There have long been descriptive characterisations/labels for competing political positions in the six counties such as loyalism/unionism, that pledges allegiance to Britain, and nationalism, that is defined as Irish nationalism that favours a united Ireland. That might be a simplistic and widely accepted recognition of the competing narratives of the political discourse here but there is another. According to Turlough Quinn – ‘Nationalists are now confident in their status as equal citizens’ (March 27) – the definition of nationalism is totally inaccurate. Turlough states: “The uprising of 1969 was never about a united Ireland – it was a reaction against 50 years and more of unionist domination and discrimination. This has gone and the nationalist people are quite content with the status quo, or to coin a phrase which the DUP may understand, they have reached the promised land. We (including himself in the term nationalism) have no hankering for the unionist habit of domination nor are we particularly annoyed one way or the other about Irish unity.”
I haven’t often heard of an uprising in 1969 although I am aware of the emergence of the civil rights movement. That was quickly replaced and overshadowed by a republican struggle that had as its goal a united Ireland. Nationalism by definition refers to those who identify as Irish and who lean towards Irish unity. Where does Turlough feel that he has the authority to speak on behalf of nationalists living in the six counties, that they are quite content with the status quo and have reached the promised land, and are not particularly annoyed one way or another about Irish unity?
Turlough does not speak for nationalism, any more than I do. What he appears to be projecting is his own political standpoint but presenting it in a way where he appears to be representing it as the views of a community. These reformist views that he is reflecting appear similar to the reformist views that have previously been espoused by the SDLP, that has led to the party’s almost terminal decline and that has led it to revise its strategy to try to portray itself as a party committed to Irish unity in order to try to revive its failing support.
That being the case, please tell me Turlough what authority you have for telling anyone how ‘nationalists’ are content with the status quo and feel that they have reached their promised land? I would also take issue Turlough with your assertion that nationalists are treated equally under this regime, which is clearly discernible if you attempt to scratch the surface of this new utopia you describe.
SEÁN O FIACH
Belfast BT11
Hoax callers playing a dangerous game
The twisted and dangerous business of making hoax ambulance calls should be severely prosecuted with heavy penal sanctions. Many may argue it should be a crime of strict liability and carry an automatic jail sentence and a huge fine. Every day the ambulance services on this island in both jurisdictions can get several hoax calls, taking up time and valuable resources. This is putting a terrible strain on a life-saving service and costing people their lives, as ambulances are diverted to places where no emergency exists — when they could be going to real emergencies. The ambulance service is wafer thin at times in addition to people who do not realise the danger of making a hoax call – or do, but don’t give a damn. It‘s time for the Executive to get tough, if it ever gets up and running again, and policing authorities go after these people hard and heavy. Dispatch operators should not be degraded or abused either by those who want to jeopardise the only hope people may have when there is a real emergency. All calling numbers to the ambulance service should be immediately decoded and come up on dispatch operators screens — irrespective of whether the number is blocked on the phone or not. Mobile and landline networks should agree with this policy. According to one BBC report, £3 million annually is spent on hoax calls, involving 212,000 hours of work. This works out at £9,000 per day dealing with immature, disruptive, and destructive people with nothing else to do with their time. Hoax callers are playing a very dangerous game. One day they may need an ambulance themselves when relatives are told because it was on a hoax call, they could not get to them in time. They should think of this irony the next time they are tempted to dial 999 or 112 and the hundreds of people who will die because an ambulance, which may also be an extremely costly air ambulance, has been wrongly diverted to a false emergency so someone can get their kicks.
MAURICE FITZGERALD
Shanbally, Co Cork
EU bombs for peace
At a meeting in Brussels on March 20, attended by Peter Burke TD, Minister of State for European Affairs and Defence, the EU decided to use the European Peace Facility to spend €2 billion to supply Ukraine with 155mm artillery shells which will be used to kill thousands of Russians and Ukrainians in eastern Ukraine. This is the sort of international immorality George Orwell tried to expose. Our Irish government is also contributing €3m towards the International Criminal Court war crimes investigations in Ukraine but for three decades ignored the war crimes committed by US and its Nato and other allies in Iraq and Afghanistan. All war crimes must be investigated, and the perpetrators brought to justice. The best way to prevent war crimes is to prevent wars by promoting peace by peaceful means. Since Sweden and Finland abandoned their neutrality, Ireland, Austria, Cyprus and Malta are the only EU states not full members of Nato. Nato has effectively taken over the EU. The US has been using Nato as its enforcer to maintain its stranglehold over the global financial system and access to an undue share of the world’s limited resources. How many more innocent Ukrainians must die?
EDWARD HORGAN
Castletroy, Co Limerick
MOT debacle no longer excusable
Two years after lockdown ended and three years after the lifts debacle, DVA NI remains unable to provide MOT testing in Northern Ireland. Test appointments cannot be booked more than three months before a certificate is due to expire and yet once this deadline arrives, test appointments are unavailable for up to five months. How exactly this is possible is baffling. It makes it impossible for drivers to comply with the legal requirement to have a valid MOT certificate, to tax the vehicle or perhaps to obtain valid insurance. Some drivers are travelling to Scotland and England for tests where they can be carried out by private garages. The Department for Infrastructure will not explain why such arrangements cannot be made in Northern Ireland nor can it explain why, after two years, it remains unable to discharge a statutory duty. The department knows in advance how many certificates will expire on any given day so demand is exactly predictable years in advance. This failure is no longer excusable.
DERMOT McNALLY
Castlerock, Co Derry
