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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

Brass neck

IT IS disappointing, but hardly surprising, that the lowest paid in our society are the first to be targeted by business leaders in this recession rather than those who have benefited massively from the last 15 years.
It wasn’t low-paid workers but short-sighted politicians and wealthy property and financial speculators who squandered the wealth that workers’ unprecedented increase in productivity has generated.
This is reminiscent of 1987 when our leaders demanded that ordinary people tighten their belts while they were loosening theirs to tuck in their Charvet shirts.
To increase competitiveness in a modern knowledge economy we need to reverse the recent failures of investment in broadband, technology, education, etc. The funding for this should come not from the most poorly paid workers but from those who caused the artificial bubble, inflation and, therefore, bust.
Anyone who makes such a ludicrous ‘Do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do’ proposal should be asked to lead by example. I’d really love to see the well-off trying to live on €7.65 an hour.
It reminds me of a certain Progressive Democrats TD who complained about the “generous” level of social welfare in the 1980s. She was challenged by community groups in Ballymun to come and live on social welfare here for just a week. Despite not having to pay for clothes, furniture, household goods, back to school, etc, she lasted only four days!
Why doesn’t the SFA do something useful like collectively negotiating to lower exorbitant rents and insurance costs. Oh, but that would be tackling the large profits of the property and financial Jag drivers who are one of the causes of inflation and uncompetitiveness.
It’s so much easier to target the weak instead.
COUNCILLOR
RAY CORCORAN,
Sinn Féin,
Ballymun,
DUBLIN 11

McGuinness in Iraq

RE: the article concerning Iraq in last week’s issue, How can we help Iraq?
As someone who I have a lot of respect for, I think Martin McGuinness’s trip to that country was ill-timed.
The Americans and British are trying to give the impression that the war in Iraq is sectarian and they perpetrate that view, as they did here in Ireland.  American and British troops have often been caught wearing local dress and carrying explosives, leading most people to believe that these undercover troops have been blowing up Shia and Sunni mosques and killing leading figures from both sides in order to get these groups at each others throats to take the pressure of the occupation troops (as they also did in the North).
While not meaning to tell Martin how to go about his business, he should have addressed the real Iraqi problem – British and American imperialism and their lying, illegal war. In other words, he should have told these foreign forces to withdraw. They shouldn’t be there – period!
PADRAIG Ó FEINNAIN,
Ligoniel,
Belfast.

Don’t be misled by referendum result

I REFER to the article in last week’s edition whereby Eoin ó Broin states that after the Lisbon Treaty election results certain Labour Party and Fianna Fáil voters will have taken one step closer to Sinn Féin because of these results. Frankly, I think that it would be a fallacy to think that.
Sinn Féin may aspire to a 32-county democratic socialist republic and as far as I can see this is socialist with a very small ‘s’. To enhance our vote Sinn Féin should target the 40-odd per cent that don’t vote.
Our local councillors are not always singing from the same hymn sheet. Public/Private Partnerships in the North are continually running ahead. This is surely against socialist ideals.
The fight goes on but let us not cod ourselves just because of the good ‘No’ Vote.
PAUL DORAN,
Clondalkin,
Dublin 22