

This gender imbalance which motion 189 seeks to address, exists at all levels of our organisation. We however must not wait until the next Ard Fheis to attempt to address this issue. In the next few weeks we all have an opportunity to address this imbalance in our own local area. After the Ard Fheis all levels of the party must have their respective AGMs. This is a perfect opportunity to seriously address this issue. Women for a variety of reasons are not represented in leadership roles (or membership for that matter) in the numbers they should be to enable our party to be a reflection of the society we live in.

I would urge all our members to reflect on this as they elect their respective officer boards in the coming weeks. And remember the best man for the job is possibly the woman sitting next to you.

Maurice Quinlivan,
Limerick City.

Cusack's even-handedness

A Chairde,

I have noticed that the Irish Times 'Security Correspondent' is assiduous in his 'even-handed' approach to sectarian attacks in the North.

When dealing with the fact of systematic attacks on Catholics (with bullets, pipe-bombs, solid implements and fisticuffs) Mr Jim Cusack immediately searches for and usually finds a Protestant who has suffered a similarly brutal fate and leads with that relatively exceptional fact (see Irish Times 17 August 2001, "Nail-bomb attack blamed on republican gang"). Similarly, when reporting the concerted campaign of sectarian attacks on Catholic Children and their parents trying to get to school in the morning, Mr Cusack takes pains to find a busload of Protestant school children who have had stones thrown at them and predictably leads with that (see Irish Times 13 September 2001, "Intimidation of Protestant children alleged").

Such dedication to the task of deflecting anger from the major source of sectarian attack is obviously based on that old journalistic adage: "Dog bites man is not news, man bites dog is", or in this case "Catholics under sustained sectarian attack is not news, incidents of the same fate being suffered by Protestants is".

Well done, Jim. What a masterful riposte to Vincent Browne's suggestion (Opinion, 15 August) that "the mainstream media has been indifferent to the plight of northern nationalists". Browne noted that he had to get the required information from An Phoblacht - it looks as though he will have to continue to do so.

Mick Finnegan,
Cabra,
Dublin 7.

Ellis in Wonderland!

A Chairde,

The blatant double standards being applied by the British government and the UUP are sickening in their hypocrisy. Just a few examples:

1. The UUP and British Government insist that Sinn FÈin prove its "total commitment to democracy", yet they repeatedly suspend, review and twist and turn every way to avoid elections, the essence of democracy.

2. The UUP's illegal behaviour in obstructing the All-Ireland bodies is being rewarded by the British government, while those parties trying their best to operate the Good Friday Agreement, despite the UUP's obstruction, are being penalized.

3. The UUP's exclusion motion was co-sponsored by the PUP, the proclaimed representatives of the UVF, who have repeatedly said that they won't necessarily disarm even if the IRA does. That's the same UVF who placed a huge bomb in Ballycastle just over a month ago.

4. When Sinn FÈin didn't take seats on the Policing Board because of the failure to fully implement the Patten compromise on policing, the British government went ahead and applied the d'Hont mechanism to fill their places with mostly unionists. Yet, as the unionists walk away from the Executive for which they signed up, the same British government are failing to apply the same d'Hont principle and fill the vacant places with those who are prepared to operate the Agreement, for which the people voted.

Makes me feel like Ellis in Wonderland!

Cllr Dessie Ellis,
Finglas,
Dublin 11