Ultra-leftist claptrap

A Chairde,


May I just say as a republican that I refuse to be lectured on revolutionary integrity by the ultra leftists who have made so much of the fact that Sinn Féin met with George Bush as part of the negotiations on the peace process this week. As Peter Bunting of the ICTU rightly pointed out, we are engaged in "real politics" and not the juvenile games being played by the Trotskyites.

George Bush is no more our friend than is Tony Blair or David Trimble, or Bertie Ahern for that matter. He is, however, as US President, a key figure in the current process, just as are all of the others I have mentioned. It was in that capacity that Sinn Féin met him but in doing so we also made clear our opposition to the war in Iraq and the holding of the war summit in our country.

Of course, the ultra leftist will always prefer grandstanding to real effective action. The opposition to the war began with a massive manifestation of public protest in Dublin and other cities and towns. Since then, the demonstrations have become smaller and smaller, and without doubt one of the reasons is that the anti-war movement is dominated at leadership level by Trotskyites who are more interested in scoring points against their political rivals (or at least they would like to see themselves as OUR rivals!) than in organising an effective campaign.

As revolutionaries like the IRB, who took arms from the German General Staff in 1916, and Lenin, who travelled back to Russia in 1917 on a train supplied by the same source, Irish republicans will fight in whatever arena we find ourselves and with whatever means we see fit. And we will not be lectured to by dilettantes who are very vocal now about an imperialism that they failed to confront in their own country.


Matt Treacy,
Dublin

Are republicans neutral?

A Chairde,


Calls in recent days and weeks from the Green Party, amongst others, to Sinn Féin leaders not to meet or associate with George Bush and his administration went unheeded by Sinn Féin. This will have been met with understandable anger and disappointment by those making the call but it was an important step towards real neutrality for Sinn Féin. We have a long road to travel. Being on the outside gets you nowhere. Taking sides gets you nowhere either.

Last weekend's Ard Fheis saw a motion passed that reiterated Sinn Féin's commitment to "positive Irish neutrality and independent foreign policy". This is a very noble aim. But do we as a party live up to that aim? Would we live up to it if we were in government? My belief is no, we don't and yes, we could.

"Neutral" according to Collins English Dictionary means, "to take neither side in a dispute or war". Do we take sides? Of course, we do. We take the side of those we consider to be oppressed. We take the side of the Palestinians, the ordinary Iraqi people, Basque Nationalists, and so on. If we consider that there is nothing wrong with that, then let's stop pretending to be neutral and say that.

But if we believe that by really being neutral we can make a difference, then let's examine what that would mean. Being neutral does not mean staying outside of a dispute and saying nothing. To do that means to abandon the "weaker" to their fate and condones the actions of the "stronger". Fighting on the side of the "weaker" is not neutral either, because it places you in an opposite position to the "stronger" and with limited influence over their actions.

Being neutral means to make neither side wrong for their actions. It means to truly understand where both sides are coming from. It means to gain the absolute trust of both sides. In the present war in Iraq, that would be a very difficult position to follow and maintain. But it's one worth thinking about. All the opposition and pressure from the public did not stop the war. Nor did the efforts of the United Nations stop the war either. Perhaps it's time we tried a new approach.


Tina Tully

Disillusioned

A Chairde,


We, Irish Americans have supported Sinn Féin faithfully in the Northern Ireland stuggle for decades. It is now so disheartening for Irish Americans to see that Sinn Féin has adopted an anti-American posture in relation to the war in Iraq.

For Sinn Féin to advocate that Ireland join other countries in trying to stymie coalition efforts to liberate Iraq from the brutal regime of Saddam Husseim, is reprehensible.

I strongly suggest that Pat Doherty, Gerry Adams and the rest of the Sinn Féin elite cease their annual trips to America eliciting support for their policies. I'm sure they will want stay away from America, which they apparently now despise so much.


Miceal MacSceacain
Los Angeles
USA

A seven-county Ireland?

A Chairde,


The Bush visit to Ireland this week highlights the bizarre out-workings of 9/11 and the Iraq war. The US and Britain now share a strategic interest, not only in the implementation of the Belfast Agreement, but also in unification itself.

If Ireland were united in the morning it is highly likely that the UUP would head up a rainbow coalition, with David Trimble as PM of Ireland. Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil would be left outside musing in at the strange child of their imagination fitting neatly into a fortified Anglo-American axis. The pendulum of Irish public policy would shift away from its present Berlin inclination towards Boston. The Finance Minister would announce that we were re-joining Sterling and currency calculators would be permanently stamped into the back of our hands to help us cope with the trauma of converting from punt to euros to sterling. The current generation of Irish children would become mathematical whizz-kids and we'd win the world monopoly championships ten years in a row.

Of course, it wouldn't happen overnight - thankfully we have the DUP to save us from that nightmare - but isn't it interesting how Trimble borrowed from Bush-speak a week before the announcement of the 'surprise visit', advising the 'Dublin government' that it had to decide whether it wanted to go with 'Old' or 'New' Europe. How truly bizarre life is.

Republicans are now on a downhill race towards unity, with Trimble speculating on staging a reverse takeover at the pass by bringing the 26 Counties into the Six Counties, thereby making a united seven-county Ireland. And the sad news for republicans: there'll be no jobs for the boys or gals when that glorious day dawns.

Praise the Lord and pass the tablets.


Paul Cassidy,
Scotstown,
Monaghan

Cuairt Bush

A Chairde,


Cuireann sé deistin agus díomá mhór orm gur roghnaigh Sinn Féin bualadh le George W Bush Dé Máirt 8 Aibreán.

Tá a fhios agam go raibh Sinn Féin i mbun agóidí frith-chogaíochta le linn cuairt Uachtaráin SAM ach creidim go bhfuil dul amú ar na polaiteoirí poblachtánacha agus iad ag iarraidh freastal ar an dá thrá. Cuirtear ina leith go raibh siad ciontach as Tadhg an dhá thaobhachais.

Tuigim an argóint go bhfuil sé tábhachtach an próiseas síochánta a chur chun cinn ach dá mbeadh rialtas Bush i ndáiríre faoi chúrsaí síochánta, cad chuige nach raibh sé anseo in Éirinn cheana? Tá mé den tuairim nár choír ligint don chomhghuaillíocht Blair is Bush úsáid a bhaint as feachtas síochánta na hÉireann ar mhaithe le bolscaireacht a dhéanamh dóibh féin.

I ndáiríre, tá masla uafásach déanta ag na ceannairí cogaíochta den phróiseas síochánta sa tír seo. Ligeadh do Bush úsáid a bhaint as ceannairí Shinn Féin mar phuipéidí le dallamullóg a chur ar an domhan idirnáisiúnta go raibh suim acu i síocháin.

Cén cineál síochána a bheadh i gceist ag ceannaireacht Shinn Féin? An bhfuil meon an chailín aimsire acu i dtreo Mheiriceá anois? Nach bhfuil an contúirt ann go mbeidh muid mar sclábhaí impiriúlacha ag rialtas SAM?

Cinnte, is féidir a bheith i mbun cainte le Bush is Blair ach ní chóir deis poiblíochta a thabhairt dóibh agus feachtas fíochmhar cogaíochta ar siúl acu?


An Draoi Rua

Women's research project

A Chairde,


I am writing to you in reference to a research project I am conducting. I am working toward a PhD in Contemporary Irish History at Trinity College and am a graduate of New York University.

My research project covers women's roles in radical and civic agitation from 1956 to the mid-1970s. I am looking at socialists, civil rights workers and republicans. There has been no comprehensive study regarding women's roles in these movement during this period throughout Ireland.

Utilizing documentary research and interviews I will elucidate this largely ignored subject in an academic work, which I seek to publish upon completion. All help will be appropriately acknowledged.

I wish to emphasize that I hope to hear from wives, sisters and mothers who remained on the periphery but who could shed some light on the events in this period as well as from men and women in the front lines of agitation.

I would be most grateful if you would publish my appeal.


Tara R Keenan
Centre for Contemporary Irish History
Department of Modern History
Trinity College
Dublin 2
[email protected]