Opinion

Economically Norn Iron is just like Brazil

Arlene Foster said last month the DUP would vote to quit the EU  Picture by Mal McCann.
Arlene Foster said last month the DUP would vote to quit the EU Picture by Mal McCann. Arlene Foster said last month the DUP would vote to quit the EU Picture by Mal McCann.

In Brazil, the president (Dilma Rousseff) is facing impeachment over the mismanagement of the nation’s economy after it became the latest development bubble to burst.

In Northern Ireland, we have the same problems with endless roadworks and developments throughout Belfast which, as was the case in Dublin 16 years ago, will make the city too expensive.

The DUP claims to be both Ulster nationalist and euro sceptic, yet their two-faced nature means that they have become integrationalist at the Tories’ behest and only too willing to keep bringing out the begging bowl to Brussels in order to fund investments our country cannot afford.

In terms of economics, “We’re just like Brazil. We’re Norn Iron.”

DESMOND DEVLIN


Magherafelt, Co Derry

Irish government must preserve battlefield site of 1916 Rising

The Easter Rebellion began on Monday April 24 1916 in Dublin with the Irish volunteers led by PH Pearse, James Connolly’s Citizens Army and members of Cumman na mBan. Connolly with more than 400 volunteers occupied the General Post Office (GPO). PH Pearse read the Proclamation of the Republic and effectively declared an end to British rule in Ireland. They commandeered several buildings to encircle and protect the headquarters at the GPO.

You can only wonder at the courage, the commitment and determination of all those in every part of Ireland who rose up against the occupation, fought, died, were injured and or imprisoned for the ideals of liberty fraternity and equality.

Once the GPO had caught fire and James Connolly wounded the decision to evacuate the headquarters was taken.


The volunteers tunnelled from the GPO to number 16 Moore Street and commandeered the adjoining houses and lane ways to establish the new and final headquarters of the rebellion.

With Connolly being shot he handed over command to Pearse who on seeing the loss of civilian life being inflicted on the citizenry of Dublin by the occupying British forces dispatched the following communique: “In order to prevent the further slaughter of Dublin citizens, and in the hope of saving the lives of our followers now surrounded and hopelessly outnumbered, the members of the Provisional Government present at headquarters have agreed to an unconditional surrender, and the commandants of the various districts in the city and county will order their commands to lay down arms”

There are plans to redevelop Moore Street. To save part as a National Museum but to demolish the rest and build a hotel and car park. Family members of those who fought in Dublin and Moore Street have been fighting this decision and demand the whole structure be kept in public ownership and preserved.

The street traders who have made their living for generations will be forced to move on,

The site for demolition was occupied by the Save Moore Street Campaign for several days at the beginning of December when contractors moved into begin construction/destruction on the site.

Moore Street and indeed the historic battlefield site from the GPO to the last headquarters of the 1916 Rebellion must be preserved for those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for those living today and for the future generations to come.

FRA HUGHES


Belfast BT14

Use of medical terminology must be based on fact

In a 2012 study published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology the suitability of the in vogue label, ‘fatal foetal abnormality’ came under scrutiny.

The authors examined 75 separate studies in the area and compiled a list of 26 distinct disorders which are commonly termed as being ‘fatal’ or ‘lethal’ in common parlance.

In their conclusions they found that “none of the malformations that are commonly described as being ‘lethal’ are in fact lethal in the strict sense.  Prolonged survival has been described in all of the conditions listed.” They also found that in their short lives, babies born with several of these so-called ‘fatal’ conditions such as anencephaly and trisomy 13 have gone on to “experience awareness of those around them, hear and respond to sound, and to learn and remember”.

So why are these conditions so often referred to as being ‘fatal’, and why has this come to be viewed as the ‘accepted language’?

The damning conclusion of the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology study is that, apart from cases of mis-diagnosis, such terminology is often used “to make it easier for women to come to terms with termination of pregnancy” and shockingly, where “practitioners are aware that death is not inevitable, but believe that survivors will not have a life that is worth living”.

In other words, a condition is referred to as a ‘fatal foetal abnormality’ in order to make abortion more palpable to parents who find themselves in this heart breaking situation.

These are not the conclusions of some pro-life group or religious society. They are the findings of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in London. They have based their use of terminology on medical and scientific fact, whereas Amnesty International and others of the pro-choice persuasion, in the courts and political circles, base theirs on a pure utilitarian and ultimately self-destructive political ideology.

STIOFAN O DUIBHFINN


Béal Feirste, BT11  

Request for assistance

I’m requesting some assistance in putting together an exhibition on the Gaelic League commemorations of Roger Casement held in Murlough, Co Antrim, throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Casement’s requested grave site was dedicated by Éamon de Valera on his first visit north as taoiseach at the inaugural Casement Sunday on the of August 2 1953, as part of the campaign for repatriation that led to the state funeral in Dublin in 1965.

I have a lot of the official photographs that were left with us, as well as the advertising materials, a programme signed by Sergeant Kavanagh, and The Irish News reports. What is missing though are photographs taken by those in attendance, as around two dozen cameras can be seen in the press photographs. Any photographs or memories of subsequent years would be most welcome. Anyone that can help can contact me at fsmccarry@gmail.com or on 07895954189. 

FIONNTAN McCARRY


Ballycastle, Co Antrim

Send Irish Labour party to electoral oblivion

When Catholic voters in the Republic go to vote in a few weeks time we should remember which party closed Ireland’s historic Embassy to the Vatican; which party proposed the abolition of school chaplains; which party proposed in the Clontarf report of 2012 the sinister and noxious proposal that practising Catholics should be banned from key posts in the Department of Education and which party is leading the attack on Catholic schools.

There is no doubt that the Irish Labour Party is nowadays a bitterly anti-Catholic political party, and in order to protect Catholic schools, Catholic voters should vote in such a way as to minimise the number of Labour Party TDs in the next Dáil. Send this party of know-nothings to the electoral oblivion they so richly deserve. 

SEAOSAMH UA HANLUAIN


C lontarf, Dublin 3

Clarification

PR Murray (February 1) has asked us to point out that the figure of 72 Catholics murdered from 1969 to 2001 should have read 720.