Letter to Irish Times 28th. Jan 2004

A chara,
So Brendan Redmond (January 28th) thinks that he joins Mr. Kennedy in 'exposing the nonsensical demands of the Irish-speaking lobby' in relation to the long-overdue recognition of the Irish language as an official language of the European Union. It is not the current lobby, or indeed those who have tirelessly lobbied against the exclusion of Irish from this status for thirty years who are behaving nonsensically, but the Government who now say it is 'unrealistic', to quote Junior Minister Kitt, to seek this element of fairness after the failure of Fianna Fáil at our accession to EEC membership in this regard.

In the sixth class I teach in Gaelscoil Osraí in Kilkenny, the children were stunned to realise that Irish is the only national first language excluded from such a status, and have joined with over 70,000 other people in signing an on-line petition to this effect.

I agree with Mr. Redmond that advances must be made in encouraging the speaking of Irish by our political leaders, and it is ludicrous that our National Parliament, along with the majority of our Council chambers have no simultaneous translation facilities, to allow members to fully participate 'as Ghaeilge'. It should also be noted that our Taoiseach who appears to have virtually no command of the language (where has the revival of Irish gone from Fianna Fáil's founding ideals?) would probably be capable of obfuscation in any language. None of this is relevant to the current issue, however

I urge people who care about the future of our language to ensure the will of the majority, who have moved on from the mindless post-colonial apologism of the seventies and eighties, will continue to press for a sensible, cost-effective proposal and that this Government will get out of the Euro circus ring long enough to make a decision with some meaning for all of us,

Is mise,
Seán Ó hArgáin
Labour Party Candidate, Kilkenny Borough Council

Printed in Kilkenny People, 16th. January 2003

A chara,
The recent letter from Bernard Goldbach on your pages was a clear insight into the thinking of the New Right whose insidious policies have been forced on the world by a US President with a dubious, at best track record in the actual practice of achieving a democratic mandate. The policy of 'might is right' and his stated support for 'The principled use of force', is of course familiar to those of us who live in countries recently oppressed by Governments whose mantras included 'Britannia Rules the Waves'. It is the language of Imperialism, and has precious little to do with what Mr. Goldbach describes as 'an Irish tradition of pride in one's property'.

Most unforgivable however is his broad swipe at the left in politics, and our position on International disputes. I can only speak for myself and the leadership of my party, the Labour Party who led the opposition to the Bush/Blair attack on the primacy of the United Nations. I took part in 1988 in a major demonstration outside the US embassy against the murderous policies of Saddam Hussein in Northern Iraq, where tens of thousands of Kurds were being exterminated. This was being carried out with the overt support of the United States, who considered Saddam to be 'Our son of a bitch' to borrow from that noted 'statesman', Henry Kissinger. The US supplied chemical and conventional weapons to the man now described as the most evil force in modern times. The direct role of members of the current administration, particularly the infamous handshake between Donald Rumsfeld and Saddam in 1991, show how much humbug is involved in their Damascus conversion. I am proud of the consistency of the left in Ireland for calling Saddam what he is, an evil and brutal dictator. What a pity the Right failed so miserably yet again to call it like it is.

Likewise, it is interesting that Mr. Goldbach attempts to paint the US record in other areas as one of recognising when they were wrong and pulling back. His memory obviously doesn't extend to Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, or the Phillipines where the murders of Archbishops, the taking out of a democratically elected Government, and decades of torture and oppression of democracy are the continuing legacies of US foreign policy. It was the left who stood shoulder to shoulder with theses nations. It was the right of Thatcher and Bush Senior who also propped up the Apartheid movement in South Africa while the left worked actively for its defeat.

To bring things up to speed, I presume Mr. Goldbach didn't view the recent award-winning 'Inside the Coup' documentary made by two brave young Irish film makers, showing clearly the US attempts to depose the democratically elected President of Venezuala, Hugo Chavez. He will also have ignored the US thirty-year record of blocking UN action against Israel which has trodden on the rights of the Palestinian nation in contravention of every moral law.

It is time for us to demand a return to International values which protect the primacy of politics. To allow a small group of nations to decide when and where 'regime change' is justified is a very short step away from the Hitler creed of the 1930's. I welcome the removal of one dictator from office, but I hope that the citizens of the US decide to return to the politics of International co-operation, as exemplified by Clinton's work in Ireland and the middle-East, rather than the bullying which has long been associated with the New Right of the Republican leadership,

Is mise,

SEÁN Ó hARGÁIN
Labour Party Candidate for Kilkenny Borough Council

Letter to Kilkenny People 15th. Dec. 2003

A chara,
Michael McGrath's letters to this page are normally thought provoking, though I would not necessarily agree with all of their contents. In a recent letter, however, he resorted to an extraordinary personal attack on myself and the concerns I had expressed about a clear danger presented to the health of Kilkenny citizens. This arises from the Government's abject failure to address the serious health implications of the presence of Radon gas in many private houses and workplaces.

Mr. McGrath made much of his engineering background to prove that the dangers from Radon gas were negligible, in fact so warm was he on the topic that one could have expected him to start bottling the stuff and selling it in health shops. He went so far as to accuse me of scaremongering and creating unnecessary alarm. Given his professed scientific background, I presume he will have taken time to read last week's heavyweight report from the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, our foremost body of scientific experts on matters relating to radiation.

That report reiterated the figure of 200 deaths per year nationally directly related to the presence of Radon, and its colour-coded map made it clear that Kilkenny is one of the highest risk areas in the country. The report strongly criticizes employers for their failure to take action to protect their employees from the impact of Radon. To further emphasise the trade union issues involved, the country's largest union SIPTU, has launched a major National campaign on the issue. Does it need to get any more clearly left-wing for Mr. McGrath to accept its credentials?

I will continue to campaign for action in Kilkenny to protect our health from a hazard which could easily be addressed with proper implementation of the RPII's recommendations. In the meantime, if Mr. McGrath consults www.labour.ie, or contacts our head office, he will discover that we are a party who places great emphasis on sound, left-wing policies, but who also acts accordingly,

Is mise i mbráithreachas,

Seán Ó hArgáin
Candidate for Kilkenny Borough Council, Labour Party.