| Letters To The Editor
Cover Girl
The cover story on Bridget Moynahan (Dec./Jan.) was one of the finest
that I have ever read. It brought out her warmth and personality and made
her a real person.
James Coyle, Received by e-mail
Proudly We Serve
I thoroughly enjoyed the article “Proudly We Serve” about the remarkable
contributions of the Irish to the U.S. military (Oct./Nov.). I want to mention
two additional Irish heroes. General Stephen Kearney, Commander of the American
forces in the Mexican American War, was the first Governor of California.
His nephew, General Philip Kearney, was the most decorated soldier of the
Civil War and was called by President Lincoln, “the bravest man I have ever
known.”
These men were descendants of Patrick Kearney, who emigrated from County
Cork to Philadelphia in the early part of the 18th century.
John Kearney, Cincinnati, Ohio
The Church’s Temerity
After reading your interview (Dec./Jan) with John Patrick Shanley, I
came away feeling that Shanley believes that because the Catholic Church
made mistakes regarding the child abuse scandals, it should forever remain
silent concerning important moral issues.
Shanley can’t believe how the Church hierarchy “has the temerity to take
a moral stance against Kerry because of his stand on abortion, as if they
have some kind of absolute moral authority.”
I believe that all people of good will have a moral obligation to oppose
abortion. I am not a religious person but I believe abortion is wrong, based
on natural law.
Since Shanley is in show business perhaps he could answer a question
for me; since public television networks routinely show other types of medical
procedures in their programing, why don’t they show a second and third term
abortion so that their viewers can decide for themselves whether this is
in fact murder?
Jim Lundrigan, New Haven, Connecticut
Sabotaging the Peace
I am heartbroken by the turn of events in Ireland.
Shame on those who did the Northern Bank robbery and shame on those who
have used that robbery (bad enough in itself) to sabotage the peace-process.
First, we have Hugh Orde, Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern
Ireland (PSNI), appointing himself judge and jury – and proclaiming that
the IRA did the robbery while feeling no obligation to place evidence in
the public domain, much less before a court and jury.
Second, we have the Irish Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern (having been steamrolled
by extremist, Michael McDowell, Minister for Justice) even outdoing Hugh
Orde, by appointing himself not only judge and jury, but executioner as
well. He charged that Sinn Féin leaders knew in advance of the alleged IRA
robbery – in other words that Sinn Féin leaders were, before and after the
fact, co-conspirators in the robbery. In making that remarkably irresponsible
accusation Ahern thus became the executioner, the hangman, of the peace-process.
And I say this as one who all across America has consistently praised Taoiseach
Ahern for his previous admirable work on the peace-process.
Why did Bertie Ahern make such an incendiary and irresponsible charge
and didn’t he see the massive damage it would do? Didn’t the robbery, in
and of itself, cause enough trouble? And even if he did actually believe
it, was it prudent and responsible for him to make the charge, without due
process? What right, legally and morally, does he have to dispense himself
from the absolute principle that a person is innocent until proven guilty?
Is there one law for regular folks, and another different one for a Taoiseach?
How could this be described in any other way than as an abuse of power?
What is going on in Ireland? The very people who – at such great risk
and against such great odds – made the peace-process possible, Gerry Adams,
Martin Mc Guinness, etc., are now the very ones who are being blamed for
harming the peace-process. How absurd and wrong is that?
And to make things even more bizarre, the very people who have made the
irresponsible and defamatory charges, Bertie Ahern and Hugh Orde, both claim
they want Sinn Féin to immediately join the Police Board in Northern Ireland
and not be excluded from the peace-process. Come on now, is that really
a tenable position?
The recently deceased Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible (1953) – about
the Salem Witch trials of the late 1600’s – is generally seen as an allegory
to the hysterical American anti-Communist campaigns of the 1950s. In it,
Deputy Governor Danforth, in his speech justifying the witch-hunting court
says: “But you must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court
or he must be counted against it, there be no road between. This is a sharp
time, now, a precise time – we live no longer in the dusky afternoon when
evil mixed itself with good and befuddled the world. Now, by God’s grace,
the shining sun is up, and them that fear not light will surely praise it.
I hope you will be one of those.”
But at least the witches were brought to a court, of a sort. Sinn Féin
has not been even given that much.
Cui bono (who profits) from the Northern Bank robbery? Surely not Sinn
Féin, or the majority of Catholics in Northern Ireland who voted for them.
Who profited from the advise the British Intelligence service gave to
British Prime Minister Blair that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction,
which could be deployed almost immediately? And is that the same Intelligence
Service that Hugh Orde used to blame the IRA for the Bank robbery? The same
Service that was involved in the false and lengthy imprisonment of The Guildford
Four, The Birmingham Six, and The Maguire Seven?
But maybe it is irresponsible for this Fermanagh man to say such things.
Maybe I should be uncritically supporting Bertie Ahern’s and Hugh Orde’s
slanderous, violent, undemocratic and unproven charges and say with the
Clergyman in The Crucible, the Reverend John Hale: “Though our hearts break,
we cannot flinch.
There is a misty plot afoot so subtle we should be criminal to cling
to old respects and ancient friendships” – and to hell with due process,
all witches and all Sinn Féiners.
Father Sean McManus, President Irish National Caucus, Washington,
D.C.
The Irish and Al-Qaeda
Karl Rove tried to cover up President Bush’s statement that the war on
terror cannot be won by comparing it to the conflict in Northern Ireland.
Rove stated, “This is going to be more like the conflict in Northern Ireland
where the Brits fought terrorism, and there’s no sort of peace accord with
al-Qaeda saying, ‘we surrender.’”
How dare the Bush administration compare the Irish to al-Qaeda, and make
heroes of the British and their occupation of Ireland.
As an Irish-American, I am insulted.
William Finn, Kansas City, Missouri
Amb. Egan’s Letter
The rambling, paranoid rant of a letter that former U.S. Ambassador Richard
Egan sent Irish America magazine (Dec./Jan. issue) illustrates why his short-lived
term as Ambassador to Ireland was a diplomatic disaster. In his letter,
Mr. Egan complains “I witnessed increasing anti-American sentiment, particularly
in the media.” This from the man who described his role as U.S. Ambassador
to Ireland as “very, very boring,” a statement imbued with anti-Irish sentiment.
Mr. Egan’s letter suggests that Irish America magazine choose “between
American and Irish interests” and asks “which side do you favor?” I subscribe
to this magazine because it does not “favor,” it holds a mirror to the issues,
events, and people that are of interest to me as an Irish-American.
I found Mr. Egan’s last comment, the one in which he threatens editor
Patricia Harty with “you better think twice before trying to influence American
politics - the Irish are not the only ones with long memories,” to be initially
funny, in a you kids get off my property way. After reading it again, I
found it both sad and scary, as this man is a representative of the administration
that governs this country.
Liz Kerr, Jenkintown, Pennsylvania
In response to the outrageous threats against you by Richard Egan, formerly
the U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Ireland, I entered new subscriptions
to both Irish America and your sister publication, Irish Voice.
Graydon Wilson, Burlington, Vermont
With regard to Richard Egan lashing out at your editor, telling her she
best think twice before trying to influence American politics. You have
every right to comment on and influence American politics, as you are protected
by the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech. For Richard Egan to suggest
that the Bush administration will retaliate against you for exercising this
right is un-American. For those reasons alone, I did not vote for George
W. Bush.
Anne Ireland, Richmond, California
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