Traditional murders

A chairde,

We are, we are, we are the Billy Boys
Up to our neck in Fenian blood
Surrender or you'll die

The last line of this little ditty, which was sung at a recent DUP/UKUP rally, does more to answer the ``Why?'' of distraught relatives than all of the pundits put together.

Since partition, random killing of Catholics has been Loyalism's traditional response to any prospects of justice for nationalists. It happened in 1922, 1969, 1975 and after 1985 and it continues because it has been shown to work.

In July 1996 the RUC forced an Orange march through the Garvaghy Road after the killing of Michael McGoldrick and after David Trimble talked to mass-murderer Billy Wright while refusing to talk to residents.

In July 1997 the RUC admitted that they forced another Orange march through the Garvaghy Road because of the threat of the greater use of force.

In January 1998 the loyalist slaughter of Catholics and the UUP's refusal to talk to Sinn Fein was rewarded with a blatantly pro-Unionist Propositions document. It is regrettable that an Irish government should have failed to stand up to this traditional Orange route to supremacy and thus encourage more killing.

(Dr) Sean Marlow.

Dublin 11

Aer Lingus crash

A chairde,

I resided in Wexford when the 1968 airline disaster occurred (An Phoblacht 15 January). The people of the area knew that another airplane was in the vicinity at the same time as the Aer Lingus plane. The common word was that this other plane was a Royal Air Force unmanned reconnaisance plane. The fact that an incident involving both planes had taken place was common knowledge. At the time the Irish government apparently chose not to pursue the matter.

If indeed the Irish and British governments conspired to cover-up the incident then both governments should be exposed and the matter brought to the attention of the people of Ireland and Britain.

Patrick J. Corr
President
The International Reconciliation Conference
Pittsburgh
USA

Basic truths

A chairde,

When a Labour government was elected in Britain and a talks process, with Sinn Féin on board put in place to discuss the ``future of the province'', I had high hopes that they would grasp the nettle and make a clear statement that 1) British rule is illegal and 2) It can no longer be maintained by force of arms.

Unfortunately, there has been no acknowledgement of these basic truths from the British or Irish governments.

Therefore talks that are supposed to produce a peaceful outcome cannot because justice is the only basis for peace.

I must applaud Sinn Féin and the IRA for their patience at this very frustrating time.

Peadar de Faoite,
Devon,
England.

Civil War distortion

A chairde,

Micheal MacDonncha rightly criticises RTE's documentary `The Madness from Within' (An Phoblacht 22 January) for its pro-Free State bias. But the programme's portrayal of the Civil War as essentially a conflict between personalities, some democratic, some militarist fanatics, also meant the wider social forces involved were ignored.

Nowhere were we told that all the weight of Conservative Ireland: the big framers, business interests, the press and especially the Catholic church were thrown behind the Free State. The Bishops' infamous pastoral excommunicating republicans in particular helped solidify the Free State.

While these elements provided ideological support for the Free State, the pro-treatyites consolidated their power through terror. The 77 executions are only part of the story. Semi-official murder gangs operated an early `shoot to kill' policy and prison conditions for republicans were arguably worse than under the British.

As for the republicans being `fanatical militarists', what serious historian could classify Liam Mellows, Peadar O'Donnell, Hannah Sheehy Skeffington or Sheila Humphries as such? The key role of women on the anti-treaty side was also ignored. The reality was that the triumph of the Free State meant the radicalism of republicanism was crushed by conservatism.

With the increased interest among young people in this period of Irish history, it will be up to republicans to explain this because, as we have seen, neither RTE nor the academic establishment will do so.

Brian O'hAinle,
Dublin 3.

Praise for lawyers

A chairde,

The recent public statment on the Rule of Law by a group of lawyers in the north is very welcome. They have had the awesome task of working honourably within a grossly flawed and abused system. They state once again the absolute need for a system of law which protects all our people and favours none. We have never had such a system in the north.

It is heartening to know that these honest and dedicated lawyers are willing and able to construct a legal system and judicial practice for everyone which will be honest, honourable and democratic. That must be one of the absolute priorities of any settlement. The lawyers deserve our thanks and support.

Desmond Wilson.

Isolating Sinn Féin

A chairde,

It is evident that the British, the Unionists, the SDLP and `Bertie Bruton', will once again close ranks to try to isolate Sinn Féin (will they ever learn?) because Sinn Féin are the only party who seek real change and a lasting peace. The rest will settle for the status quo with the SDLP and the `Celtic Moggie' accepting the scraps thrown to them, with all the death and misery that that implies.

Brendan Agar,
Dublin 15.

Questions about McCusker murder

A chairde,

The murder in Maghera of Fergal McCusker, an innocent young Catholic man, by the LVF has the smell of security forces collusion.

I state this for the following reasons. The Irish News reported that two people had been seen in the vicinity with their faces painted reddish-orange. This is not a sick disguise to intimidate the nationalist community. I am an engineer who has worked with infra-red technology, and I can say that the paint was used to distort the image of their faces on any night security cameras.

I am aware that there are several security cameras positioned on the RUC barracks in Maghera, the back of which has an unobstructed view to the place where this young man was murdered.

This now opens many questions. Firstly, how did the murderers know about the security cameras? Secondly, how did they know to paint their faces in reddish-orange camouflage? Only someone with experience in infra-red technology or members of the security forces would know this. Thirdly, how could they know that the security cameras mounted on the RUC station were of infra-red technology and not thermal, blue light, or another technology?

Finally and most importantly to the RUC, who were supposed to be monitoring these cameras, the faces with the reddish-orange camouflage would have appeared as masked. Do they normally not respond to masked people walking around the streets of Maghera?

Concerned reader
(name and address supplied)

Reporting deaths

A chairde,

Apart from the killings themselves, the most disgusting and obsene aspect of recent deaths in the Six Counties has been the manner in which they have been reported by both the British and Irish media.

Such reporting involves choosing a convenient starting point - always a nationalist action. Examples are the killing of Billy Wright, the October 1993 bomb attack on the Shankill UDA HQ, and the June 1994 slaying of two senior UVF commanders.

Observers are assumed to suffer from hyper-amnesia, in that they are led to believe that nothing of a violent nature occurred prior to the `opening incident'. Any subsequent Loyalist killings are then justifed by descriptions such as `revenge' `retaliation' or `further revenge' etc.

Another aspect of the reporting is the use of ficticious terms such as `tit for tat killing'. This is an attempt to hide the indiscriminate assault being waged against the Nationalist community. In June 1994 elements in the media changed the order of deaths, and failed to report who was responsible when Loyalists killed protestants. This was done to bolster the `tit for tat' concoction. Also, all recent deaths have been described as `sectarian'. This includes the killing of Billy Wright and Jim Guiney, which, although totally unnecessary, were clearly not sectarian. How can anyone equate the deaths of those who organise sectarian attacks with those of their victims?

Given its increasing volume and consistency, such reporting is cleary borne out of malice rather than ignorance. The pupose is to push the false propaganda line that the conflict is sectarian, with Nationalists to blame, and that Britian must maintain its presence to keep the rival `barbarians' apart.

Sean Hone
Coventry