Féile an an Phobail 2020 says it is going ahead this year – virtually. Like the Duncairn Arts Centre, let’s hope it works. Strangely, Feile have linked their 2020 festival to support for government measures to tackle Covid-19.
“Féile is fully supportive of the public safety measures currently in place...” Ireland has lost thousands of lives as a result of current safety measures.
Not once have our political leaders said they’re going to beat this virus. They talk of working with it, living with it. Their measures are increasingly aimed towards wealth of the few not health of the people.
The current safety measures in New Zealand have resulted in 1,176 cases and 22 deaths.
In Vietnam, population 95 million, 355 cases, deaths 0.
Better supporting the current safety measures in New Zealand, Vietnam and other countries and demand that they are put in place here in Ireland?
Those countries that took the pandemic seriously and wanted to protect their citizens have the least cases and least deaths.
In Ireland our death total is almost three thousand and rising.
Why would Feile be “fully supportive of the public safety measures currently in place...” that have delivered such immense and unnecessary suffering and death?
Government here have not yet sorted out PPE. Government have not even sorted out testing.
So how did Feile decide to support government’s strategy?
Did they talk to the unions whose members are on the front line?
So, I would like to publicly distance myself from Feile’s support for this current strategy that will ultimately blame the public for future and past deaths.
I express my support for the measures taken in the above named countries.
FLAIR CAMPBELL
Belfast BT11
Farmers from unionist community will benefit most from £25m funding scheme
I have been very concerned in relation to the Section 75 impacts of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister Edwin Poots’s recent decision around the £25 million funding scheme he announced which seems to benefit large scale meat producers and large scale milk farmers while hill farmers have been abandoned.
At first sight the scheme would seem to benefit farmers from the unionist community much more than farmers from a nationalist background but I await the final figures on this scheme to see if this is indeed the case.
Section 75 requires public authorities to have due regard for the need to promote equality of opportunity between persons of different religious belief, political opinion, racial group, age, marital status or sexual orientation
Can the minister provide me with the full Section 75 assessment his department has carried out?
What percentage of farmers from a Protestant background will benefit from the scheme as compared to farmers from a Catholic background?
Has a full Rural Needs Impact Assessment been carried out in relation to this decision and if it has can that be provided to me?
What are the exact rules around state aid for agriculture?
Are state aid rules different for agriculture than any other business? If so can he please provide both policies and highlight the differences?
I want to also highlight the perception that is held within the nationalist farming community, that the DUP has an agenda against farmers in the less favoured areas. This perception started when the DUP cut off the ANC payment to hill farmers back in 2016 and has continued with the almost entire exclusion of hill farmers from the £25m scheme which was supposed to help them through the Covid-19 crisis.
The fact that the large majority of these hill farmers are from a nationalist/Catholic background is causing great distress in hill farm communities.
I am writing this letter in the hope that Minister Poots can assure me that this widely held opinion is wrong.
Cllr SHEAMUS GREENE
Sinn Féin, Fermanagh and Omagh District Council
Donohoe family left in limbo
The family of Noah Donohoe have once again appealed for any and all information relating to his disappearance and death be forwarded to the police, KRW law firm or Relatives for Justice.
The tragic and confusing circumstances surrounding his death continue to cause anxiety and distress for both his family and the community of north Belfast and the community of south Belfast where he lived.
Many questions have been unanswered, leading to speculation and rumour.
The postmortem examination identified the cause of death as ‘drowning’.
The police have left the Donohoe family in limbo.
A conclusion of ‘death by drowning’ does not answer the questions as to why Noah’s bicycle and some of his clothing were discovered in one area and days later his backpack and laptop in another area. Nor does it explain why he did not seek help and how he ended up in a storm drain.
All the speculation and rumours do nothing to help the Donohoe family come to terms with the reality of what has happened.
Yet it is the police failure to reassure the family and the community, through open and transparent communication, of what actually transpired, that is behind the ongoing, avoidable distress and worry.
FRA HUGHES
Belfast BT15
Unionist apology would be helpful
David McNarry – ‘Unionism will not tolerate interference from taoiseach (July 3),
complains that successive taoisigh have never demonstrated ‘unequivocal acceptance of the union and respect for unionism’.
However, if Mr McNarry has regard to the undemocratic context for the emergence of Northern Ireland on the back of the earlier invasion and colonising of a significant portion of the island, he should realise no taoiseach can act in the manner that he desires. In the wider context of the background to Northern Ireland’s present divided society, perhaps the offering of an apology by unionist leadership for the 17th century invasion and colonisation to the displacement and disadvantage of a large segment of the indigenous society would be helpful.
WILLIAM KAVANAGH
Gortahork, Co Donegal
Only in Belfast
While not wishing to engage in any of the Chinese bashing hysteria that has been widely reported to date in The Irish News, what is currently taking shape on the Malone Road in Belfast is starting to look like an architectural hybrid of the Great Wall of China and the H Blocks. No doubt bus loads of deluded tourists will be flocking to it in due course to marvel at it.
J McCULLOUGH
Ballynahinch, Co Down
