When I learned that our taoiseach and the Irish government were going to commemorate the Royal Irish Constabulary and the Black and Tans, I thought this was some sick joke or that Leo Varadkar had lost his mind and wanted to lose the upcoming general election. Do they not know their history?
The RIC in the Famine helped the landlords put people out of their homes then tore down their homes and left people to die of hunger on the side of road.
The RIC later in the 1913 strike, helped to break the strike and crush the striking workers.
Then in 1916, after volunteers surrendered, the RIC beat them up and give them a very hard time.
In the War of Independence the RIC killed and shot innocent Irish people who had joined the Revolutionary War against the republican forces by the so-called reserve policemen, better known as the Black and Tans, who wore half army, half policeman uniforms.
Those people went on uncontrollable rampage all over Ireland. They murdered, raped and burned all before them with the blessing of the British government.
They burnt my grandfather’s home and beat him and my grandmother unconscious, in Co Leitrim.
My grandmother was later put into a mental hospital as a result of what the Black and Tans did and my mother and aunt had to be put into an orphanage because of what the Black and Tans did.
What the Black and Tans did in Ireland during the Revolutionary War of the 1920s has been airbrushed out of British history as if it never happened. Yet, sadly, it did and the British government has never said “sorry” to Ireland or its people for what the Black and Tans did 100 years ago in Ireland to the irish people.
The Irish people fought the Black and Tans not only for freedom and a republic. They did not fight for Michael Collins or De Valera.
Our Irish ancestors fought for their families and their homes against thugs with uniforms. Their backs were up against the wall and they fought back and did win. They had to win. There was no other choice but to win or die.
You would never see Mr Putin honouring the Nazis who invaded Russia in the Second World War nor would you see the leaders of Vietnam honour the Americans who they fought for years. Yet Leo Varadkar wants to honour the Black and Tan war animals.
Has our taoiseach lost the plot?
MARTIN FORD
Sligo, Co Sligo
Deaf community welcomes assembly’s commitment on sign language
The local deaf community welcomes the commitment made in section 5.30 on Sign Language in the New Decade, New Approach agreement.
It states that the parties (cross-party) agree to the process of drafting clauses commencing with a view to introducing a bill to the assembly at the early stage.
Both Irish and British Sign Languages (ISL/BSL) are indigenous languages used by the deaf people in Northern Ireland. Both are languages in their own right and are unrelated to English and Irish spoken languages. The local deaf community has been campaigning for decades for BSL/ISL legislation, similar to what has been achieved in Scotland (BSL Act 2015) and Ireland (ISL Act 2017).
Whilst there has been much attention politically and in the media around Irish language and Ulster-Scots, particularly leading up to the DNNA agreement, sign language has been under the radar.
There is much that we could learn from the deaf community here. Deaf education has been integrated since the mid-19th century. Social and sports activities are organised on a non sectarian basis. A shared language and culture supports the real sense of belonging within the deaf community.
It is important to recognise the work of the new Northern Ireland Assembly in introducing legislation for ISL/BSL.
That it is being done on a cross-party basis is encouraging.
BRIAN SYMINGTON and JOHN CARBERRY
Authors of British and Irish Sign Languages – The Long Road to Recognition, Belfast BT5
Singing praises of vague speculation
Years ago, when I first heard Andrea Bocelli singing Time To Say Goodbye, I felt then and still do, that it must be the most beautiful words and music I had ever heard.
Imagine my horror when I recently heard this masterpiece of beauty added to a silly radio and TV advertisement as a hoped-for death knell for diesel fuel.
When I bought a diesel car in 2011 the road tax was so low on it because the fuel was deemed so harmless in emissions and environmental danger, that folk were flocking to buy them.
Within a couple of years, however, ‘scientists’ decided diesel was the worst thing since unsliced bread and the cost of diesel motor tax went through the roof.
I remember when ‘climate’ referred to the prevailing weather and planet Earth just kept on turning then.
When any old red herring today calling itself greenhouse gas and the like is planked inside our gullible ears then us drivers don’t stand a chance. But to abuse us further by roping in the great Andrea to sing the praises of vague speculation with words of love never meant to convey pseudo ‘smoky facts’ is to me unforgivable.
Make them stop, I beg you, because they are killing our optimism that the sun always rises and that sweet music is eternal and not just a threatening tool of the doom merchants.
ROBERT SULLIVAN
Bantry, Co Cork
Education is the route to achieving your dream
A recent study showed six in 10 of us in Northern Ireland have an unfulfilled dream.
Whether it’s finding a completely new career or making it to the top in your chosen field, education is often the route to achieving that dream. We want to inspire more people in Northern Ireland to realise their goals and recently launched the “free your ambition” campaign, with a call for people to act on their ambition, specifically through the power of learning.
With fee grants available to help pay for university tuition fees, degree courses free from entry requirements and flexible study options, there is no reason 2020 can’t be the year to dream big.
JOHN D’ARCY
National director for Open University in Ireland
