Croke Park anthem controversy

A chara,

Maybe the IRFU should pass on the two national anthems [& the Ireland’s Call dirge?] and invite Johnny Rotten to perform the Sex Pistols’ “God Save the Queen”, whose last verse is:

God save the queen we mean it man

There is no future in Englands dreaming

No future for you no future for me

No future no future for you

Johnny Rotten [real name John Lydon], whose parents were both Irish, has explained the lyrics as follows: “You don’t write a song like ‘God Save The Queen’ because you hate the English race. You write a song like that because you love them, and you’re sick of seeing them mistreated.”

Is Mise,

Dr Seán Marlow,

Dublin.

 

Sinn Féin and the nuclear option

A chara,

With irrefutable evidence that global warming is now a reality, urgent action both at global and national level is now required. We can no longer approach the issues of energy supply and environmental protection in a casual way. This is an international crisis and every country has a responsibility to play it’s part in averting disaster.

Political progressives, including Irish republicans must examine how best to adapt to the new conditions. This may necessarily involve changing the way we have traditionally looked at the issue of energy supply. What once was unthinkable may now be unavoidable. Old positions may now be outdated.

We cannot continue to burn fossil fuels at the current rate. We must look at all available alternatives. This includes wind and wave energy, biofuels and recycling. However, we must also examine realistically how long it will take us to develop and adpat to such new forms of energy supply. The current rate of development and exploitation of these energy sources seems pitifully slow.

Bearing this in mind should Sinn Féin not now look also at the other obvious alternative - nuclear power in Ireland? Knee jerk reactions to such suggestions and outdated anti-nuclear positions will not do. Sinn Féin must develop realistic policies that deal with the problems Ireland faces in 2007. Nuclear technonolgy is not what it was in the 1970s or 1980s. We can’t bury our heads in the sand. Lets consider the nuclear option.

Is Mise,

Joe O’Toole

Baile Átha Cliath