LETTERS

Can’t Count on Irish

IN Cormac MacConnell’s column “Have the Terrorists Won?” (March 17-23), he quoted his daughter saying, “Dad, does this not mean that the terrorists have won?” when discussing the fall of the Spanish government following the terrorist attacks in Spain. 

Her daddy responded, “There now is a troublesome question.”

MacConnell went on to write that none of the Americans he and his journalistic daughter had spoken to endorse the war in Iraq, though all supported it for patriotic reasons. 

We move from there to Mairead Carey’s article in the same issue, “Irish to Protest Bush Visit,” where the Irish Anti-War Movement (IAWM) is blaming the deaths of 200 Spaniards on the Bush administration. 

How much of this is pandering to the electorate I don’t know and don’t care. I do care if it leads to riots and the endangerment of my president. 

There was some humor in Ms. Carey’s article, however, when Ahern insisted that Ireland was not as vulnerable (to terrorism) as other countries. Right! What are they going to blow up, Kiley’s pub? 

In a recent letter to the editor, Stella O’Leary wrote that since 1985 the American government has donated $300 million towards building peace in Ireland, and the country continues to rely of the generosity of the American people to provide this funding to help with the work of reconciliation in Northern Ireland. (Wasn’t Bush recently admonished in the Irish Voice for not doing more to resolve “The Troubles” in the North?) 

Cormac’s daughter was right in her assessment that terrorism has won. That assessment is not just the result of the invertebrate Spanish, but describes the Irish as well. 

What if it had been the Eiffel Tower instead of the World Trade Center? What would Germany’s position have been if the Bundestat had been leveled? 

But they’re still standing aren’t they. It was the World Trade Center that was targeted. It was ours. 

Whenever there is a disaster in the world who leads the way? It is usually the U.S. When the U.S. experiences a disaster who can they count on? 

We used to say on St. Patrick’s Day everybody was Irish, but not anymore. 

Jerry Hoosier 
Cypress, California

Hooray for Fay!

AROUND St. Patrick’s Day, my wife and I had the great pleasure of spending an evening in Woodside, Queens at a reception for the all-Ireland senior champion lilter, Seamus Fay of Co. Cavan. 

The room, filled with Mr. Fay’s relatives and friends, turned pin-drop quiet when he lilted. All of us seemed to sense we were in the presence of a virtuoso performer of that increasingly rare form of Irish traditional music. 

In this era of enormous egos, especially in the entertainment field, the 70-year-old Mr. Fay is an anomaly. Despite the many honors bestowed upon him, Mr. Fay remains self-effacing and humble. 

These characteristics, coupled with his keen sense of humor, his sweetness and his legendary vocal gifts make him unforgettable. 

Listening to a few tracks of Seamus Fay: Cavan’s Lilter, Mr. Fay’s first CD, a bestseller in Ireland, is a sure cure for the blues.

James V. Dolson
Springfield, Virginia

In Defense of Smokers

I COULD not let Mairead Carey’s obviously slanted take on the newly-enacted smoking ban in Ireland, “Irish Embrace New Smoke Ban,” (March 31-April 6) to go without comment.

First of all, was the story meant to be objective reporting or an opinion piece? If the article was meant to be objective, to my mind at least it failed by a long shot. I do not believe for one minute her statement that “thousands of people have been prompted to quit the habit as a result of the measures.” 

Does she mean “Irish” people? After 800 years of oppression, Pearse and Connolly couldn’t muster more than a few hundred souls to remove the English in 1916, but now thousands of Irish are going to quit one of the hardest habits to break in life because Health Minister Micheal Martin says he’ll save 150 lives a year in Ireland due to the effects of second-hand smoke? 

Sounds like he’s Saint Patrick II. And what’s the death toll on the Irish highways this year to date? I bet it’s over 150. 

And how many have died of drug overdoses or drug-related activities, or the drink, or obesity for that matter? “I think,” Mairead, as Michael O’Sullivan said in Waking Ned Devine, “you’re having us all on.” 

In an adjoining article on the same page, “Kerry Publican Vows to Fight,” Ms. Carey refers to smokers as “nicotine addicts” who, “could be seen huddling outside every public house.” As if they were junkies, hanging around waiting for their pushers. 

Is that how she views smokers? Addicts? Hardly an objective piece of journalism, but you be the judge. 

And her obvious fawning over Martin is also misguided. The fact is, when Martin came to New York City last year to review the effects of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s ban, he refused to meet with any representatives of the bar industry. 

They would have told him what he did not want to hear, that they were losing loads of money. Martin spent his time instead with the man himself, Mayor Mike, who’s own fascist-like maneuvers, with the able assistance of the City Council, pushed through a purely punitive smoking ban without the consent of anyone but their own like-minded group, least of all the tax-payers and citizens of New York. 

While no one would argue that smoking is good for one’s health, for politicians, with the assistance of their enablers, to go about passing laws without the consent and participation of the people being affected, for their own personal reasons, is not democracy at all, nor is it just. 

And from what I read in the Irish daily papers, Martin would be better served addressing the deplorable state of the so-called Irish health care system, of which he is minister, rather than making old men standing out in the rain to have a smoke. 

I have no doubt that, in time, the law, in Ireland as well as in New York, will be amended to the mutual satisfaction of all and fairness will prevail. 

No offense to Ms. Carey intended. The Irish Voice is a good read. 

But please, no opinions, thank you. As you can see we readers have enough of our own. 

By the way, I don’t smoke. Gave it up years ago. 

Jack McGrath
Fleetwood, New York

GOAL Gratitude

THANK you for the amazing article on GOAL’s programs in Calcutta in the Irish Voice issue of March 31-April 6.

On behalf of GOAL USA, the U.S. arm of GOAL which works to raise awareness of GOAL’s efforts among the Irish American community in the U.S., I want to commend Niall O’Dowd for this thoughtful insight into the world of GOAL. 

It is because of the lifesaving efforts of this charitable organization, such as those that take place in Calcutta, that we work in New York to galvanize Irish Americans to help fund these necessary programs. 

One of GOAL USA’s main fundraising efforts is an annual black tie gala ball, which has raised more than $1 million for programs such as those in Calcutta, as well as other nations in need. 

This year, the 16th GOAL USA ball will take place on Friday, November 5 at the Ritz-Carlton New York in Battery Park. For anyone interested in this event, or participating with GOAL USA, I encourage them to go to www.goalusa.org .

Calcutta may be a far distance from New York. However, our efforts can reach the streets that Mr. O’Dowd so intensely describes. Sincere thanks.

Kelly Fincham
GOAL USA 
New York, New Yor