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An Phoblacht welcomes readers’ letters. Write in Irish or English, 200 words maximum. Letters may be edited for brevity. Send your letters to [email protected]. No attachments please

British Government hypocrisy on victims issue

The British Government now support the Unionist Campaign to force Libya to pay compensation to IRA victims?
They may be opening the proverbial can of worms?
Remember British agents like Brian Nelson travelled to apartheid South Africa and acquired:
•    200 AK 47 assault rifles
•    90 Browning high powered semi-automatic pistols
•    12 RPG 7 Rocket launchers
•    500 fragmentation grenades
•    30,000 rounds of ammunition.
These weapons were distributed to the UDA, UVF and Ulster Resistance by British agents.
They were then used to murder hundreds of British subjects deemed enemies of the British State.
Directed by British State agencies like the Force Research Unit (FRU), Unionist death squads killed:
•    Sinn Féin elected representatives
•    Sinn Féin activists and members of their families
•    IRA Volunteers
•    Civil Rights activists
•    Election workers
•    Human Rights Lawyers
•    Irish Language activists
•    Catholic civilians
They killed to cover their agents’ tracks.
They killed British agents who had outlived their usefulness and Loyalists who knew too much.
They even sacrificed their own soldiers and members of the RUC and UDR to retain their agents’ cover.
So let us have no further hypocrisy regarding a hierarchy of victims.
Instead let us have an International, Independent Truth Commission where issues of Truth and Compensation can be dealt with fairly and equitably.
That is the least we can do for ALL the victims of our conflict.
Robert
McClenaghan,
An Fhirinne

Reject government lies and scaremongering – Vote No

The Government are telling us to trust them and vote Yes to Lisbon. However, since we last voted on the Treaty our Government told us that the fundamentals of Ireland’s economy were strong. Our minister for finance told us that our banks were solid. The Government that negotiated this treaty, has been shown to be completely incompetent and untrustworthy.
When Ireland joined the EEC it contributed 44% of the EEC’s total Fishery Waters but was awarded only 4% of the Catch Quota.
According to Eurostat (EU statistics agency), European fishermen have taken €200 Billion worth of fish out of Irish Waters in the 35 years since we joined.
The figure for “value add” on the fish is less certain, but it is usual to add €2 for every €1 of raw material.  Therefore, Ireland has contributed up to €600 Billion to EU finances since our accession.
After Germany, Ireland is the second largest indirect contributor to EU coffers.  In return, Ireland has received a paltry €58 Billion in the same time frame.
It is a shameful irony that more fish is landed at Cork Airport than at our fishing ports. This tragedy is compounded by the fact that most of this fish was Irish to begin with.
Tens of thousands of long term, sustainable jobs could have been created in Ireland’s most peripheral and deprived areas – jobs in the fish processing and support service industries that could not be relocated to Poland or the Far East at the whim of foreign multinationals.  Instead these jobs have been exported to Europe and what jobs existed here are being lost.
A NO vote on 2 October will not result in Ireland’s being left behind by the rest of the EU because (a) they cannot do so and (b) it is not in their interest to do so.  Ireland and her vast expanse of marine territory is much too valuable an asset.
The government that negotiated the Lisbon Treaty is the same as that which presided over and participated in the destruction of our economy. They even tried to claim that last year’s NO vote had undermined international investor confidence in Ireland. Nothing has undermined confidence in Ireland, except the incompetence of the Irish Government.
The fact is that Foreign Direct Investment in Ireland actually increased in the immediate aftermath of Ireland’s NO vote.
Let us reject the fear being peddled by the Yes campaign and reaffirm the Irish and European People’s commitment to Liberty, Democracy and Freedom by voting NO on 2 October.
TOM WARD,
Claregalway.

Go raibh maith agaibh

Ar son Cumann Bobby Sands i nDroichead Átha, ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil do ghach duine a chabhraidh linn sna todhcáin aitiúla le deanaí, go háirithe na daoine a thaisteal cuig Droichead Átha ó Úr Cinn Trá agus Ard Mhaca Theas beagnach gach oíche chun cabhrú len ár foireann stoicaireacht.
On behalf of the Bobby Sands Cumann based here in Drogheda I would like to offer a belated thank you to all those who helped us out in the recent local elections. While too numerous to name individually they include Louth Director of Elections, Louth Organiser, Louth Comhairle Ceantair and the Cpt Tim Flannagan Cumann, Clogherhead. Most importantly a special thanks to those members of the party who travelled down to Drogheda from Newry and South Armagh almost nightly to help our canvas teams.
Eilis
Ni Mhurchadha,
Cumann Bobby Sands,
Sinn Féin,
Drogheda,
Co Lú