3 July 2008 Edition

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Mála Poist

Cuireann An Phoblacht fáilte roimh litreacha ónár léitheoirí. Scríobh i nGaeilge nó i mBéarla, 200 focal ar a méid. Déantar giorrú ar litreachta más gá. Cuir do litir chuig [email protected]
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

Acht na Gaeilge anois

OF the many common bonds that are shared from An Tuaisceart to An Deisceart, our native tongue is one that will define us as who we are, where we are going and how we have came to be. As much of a failure that the current curriculum is in the South, our comrades up North are still subjected to the daily bigotry from the DUP that today prevents the revival of Gaeilge there.
Gaeilge is the language of the Irish people. It is the right of every man, woman and child on this island to have a comprehensive understanding of it. Acht na Gaeilge must be passed and the people of the North should settle for nothing less.
Until such a day happens, the fate of the language will rest in the hands of the people. It is the people who will aid the revival of our language and it is up to the people to take the first step to make that revival a reality.
We have all discussed at one point the dream of becoming a bilingual party. And many have been eager to set the pace for the rest of the Sinn Féin cumainn across this island. So it’s time to make this dream a reality.
Let us encourage each other in the use of our language. Let us create avenues through excursions for the use of our language. If you know it, then you can teach it. If you have ears and eyes, then you can learn it. So let us all in Sinn Féin set the benchmark for this language and do whatever is possible to bring it back to the hearts and souls of the Irish people.
Gaeilge abú!
JOHN O’BRIEN,
Sinn Féin,
Port Láirge

 

1916 research help needed

I was wondering if any of your readers could help me. I’m trying to find more information on an individual called John Neale. He has been described as a “young socialist, cockney member of the Irish Citizen Army’’ who acted as a lookout on top of the Metropole Hotel during the Easter Rising.
In Joe Good’s memoir, he describes in detail an American socialist fighting in the Metropole who he had seen on an Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) platform in London in 1913. This individual called everyone ‘comrade’, acted as a lookout and was fatally shot during the evacuation of the Metropole in the exact same circumstances as Neale (a stray bullet hitting his ammunition sack). We can definitely come to the conclusion that this unnamed individual was Neale.
I’m trying to research this man’s background. If anyone could aid me in my research, could they please email me at [email protected]
S. MAGRA

 

Afghanistan – attacks on aid a war crime

Worsening security in Afghanistan is creating more humanitarian problems and making the delivery of much needed assistance even more difficult, a top UN official stated recently.
The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) distributed 220,000 tonnes of food to some 5.7 million Afghans last year out of an estimated total population of 31 million.
Nevertheless, 55 humanitarian convoys were attacked or looted by gunmen last year resulting in the loss of 1,000 tonnes of food.  Forty humanitarian workers were killed and 89 abducted, their captors later killed seven of those.
The UN now rates 78 of Afghanistan’s 398 districts as ‘extremely risky’ and its agencies are unable to operate there.
In a war torn situation, sides must be forced to allow humanitarian aid in for the civilian population.  Failure to do so must be classed as a war crime and those who do not allow the free movement of aid must be brought to trial and punished to the full extent of the law whether they are armies or governments.
MICHAEL ROONEY,
Castlebar,
County Mayo


An Phoblacht
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