Support needed for fasting taxi driver

A Chairde,

I am writing to you as a member of the Liaison Committee of the NTDU and also as a member of Sinn Féin, to draw attention to the plight of Don Flanagan, who is now on his 32nd day of hunger strike.

Don Flanagan is one of many victims who has suffered as a direct result of the government's deregulation of the taxi industry, which was announced last year. After the deregulation, the government then announced that cases of hardship would receive special attention, yet nine months down the line and Don Flanagan is forced to use a tactic he might once have considered unthinkable.

Flanagan, from Terenure, suffered a stroke after the deregulation of the taxi industry. After working all his life as a taxi driver, he had hoped that the value of his taxi plate would provide for his retirement - but this was not to be.

A diabetic and asthma sufferer, he was left with huge medical bills after his stroke - and no state support. On the grounds that his wife was working, he was twice refused a medical card and disability allowance by the government.

I would like to acknowledge and thank Councillor Christy Burke for visiting Don Flanagan and for his letter of complaint to the 26-County Minister for Social and Family Affairs.

I would urge others to do likewise - time is now running out.

Is mise,

Dermot McGuckin, Dublin.

Decommission Thorp

A Chairde,

With all the focus at the moment on the issue of IRA weapons, it is interesting to consider some basic facts.

The Thorp nuclear reprocessing plant in Sellafield poses a greater risk to the health and lives of Irish people than silent IRA weapons. This plant should be decommissioned, as it has resulted in the Irish Sea becoming one of the most radioactive in the world.

Britain is also involved in the Star Wars operation with the US, which, if implemented, will make nuclear weapons useless if fired against the US. It is an attempt to restart the arms race.

Maybe Britain should consider these home truths rather than call for IRA decommissioning.

John Clarke,

Galway

From: Grace Darcy

Don't let them drill

A Chairde,

Re: your story `Angry meeting in Cavan on Gas Exploration', the prime question is: Who gave Evergreen Resources, Inc. the exploration licences? There is the culprit! He or she should be hung!

When will all nations realise that oil drilling and exploration is done at the wishes of the huge oil companies. Here in the US, the Bush Administration plans - against the will of the majority of people - to drill in our pristine Alaska Wildlife Refuge. If this goes forward, that beautiful and fragile area will be lost forever.

It is the same with Cavan. Once the first drill is put into the earth, the magnificence and beauty is lost forever, a burnt offering on the altars of the oil companies.

Please don't let it happen. Send Evergreen Resources packing immediately - if the Irish people put up with drilling, they are accepting a death warrant for all of the beauty and freshness and loveliness that is Ireland.

Oh, and don't forget, the one who allowed the exploration license should be thrown out along with Evergreen. I've seen this oil drilling horror here in the US. Believe me, you don't want it in Ireland.

Grace Darcy

Carmel Valley,

California,

USA

Putting gunpowder beyond use

A Chairde,

When is someone from one of the unionist parties or the British government going to call for the decommissioning of the [legal] shotgun cartridges that are being used to manufacture the hundreds of pipe bombs that are being used daily against innocent nationalist people living in vulnerable areas?

Do they seriously expect the IRA to leave nationalist areas defenceless in the face of constant loyalist attacks as happened in 1969?

Seán Marlow,

Dublin 11

An Phoblacht needs to open up

A Chairde,

At the beginning of August 2001, I passed a couple of days with a Sinn Féin friend from the Connemara area. There I had the opportunity to read your newspaper and decided to write to you with a friendly but critical observation.

A few years ago, I participated in the creation of a political newspaper of the same profile as your An Phoblacht. In fact, your publication was an example for us. On reflection, now, I can say that the orientation and the content of our paper have turned many of us off. From a positive idea, to create a progressive instrument of reflection and information, we have finished up with a publication that made us withdraw into ourselves (and lose many supporters). All the important articles were written in a negative light, speaking only about conflicts and resistance in the Basque Country, the North of Ireland, Corsica and of course Brittany, etc!

It is evident to me, (I am an elected member of a town council and am thus living in a political atmosphere) that when a political party wants to propose its services for an alternative way to the population, it must carry positive elements of possible solutions for everyday life of the ordinary person in its newspaper. The long resolutions passed at all the congresses are not enough to introduce this debate.

I feel that there are not enough articles which speak about the economy, unemployed, social problems (urban and rural), education, sports (?), the everyday problems of ordinary people, etc! in An Phoblacht. I am aware that the northern conflict is a very sensitive element for you, but when a newspaper speaks permanently of this type of problem, there is a tiredness of our readers. It is a little like wanting to force a door which is already open and only speaking to the militants, or `speaking to the converted'.

Sinn Féin must step back and consider. If it wants to be a party capable of participating in government, then there is more than the conflict in the Six Counties which is important to Irish life. In politics, to have ideas or to make proposals is one thing, but it is more important to be in a position to influence decisions or to decide for yourself. For this, you must find and attract new readers.

G.Jaouen,

Brittany

Clash of the Titans

A Chairde,

Perhaps it's not to ask would you buy a second-hand car from these men, but rather would you sell Eircom to either.

Ladies and gentlemen, let us first be introduced to the man with the extending appellation, Sir Tony O'Reilly, he who was chiefly responsible for the breakup of Erin Foods, much to the advantage of Heinz, that is.

Next, folks, we have the virulently anti-union man, Mr Denis O'Brien, who, when he's not allegedly involved with Michael Lowry in murky dealings is entirely out on his own with his mysterious and mystical financial shenanigans.

Whatever about the duping of shareholders, with stakes worth a third less after nearly three years, there still remains the obnoxious fact that Eircom, a company supposedly owned by the people, is now sold back to a handful of them at a loss.

The `sacrifices' which either `protagonist' could enjoy would certainly go further to illustrate how the gap between rich and poor can be further widened.

While those rich vultures sharpen their claws above the carcass of Eircom and other state and semi-state companies, the press makes it into a contest of heroic titans.

Some heroes.

BF Warren

Tuam,

County Cahway