Mála Poist

Nelson McCausland — what a card!

A Chairde,

Nelson McCausland — what a card! Not only is he a leading member of Ireland's version of the Ku Klux Klan, the Orange Order, he thinks his 'Romanist' neighbours aren't even Christians. He said so openly. He can't find a reference to them in the Bible, so, in Nelson's blinkered view, they don't exist as Christians. They might exist as second-class citizens, but that is about as far as Nelson is prepared to venture.

When an application was made to Belfast City Council to fund the Prestigious Celtic Film Festival‚ DUP Councillor McCausland turned the request down because "this is not a Celtic country'. What a wit!

The mono-cultural Nelson is well named after the one-eyed British Admiral and his bigoted incoherence reminds us of another British general who, on being called "Irish", retorted: "Being born in a stable does not make one a horse."

Nelson has yet another claim to fame. When unionist thugs were blockading Holy Cross School in North Belfast, Nelson was fulminating on the radio, but not about the attack on little children and their parents trying to get to school. No, Nelson was raging about the GAA's Sam Maguire Cup being named after an "IRA terrorist". Betcha he didn't know that Sam, a sidekick of Michael Collins during the War of Independence, was a West Cork Protestant from Dunmanway. That kind of fact wouldn't register on the McCausland Richter scale.

Now I see that Nelson is to lead the Orangemen in Cork city, in Sam Maguire's home county on St Patrick's Day. I hope the people of rebel Cork give this arch bigot, who has some sort of educational role in the Orange Order (a contradiction in terms if ever I heard one), a good rebel welcome. They should ask him why he is so opposed to funding the same event in Belfast - is it because it is the "romanists" who are organising it?

The problem with the Orange Order and its leaders is that they are too thick to understand the offence they cause, or too obtuse to care. The people of Cork should attempt to prise open the lid of Orange prejudice and point out that we do not accept that a person's religious preference could or should be confused with his or her sense of nationality.

Jeremy Marksman,

Dunmanway, Cork.

Cops-are-robbers

A Chairde,

Oh, how the tables have turned. It now seems that the only hard evidence in the Northern Bank robbery points firmly back at the PSNI/RUC. It seems the two governments, the IMC, and Hugh Orde have been caught with egg on their face and need to do some serious explaining. With this being the only hard evidence to date, they really have some brass necks to blame republicans.

£50,000 confirmed to be from the Northern Bank raid found at the RUC Athletic Association's New Forge Lane Country Club following a tip off from a PSNI officer - 'nuff said (doubt they will raid Orde's home!). This club has stubbornly held on to the old RUC name and the same behaviour of old that carries on today in the PSNI. This is no surprise to us in the nationalist/republican community, for we have been well aware for decades that the PSNI/RUC are nothing but criminal thugs and here's the proof (don't start me on collusion).

They even had the audacity to accuse republicans one hour after the find of planting the money to displace the blame (one of their famous 60-minute thorough investigations). When will the lies end?

The securocrats and spies have been working overtime to curtail Sinn Féin's growth in the mouth of an election. Now the only thing acceptable is a public apology from Tony Blair, Bertie Ahern, the IMC, and Hugh Orde for their malicious attempts to scupper the peace process in their blind hatred of republicans.

The people now need to show the governments that they are fed up with their lies, their criminal attempts to manipulate the minds of the electorate, and sabotage of the peace process. We the people can make a change by coming out in force on 5 May to support democratic resistance by voting Sinn Féin to bring an end to government corruption and build an Ireland of equals.

We need to stay focused and keep in mind that the real issue for the Irish people is not the theft of £26.5 million; it is the fact that the British Government stole the Six Counties and it's time to take them back.

MN,

Falls Road, Belfast.

Commercial resistance

A Chairde,

Regarding the ongoing campaign of criminalisation and trial by media, with few exceptions, it's time we took this on. We should vote with our feet, our voices our pens and computers, and most importantly, our purses.

We know that journalistic standards, whether in the print or electronic media, are based on profit and popularism. The investigative journalist is an endangered species and truth has been sacrificed for sensationalism.

The media onslaught on the Republican Movement now is no different from that which happened during the Hunger Strikes. Spin, the new word for lies, allows the tin pot reporters who think they are God to indulge in character assassinations, to play as dirty as the establishment from whom they take their cue, to engage in the sordid debased form of journalism which we saw on UTV last week.

It is open season on republicans and felon baiting is the byword for Questions and Answers, and indeed most RTÉ talk programmes. We should recognise this latest onslaught for what it is, the Brit agenda being played out by the Irish and British establishment via the media conduit.

So let's take it on. Newspapers depend on people to buy their papers. Stop buying those papers that continually tow the British and McDowell line without question. If we desperately need to read what they are writing, we can see it in the library. Write and tell their editors why you are doing this.

Don't insert Death or In Memoriam notices. Most papers rely on the revenue generated by such notices to pay their bills. In respect of the electronic media, most of whom also rely on advertisements, take note of the products being advertised. Select one or two, get a group together and stop buying that product. Write and tell the makers why you are doing it.

Think back to the boycott of South African goods during the apartheid years. It worked. Check out the shareholders of local supermarkets, businesses etc; You will find many politicians hold shares in various businesses. Withdraw your support from these.

As individuals, we may not have much power but collectively we have a lot. We are all in this together and we cannot leave it to the leadership to face this onslaught alone.

Last but most important, buy our own paper and those who can, get out and sell it.

Money Talks,

Derry.

(Name and address with editor)

An Phoblacht/Republican News welcomes readers' letters. Letters in Irish or English should be kept short (no more than 200 words) and typed or handwritten clearly, double-spaced and on one side of the paper only. Name and address should be supplied for verification, but these will not be published if we are so requested.