24 May 2001 Edition

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Mála Poist

Pull the other one, Bertie



A Chairde,

Mr Ahern's description of those campaigning for the retention of neutrality by voting ``No'' to the Nice Treaty, as ``ideological bedfellows of Tory Eurosceptics'', is patently ludicrous.

Does he seriously expect Irish people to believe that progressive groups like AfrI, ATGWU, PANA, the Green Party, the Socialist Party and Sinn Féin are really cleverly disguised right-wingers? Mr Ahern would do well to remember the old proverb about people in glass houses. After all, it is not Sinn Féin which is responsible for right-wing Thatcherite phenomena such as:

1. Tax cuts which disproportionately benefit the rich;

2. Privatisation of public assets to the benefit of wealthy political donors;

3. Shady practices by members of parliament;

4. Extravagant multi-?100m white elephants while hospital waiting lists get worse;

5. Joining the NATO-led PfP (without the promised referendum);

6. Negative attitude to asylum seekers;

7. Failure to hold a public inquiry into the Dublin/Monaghan bombings and other alleged instances of collusion between British Forces and loyalist paramilitaries.

Is the real cause of Mr Ahern's bizarre outburst his realisation that more and more young people are rejecting the sleazy and corrupt politics of mé féin and turning to the progressive policies of Sinn Féin?

Cllr Dessie Ellis

Finglas, Dublin 11


Unite to win



A Chairde,

As a native of the north, I am deeply disappointed that the main non-unionist parties have failed to agree on candidates in closely contested seats in the Westminster election. True, it would be great if we had PR, but, unfortunately, for now, we have to put up with Britain's arcane, unrepresentative ``first past the post'' system. The unfairness of the British system can be seen by the fact that, despite nationalists comprising over 40% of the electorate, they have only 5 of the 18 seats.

This gross distortion could have been greatly reduced if the SDLP had agreed to the electorate's desire for nationalist unity in even a small number of seats. Certainly, West Tyrone, Fermanagh & South Tyrone and North Belfast could have proper representation and possibly South Belfast and East Derry could be gained. Not only would this benefit nationalists, but it would also strengthen the Good Friday Agreement as all the likely MPs would be pro-Agreement.

But nationalist voters should not despair at the failure to unite as happened at previous elections. Indeed people power could play a very positive role in this election. If voters come out in their thousands on 7 June and vote tactically for those candidates who have tried to achieve agreement, not only will this result in a stronger nationalist representation, but it will send an unmistakable message for future elections to those who refused any agreement this time.

Seán Marlow.

Dublin 11


Shoulders of giants



A Chairde,

I attended a public meeting in Tralee on 10 May organised by Sinn Féin to hear Gerry Hanratty speak on the hunger strike of 1981. He was a very able advocate of the human experience of the struggle and I felt compelled to speak.

What's interesting is that I didn't, although I am used to it. I suppose I was mulling over the collective shame that the vast majority of the people of the South feel when we recall the sacrifice of laying down of life for a cause. Equal shame over recent spates of ethnic cleansing along with the brutality inflicted on generations of children now brutalised by what they have lived through.

And we didn't do enough.

Cold comfort were words from both Gerry and Martin Ferris on the night of propoganda and subliminal messages given out largely by a middle class establishment that had coerced us over the years to leave things be, that given time, somehow equality would be realised.

The talk on the night of the hunger strikers and their conviction was timely to hear. We've become complacent in the South, still leaving it to others, the government; in Europe at a time of plenty the marginalisation of our fellow people is becoming acceptable. Dangerous norms are being formed that poverty, exclusion, injustice and equality are somehow the flipside of a golden coin of affluence.

The evening was inspiring, timely and a tonic for the troops, who feel at times that what we all aspire to is somehow unattainable. However, because we are standing on the shoulders of giants we can achieve what we aspire to and the grá we feel for our little island is justified.

Go raibh míle maith agaibh, Gerry agus Martin.

M O'Shea


World Bank praise for Cuba



A Chairde,

Praise can come from the strangest of places. Earlier this month at the publication of the World Bank's 2001 edition of its `World Development Indicators', the Bank's President, James Wolfensohn, extolled the Cuban leader Fidel Castro for doing a ``great job'' in providing for the social welfare of the Cuban people.

When you look at the World Bank's evidence, it is easy to see why.

The infant mortality rate in Cuba has fallen from 11 per 1,000 births in 1990 to 7 in 1999. This is the sixth lowest rate in the world. For Latin America as a whole, the average is 30.

The mortality rate for children under five in Cuba has fallen over the past decade from 13 to 8 per thousand of the population. For the whole of Latin America the average is 38.

Net primary enrolment for Cuban children reached 100 per cent in 1997, up from 92 per cent in 1990. This is higher than in the US.

Public spending on education in Cuba is 6.7 per cent of gross national income, twice the average proportion in Latin America.

The average youth (ages 15-24) illiteracy rate in Cuba is zero, compared with an average of 7 per cent in Latin America.

Public spending on health care in Cuba accounts for 9.1 per cent of its GDP, roughly equivalent to that in Canada.

Cuba has a ratio of 5.3 doctors per 1,000 population, the highest in the world.

The key point is this that these huge social gains have been achieved against the backdrop of an intensified economic blockade by the US, and the collapse of the Soviet bloc. Most importantly, Cuba has not received any assistance from the World Bank or the IMF, but has followed a socialist revolutionary path of development. This is the complete antithesis of the ``Washington consensus'' of neo-liberal orthodoxy and its structural adjustment programmes, which have created such deep problems for developing countries.

There is an alternative to the globalised misery put forward by the World Bank. After more than 40 years of socialist revolution, Cuba is the living example.

Douglas Hamilton

Belfast Co-ordinator

Cuba Support Group - Ireland

An Phoblacht
44 Parnell Sq.
Dublin 1
Ireland