Defend democracy

A Chairde,


Today, throughout the Six Counties, thousands of Irish citizens should be on their way to polling stations to elect 108 Assembly Members for the coming five-year term.

On 10 April 1998, the British and Irish governments signed the Good Friday Agreement - an internationally binding treaty. The overwhelming majority of the Irish people subsequently endorsed the Agreement in a referendum.

As part of the Agreement, an elected Assembly was established. This Assembly, the voice of the people, has been suspended no less than five times by the British government on the back of unionist demands.

In February this year, the Assembly Elections were postponed until 29 May. But on 1 May, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, with the support of the Fianna Fáil/PD Coalition, cancelled these elections indefinitely. Democracy itself is now under attack by the very people who lecture the world about this very concept.

That a British Prime Minister can dictate to Irish people living in their own country, when they can vote to elect people that they choose to govern them is a disgrace. That a Dublin government, dominated by Fianna Fáil, (still self professing itself to be the "Republican Party"), supposedly a "partner" to the Good Friday Agreement colludes through silence in this denial of civil and democratic rights is a scandal, once again exposes their subservient attitude to British colonialism in their own country.

Their abandonment once again of Irish nationalists living under British rule is akin to what happened from 1921 up to a few years ago. Remember in 1969, those nationalist people went out with placards calling simply for "One Person, One Vote".

It's hard to believe that after all these years that they have got the right to vote, but the British Prime Minister will dictate to them when they will be allowed use it!

Has anything changed except Fianna Fáil leaders?

Support the protests for democracy this weekend. Demand that the Dublin government stands up for the nationalist people of Derry, Antrim, Down, Armagh, Fermanagh and Tyrone, in the same way that you would expect them to uphold and defend the rights of the people of Waterford, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Clare and Tipperary.


Cllr. Cionnaith Ó Súilleabháin,
Sinn Féin,
Cloich na Coillte,
Contae Chorcaí.

Deny everything!


A Chairde,


Lt Col Tim Collins of the RIR asserted, in response to claims that he had beaten Iraqi prisoners and shot at civilians, that he acted in the best traditions of the British Army.

And there I was, expecting him to deny the allegations!


Dr Seán Marlow,
Dublin

Right of reply

A Chairde,


Come on, Adam O'Toole (An Phoblacht, 22 May), you know perfectly well that our book (Martin McGuinness: From Guns to Government) does not claim "that Martin McGuinness started the Bloody Sunday massacre".

What appears in our book is a detailed account of what Martin McGuinness did before the march, based on an account from Paddy Ward, a contemporary of Martin McGuinness and a Fianna leader in 1972. Ward was subsequently recruited into the IRA by McGuinness and later joined the INLA.

We go on to describe what McGuinness did later in the march, information which comes from a variety of eyewitness sources.

Neither of us has ever tried to put the blame on McGuinness for the deaths on Bloody Sunday - we cast doubt on Infliction's claims, for example, and we specifically state in the footnotes to Chapter 4: "Those quoted here who saw McGuinness on the day are adamant that he tried to attack the army on several occasions, none of them successful. They would like it recorded that, in their view, nothing could have justified the Army's murder of 14 unarmed civilians on Bloody Sunday, a point on which the authors are in complete agreement."

The truth about what happened on Bloody Sunday is too important for trivial point scoring and neither of us intends to engage in it. We have both continually encouraged those who have given us accounts of what they experienced on Bloody Sunday to give statements to the Saville Inquiry, as has Martin McGuinness. People can make up their own minds why Lord Saville is still appealing for people who were members of the IRA at the time of Bloody Sunday to give evidence. So far very few have come forward, although Paddy Ward is in the process of finalising arrangements to give evidence.

The problem for the republican movement with campaigning for inquiries and tribunals, like the Saville Inquiry, is that you then have to accept the evidence given in good faith, without demonising those brave enough to come forward. Time for a reality check - it's the truth, stupid, and we all have to live with it, no matter how unpleasant that truth may be.

By the way, I was surprised to read criticism of Anthony McIntyre for carrying an interview about our arrests by the PSNI team investigating the publication of taped transcripts of Martin McGuinness and Mo Mowlam and Jonathan Powell, among others.

While it is true that McIntyre's website, in the past, has carried a favourable review of our book, he himself wrote a fairly critical one. Should he not have?

I had thought that An Phoblacht followed Sinn Féin's policy of opposing both censorship and heavy handed police tactics - obviously a case, yet again, where the republican movement follows the dictum, "don't do as I do, do as I say".

1984 or what?


Kathy Johnston

The rights of small nations

A Chairde,


On Thursday, hundreds of thousands of people in the Six Counties should be excercising their democratic rights and voting in the Assembly elections. They won't get that chance, however, because Britain, a thorn in the this country's side for the last 800 years, has once again tightened its stranglehold over the north by refusing to allow its people representatives of their own choosing.

Time and time again our neighbour has shown that it has no interest in the welfare of this country. For years it actively colluded in murdering our citizens, and has yet to offer even a hint of an apology for the crimes that it committed.

Why should Britain be allowed to consistently halt progress in the Six Counties? How can they get away with suspending elections, when anywhere else in the world that is recognised as a hideous denial of human rights?

In the First World War, Britain went to war ostensibly to aid Belgium, a small defenceless nation under attack from an imperial power, whilst at home it ruthlessly suppressed any attempt by Ireland to resist the imperial force at its door.

In 2003, Tony Blair is engaged in setting up democratic elections in Iraq, after supposedly freeing the country from tyranny. It's time for Britain to curb its tyranny in Ireland and allow democratic elections here.


Larry O'Toole,
Sinn Féin Councillor,
Dublin North East

Colombia Three thanks

A Chairde,


We would like to express our gratitude and thanks, through your newspaper, to all those who contributed to the success of the Colombian Three function in Castlebellingham on Friday 2 May. We would especially like to thank those who bought and sold tickets to the hotel and staff, those who provided security on the night and those who organised buses and donated prizes for ballot.

Obviously, the financial burden on the families of the three men is enormous, and we would encourage all republicans to continue to lend their support, financial and otherwise, to alleviate the suffering of the men and their families and to help ensure their release.


Function Organising Committee,
Louth

Right to protest against policing farce

A Chairde,


Across the North, public meetings convened by the Department of Regional Development to discuss its attempted imposition of Water Charges have been a rowdy affairs.

Members of the public have rightly disrupted these meetings, forcing the organisers to abandon an agenda that is prescriptive ie. "We're imposing water charges no mater what, but we are willing to give you the opportunity to discuss how you should pay."

On the issue of policing we have been presented with a similar fait accomplit

ie. "You can have a police force where British Military Intelligence and their political masters remain firmly in control, where those who were up to their necks in collusion with loyalists retain prominent positions within its higher echelons, but we are willing to create the illusion of accountability and public participation through the setting up of talking shops called District Policing Partnerships."

So in congratulating those who are exposing the Water Rates charges charade, I would also like to congratulate those protesters who exposed the so-called public consultation on policing that took place in Omagh District Council on Wednesday night last.


Seán Ó Corra,
Tír Eoghain