In the anniversary year of the Easter rising we are reminded on a daily basis of the disastrous consequences for this nation of the British government’s dismemberment of our country by partition in 1921. We do not need to be reminded that this artificial state has stumbled from one crisis to another since the violent pogroms of 1922, the food riots of the hungry 1930s, the outbreak of a 40-year conflict in 1969, to the economic crisis today which threatens public services and threatens to worsen the impoverishment of so many of our people.
It is worth reminding that when Connolly and Pearse joined their fellow revolutionaries in the GPO, poverty in Dublin was worse than it was in Calcutta. And this was at the heyday of the British Empire when one fifth of this entire planet was being looted by marauding British troops and the proceeds of their theft were stuffed into the mansions of the English aristocracy. (And their leader is the head of a Christian church).
Partition today deprives us of any say in the management of our resources which is in the hands of English Tories who are permanently at war and we need to bring it to an end as a matter of urgency. The unionists are trapped in the bloody landscapes laid waste by Oliver Cromwell and all attempts to bring them on board any project for peace and reconciliation have been futile, let alone any project for the liberation and unification of this great nation.
If partition could ever be viable or workable, it would have to be based upon mutual acceptance of diversity and upon equality. And we didn’t even need Arlene Foster to confirm that unionists will never accept these terms, whatever they sign up to.
It is a paradox indeed that the unionists who have often threatened civil war to maintain partition are also doing everything in their power to make sure that partition doesn’t work. It is time to remind them that it cannot succeed without our permission and cooperation.
This year is an appropriate time to renew the spirit of 1916, withdraw our cooperation in working partition and put the unity and liberation of our country at the top of our agenda.
JACK DUFFIN
Belfast BT11
Merkel’s good intentions have wreaked havoc
Through the blood-stained broken glass of restaurants, offices and concert halls the EU dream looks more dystopian than utopian. Merkel’s clarion call for refugees to make their way to her country where the promise of Schlaraffenland awaited. Clamouring over borders, bypassing checks and clearances as temporary host countries moved them on to expedite their egress and calm their own citizens’ concerns and alarm.
The word policy would suggest thought, consideration and planning none of which are evident with Merkel as she continued to encourage and entice the desperate, the demanding and the downright dangerous to her nation in what looked more and more like a wild west land grab.
Those who raised concerns at the alacrity and speed of this migration were pilloried and denounced by a shameless press and establishment who would brook no argument, no dissent and those who persisted were inevitably branded with the ‘R’ word. The last refuge of the feeble-minded who will not engage with positions contrary to their own on a level of equality. They resolutely deny the opportunity for open discourse on issues and matters they have pre-determined sacrosanct.The establishment were quick to brush any issues regarding security under the nearest prayer mat and pressed for the narrative to move on.
Now Merkel knows the true meaning that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, but it is her citizens who have had to endure the repercussions to show her that her actions however well-intentioned have wreaked havoc not just for citizens but for refugees alike.
Whatever you may think of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, whose crimes against humanity are legion, what I found refreshing has been his honesty in his statement that Islam is not a religion of peace, but of war.
Of course Merkel et al would have us believe that these are the words of a fanatic, true, but that they are the warped interpretation of a religion is another distortion and fiction peddled by our politicians who have condemned this generation and beyond to conflict between diametrically opposed cultures that have been artificially introduced in a deeply misguided and flawedsocial experiment.
LAURENCE TODD
Belfast BT15
Advancing UK geopolitical interests
Since the UK House of Commons voted for war on December 1 against Isis the RAF have mounted only three strike missions, and may have dropped only 19 bombs. The RAF manned missions were against the Omar oilfield which had already been incapacitated by an American attack six weeks previously.
The reality is the Nato have supported the Isis terrorists from the beginning in order to overthrow the legitimate government of Syria. The reality is that Nato have stoked the existing Shia-Sunni divide by supporting the Sunni terrorists against the Shia-controlled Syrian government. It is clear that the terrorists were openly delivering stolen Iraqi and Syrian oil to Turkey, which became apparent when the Russians destroyed a large convoy of Isis oil-trucks
So why was the Cameron regime so gung-ho about declaring war on Isis and bombing Syria? In my opinion Nato still want to get rid of President Assad and Cameron wanted authorisation to attack Isis in order to duplicitously attack the Syrian army without attacking Isis. Now that the Syrian army has state of the art Russian air-defence systems this is no longer possible.
Jeremy Corbyn’s principled stance against further unnecessary and immoral wars is a welcome antidote to David Cameron playing the traditional British ‘great game’, using war as a tool to advance the UK’s perceived geopolitical interests.
JAMES McCUMISKEY
Belfast BT6
Negligent governance
Unless brought to heel by those over whom he lords his authority it’s apparent John O’Dowd fully intends to drive a coach and horses through the teaching fraternity and in doing so discriminate against an entire generation of bright young teachers who have done everything expected of them and have no permanent teaching jobs through no fault of their own.
This lost generation of teachers are outside the pale in John’s badly, or non-thought out new plan since they will be deprived of even applying for these jobs, effectively leaving them on the scrap heap after their years of study and their struggle to gain experience.
Are they supposed to emigrate or just go away and make themselves scarce or what does John O’Dowd expect them to do?
Any section of industry could ill afford to lose the cream of its workforce through such negligent governance.
O’Dowd tell us it’s all about money, so the education of our children and future of our youth is to be curtailed and put in peril while our politicians continually blow tens of millions foolishly and needlessly.
Perhaps to save the necessary funds to finance our education and health service we could start in Stormont and slash the number of MLAs and clear out the dead wood.
Hasn’t Stormont got more ‘staff’ and hangers on than the entire White House? All to govern less than two million of a population as opposed to the 320 million in the US. According to that ratio 10 MLAs would be more than sufficient, then we might get something useful done at much less cost.
LAURENCE O'NEILL
Martinstown, Co Antrim
The Lord’s expenses
Members of the House of Lords claim £300 per day expenses (plus perks) for doing nothing – apart perhaps from having the occasional nap – while pensioners are expected to live on half that amount for an entire week. When is this injustice and inequality going to end?
Damien GC Devaney
Larne, Co Antrim
