No right to march

A chairde

It is unfortunate that the myth of the Protestant ``right to march'' as restated by a prominent Protestant recently does not also carry the reply of David Steel who commented in a House of Commons debate that there is, in fact, no such right anywhere in UK law.

Indeed, as anyone who has tried to organise a demonstration or march will tell you, there are so many laws, by-laws and regulations governing demonstrations that, in essence, no marches are allowed to take place without being condoned, or approved of, by the British State.

But as the Drumcree march approaches it is surely hypocrisy for Britain to publicly wash its hands and claim that allowing the march rests with a Commission. It is, after all, a well known British tactic to have all dirty work done by proxy so that responsibility may then be evaded or denied by a British government.

However, for Britain to use the British RUC, backed by the British army, to push hostile sectarian marches through Catholic areas will surely constitute the harassment of communities banned in the Good Friday Agreement under the section: ``Rights, Safeguards and Equailty of Opportunity'' which affirmed the right to ``freedom from sectarian harassment''.

In any event, many seem to believe the marchers should be told by Ms Mowlam that they are unable to march down the Garvaghy Road without the agreement of the Residents Assocation. This action would, sadly, mean a confrontation but Garvaghy residents have demanded an end to sectarian harassment and for a stand to be made.

This would also send a signal to other marchers that equal citizenship has arrived and even-handedness is now the benchmark.

J. Cleary
England

DUP/RUC

A chairde,

It is interesting to note that part of the DUP's Assembly Election campaign involves a video depicting an RUC officer wearing a balaclava helmet and wielding a baseball bat in a very threatening manner.

Is their message going to be that if people vote for parties that are in support of The Good Friday Agreement then we will no longer have RUC thugs patrolling our streets? Or that nationalists will no longer be terrorised by masked RUC men as occurred at the Derryhirk Inn quite recently?

It seems the DUP have inadvertently come a little too close to the bone on this one.

Dominic McSherry
Belfast.

Airborne militarism

A chairde,

On a recent visit to Donegal I was intrigued to read a poster for the Derry Air Show which readers were informed was being promoted by Derry City Council in colloboration (I use the word advisedly) with the Sun and the News of the World, two fine exponents of gutter journalism with a glorious track record of anti-Irish racism.

Air shows have considerable military involvement and provide an opportunity for British and American arms manufacturers and indeed airborne armed forces to pedal their ethos of death and destruction under the guise of a happy day out.

Yesterday I read how a young County Derry girl had ``won'' an award from The Northern Ireland Association of Local Authorities which entailed her spending a day with the Allied Command Rapid Reaction Force, an integral component of which are the notorious Parachute Regiment who acquitted themselves so gloriously in her native county. What is the attitude of nationalist representatives on local authorities to this promotion of a culture of militarism among our young people? What part had nationalists in our local authorities formulating this policy or are they merely the silent stooges of faceless policy makers?

Are we being conditioned to accept a culture for our young people in which militarism is the norm and against, which not a single nationalist public representative IRSP, Sinn Fein or SDLP has apparently raised a voice. Equally mute are the left wing groupings (CP, SP, WP) and gurus such as Nell McCafferty and Eamonn McCann. De-commissioners and de-militarists please note.

Mute of Malice

The poor get poorer

A chairde,

Last week three [Dublin] North Inner-City schools received letters demanding that they shed jobs. These three schools are located in extremely disadvantaged areas. The Department of Education and Science has long accepted that schools in poor areas need extra help. Last year they granted the thirty three poorest schools in the country extra resources and staff. This project was called ``Breaking the Cycle'' and was widely welcomed.

Now coming up to summer holidays they are cutting back on three of these schools. Such an act of educational vandalism is a disgrace and is completely immoral at a time when the economy is booming. Tax revenue is on course to be around £500 million higher than budgeted for, according to the latest figures from the Department of Finance. Schools that have taken in the poor, the refugees and the disabled are getting a slap in the face. The public should know.

Finian McGrath
Dublin

Silencing one side

A chairde,
I was disturbed by a recent news report that the contribution of the Garvaghy Women's Writing Group had to be withdrawn from the Seeds of Hope event in Dublin because it showed no cross-community collaborative effort.

How far from the truth the reality often is when measured by selective yardsticks? In my experience of the Garvaghy community, I doubt if any of the participants had tried so hard and been rejected so often in cross-community attempts. Apart from the several overtures to Orange lodges in recent years, where not even a verbal or written acknowledgement has ever been made, I recall with awe the Aisling conferences of 1997 and 1998.

As a speaker and participant in Aisling 1997 I noted that invited speakers included Protestant/unionist/Orange traditions to the number of half and above and up to eighteen speakers and chairpersons. This was repeated at Aisling 1998. The cross-community invitations keep on being extended by this community in spite of raw punishment for legitimate protests. Guests, it is true, came from the academic, liberal, middle-class strata of cross-community. Nevertheless they were welcomed by the women of the grassroots whose Justice Camp had been flattened at Drumcree in 1997 under official police pretence.

One hopes that all efforts on one side at dialogue are not recognised because they have failed to solicit response; the community cannot be held accountable for that.

The ``good student/bad student'' image needs to be examined carefully. Maybe there should be a reward for community resistance to a non-evenhanded government that keeps communties apart and suspicious of one another. Congratulations to the Garvaghy Women's Writing Group.

M.M.McCarron