Having given Ireland her first and last colony invasion, plunder, pillage, famine, cultural subjugation and partition, our colonial masters in their boundless generosity are now going to facilitate the killing of our children. And it seems that we should, as in the past, tip the forelock and be grateful.
In total violation of whatever pathetic bit of sovereignty is afforded to we subjects of the crown here in the six counties and in a putrid deal to keep Theresa May in power for another while, the Brits are now going to pay for women from this state to have abortions on ‘the mainland’.
This passed on the very same day that the high court here ruled that abortion provision is a devolved issue, to be decided by the local legislature. It is a measure of the contempt with which this state and her people is regarded in Westminster.
And where are the republican voices protesting at this shameful denial of self-determination? Obediently silent, that’s where.
Of course new republicanism actively welcomes this travesty. Their zeal for abortion means they can countenance even such a blatant insult to the devolved institutions without protest.
Dissent is not tolerated from the gospel according to Mary-Lou et al. Their road show will visit a town close to you soon, in case you don’t know the party line. No votes of conscience will be allowed.
Of course, and by their admission, this is no longer about the health and safety of women. That’s already covered under current laws and appropriate medical care.
The arbitrary selection of who is worthy of life it seems is the ethos which should prevail when Ireland takes its place among the nations of the earth, and O’Donovan Rossa’s epitaph can be written.
What is the point of having national self-determination if we discard the values which have shaped us as a nation and as a people and follow slavishly in the ways of the coloniser? Was this worth one life not to mention the thousands who have given everything?
Surely the essence of republicanism should be to protect human dignity by whatever means are necessary. This obviously requires change
to the current social order, but progressive change, not the culture of death. Irish women and men deserve better.
Our vision and objective should be to cherish all of the children of the nation equally, according to our own genius and traditions.
We should not be ashamed of what our people suffered so much for.
And if political republicanism moves away from this then it leaves many of us behind.
ANNE McCLOSKEY MB
Derry City
Not true to say that Orange Order ruled the north
Brian Feeney’s ‘Orange Order can no longer claim ownership of the north’ (July 12) is nothing short of nonsense.
In June 1935 the government of Northern Ireland (democratically elected, under ‘one man, one vote’) banned parades. This was undertaken by the Home Secretary Dawson Bates, himself a keen Orangeman. This was in response to a high tensions and serious public disorder, which resulted in people being killed (on both sides). While public disorder is associated with this time of the year, thankfully no-one has been killed during a period of many years.
Again, in October 1968, the Home Secretary for Northern Ireland, William Craig (later leader of Vanguard), banned a counter demonstration to that of the NI Civil Rights Association, to avoid public disorder when public feeling was running high.
The Orange Order also made representations opposing state funding for Catholic Schools in the 1930s.
These representations were ignored. Again, the Orange Order opposed the 1946 Education Bill (making education in effect ‘free’), against the wishes of the unionist government.
Dr Dominic Bryan, who has written extensively on Orange Parades, has suggested that the Orange Institution was, for the governing unionist party, ‘volatile’ and independent from the unionist government and used by independent Protestants and labour leaders to ‘attack’ the government.
To therefore say that the Orange Order was effectively ‘in charge’ of Northern Ireland is simply not true.
His article therefore misrepresents historical facts, instead portraying a particular narrative that is arguably dangerous. Your readers should take note of the facts and not opinion on the part of Mr Feeney.
Dr ANDREW CHARLES
Belfast BT9
Display of unionist stupidity
I write this letter with great dismay because of the stupidity of the unionist politicians to fight for the rights of the Orange Eleventh Night bonfires that are built in the north every year. I’m sure the surviving tenants of Grenfell must look at this in disbelief and think, how can our government do a deal with a party that supports these enormous fires that go as high as the fires that were at Grenfell. I have no problem with the unionist tradition but for God’s sake show a bit of sense and build your bonfires in areas where there is no risk to the public not near residential houses or apartments. Can local councils not facilitate designated sites for these fires instead of having to board up windows in residential areas to accommodate this? I’m sure the people in England will be looking at how the DUP supported these bonfires in these dangerous circumstances and thinking what has Theresa May done? While people of the Grenfell mourn their dead because of an accidental inferno the DUP support large bonfires in residential areas that are forced upon residents while the PSNI sit on the fence on this matter. Very frustrating.
PAUL McLARNON
Ballycastle, Co Antrim
Republic should demand referendum
When anyone joins an organisation they generally know or should know what they are getting into.
Should the system that they signed up to change, then that person has a legal right to challenge the change.
In the Republic’s first election to join the EU the people of the 26 counties rejected the offer. Their political prima donnas at that time reported back to the godfathers of the EU and a second election was arranged and surprisingly this time the people accepted EU membership.
The Celtic tiger was born and utopia had arrived, or at least it seemed that way to some, except those who believed that there is no such thing as a free lunch and were soon proved right when Ireland’s economic bust occurred.
Now with regard to the Republic’s membership in the EU and Brexit, the Republic will be affected, one way or the other, where significant changes will take place.
Come March 2019, Britain will no longer be a member of the EU, hence the EU system that the people of Ireland signed up to, is no longer valid.
Such is the enormity of this issue that the people of Ireland must decide their own future by demanding a second referendum from their politicians.
HARRY STEPHENSON
Kircubbin, Co Down
Thinly veiled objection
As the leader of one of the co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement, under which the mechanism was created, An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, has more reason than most to comment on the DUP’s abuse of the Petition of Concern to block equal marriage in Northern Ireland. Particularly given that the party did so despite a majority in the assembly in favour. Therefore it seems Dr Owen Gallagher’s (July 11) rebuttal of Varadkar’s comments is in fact an objection to equal marriage thinly veiled as procedural and democratic concerns.
PAULA KELLY
Dunmurry, Co Antrim
