LETTERS

Defending Ireland

AFTER reading letter writer Patrick McVeigh’s most recent diatribe (“Irish Always Treated Fair,” February 11-17), I am forced to arrive at the conclusion that Mr. McVeigh has no familiarity with either logic or fact. 

It would appear that Mr. McVeigh believes that nothing short of a photograph of the mayor of New York beating Irish immigrants back onto the boat provides proof of discrimination. I suppose in Mr. McVeigh’s reality, recent Irish immigrants rang up The New York Times every time they encountered hostility or outright discrimination, as I’m sure the cultural climate six generations ago was very progressive in regards to the treatment of ethnic minorities.

Mr. McVeigh does not dispute that the Irish were depicted as “grotesque apes” by cartoonist Thomas Nash; he just dismisses the idea that such portrayals could possibly reflect or reinforce an anti-Irish cultural environment, because he says so, of course.

As regards the issue of U.S. aid to Israel vs. Ireland, Mr. McVeigh again resorts to the worst kind of intellectual cowardice by calling anyone who has any criticism of U.S.-Israel relations anti-Semitic. Mr. McVeigh may think he’s being cute by calling U.S. aid to Israel “credits,” but billions of dollars that will never be paid back is a gift, period. 

Of course, Mr. McVeigh is his most intentionally outrageous when he states that Ireland is not a U.S. ally and never was. It is in that statement that Mr. McVeigh proves how truly intellectually bankrupt he is. 

If he said that Ireland wasn’t a military ally, he’d be somewhat correct, although the use of Irish troops as peacekeepers begs the question of what a military alliance truly is. 

Mr. McVeigh, if the “most important” point to note is that Ireland is and has been receiving its’ military defense free, courtesy of the U.S. and NATO for “50-plus years,” then perhaps you could explain why, in the post-Soviet era, we haven’t decided to implement the same defense strategy concerning Israel, since you state that Israel would gladly do so? Anyone care to guess the odds of the Israeli military ever becoming a symbolic “tripwire” force?

Perhaps the U.S. government should issue “credits” to Ireland for its military defense, since according to Mr. McVeigh, defending Ireland is apparently costing us billions. It makes me wonder why we Americans would spend so much money to defend a nation that’s “not a U.S. ally.”

Reading a tirade like Mr. McVeigh’s makes me wonder how we have allies of any kind left in the world. 

Tim LaVassar 
Vestal, New Yor

Doyle and Dedalus

IN the February 11-17 issue, Tom Deignan speculated how Stephen Dedalus might react to Roddy Doyle’s assertion that Ulysses was badly written. 

One can only conjecture – Stephen, after all, was often reticent and prone to observations of an abstract nature. 

My own guess is that he would simply have pared his fingernails, exhibiting indifference to the point of invisibility – refining himself, as it were, out of existence, and that if pressed for an answer he would have still declined, promptly, without explanation, but nonetheless amicably and with gratitude for the solicitation.

In a related vein, it seems likely that one or other of Roddy’s weighty tomes would have ended up on Leopold Bloom’s bookshelves. In fact, quite likely all of them.

Tom Mahoney
Buffalo Grove, Illinois

John and Jane

IN the February 4-10 issue of the Irish Voice the editorial “Kerry’s New Statement” promoted the idea that “former President Bill Clinton parlayed his position during the 1992 campaign into a massive role in the success of the Irish peace process.”

The editorial appeared to be contradictory when it said that Senator John Kerry was right in his assumption that as long as Rev. Ian Paisley and company believe they have the right to alter or shun the Good Friday Agreement, then there can be no real progress in Northern Ireland. 

Which is it, Clinton’s brave new world or Paisley’s determination to keep sectarianism alive? I find it extremely interesting to think the editors of the Irish Voice think an American president, or any politician for that matter, can influence positively the conditions in Northern Ireland given the nature of the problem. 

In closing, the editorial made the assumption that because Kerry comes from Massachusetts he is attuned to Irish issues. No mention of the fact that his name was changed to avoid potential persecution as a Jew and his ancestry is actually Eastern European. 

Personally I think the Irish Voice view of promoting John Forbes Kerry on the basis of his promise to pay close attention to Irish deportations is a little premature. After all, this is the same man who threw his medals over the White House fence in protest and then displayed them prominently in his Senate office. Maybe it’s the initials JFK. For some reason when I hear those initials I don’t think of John Forbes Kerry; I visualize Jane Fonda. 

Jerry Hoosier 
Cypress, California

Pregnancy Scare

IN regard to the story “Pregnant Immigrants Have Many Options” in last week’s issue, 22-year-old “Mary” comes to New York from Ireland, remains in the country illegally, and works here illegally off the books, no doubt. Then she has a fling with a man she’s not serious with, but hey, “it [is] fun and it [takes] the sting out of cold winter nights.” 

And then, surprise! Poor irresponsible Mary discovers a baby is on the way. But poor Mary’s “boyfriend” says there is “nothing he [can] do.” 

Poor Mary now realizes she needs medical care, but being as irresponsible as she is, she of course has no insurance. Not to worry! The New York taxpayer rides to her rescue, and poor clueless Mary qualifies for the state-provided Prenatal Care Assistance Program (PCAP). 

Now she can stay in New York to have her baby, and the child can receive taxpayer-provided benefits for as long as needed. Meanwhile, the “boyfriend” is not held accountable, Mary continues to expect the world to owe her a living, an innocent child is born poor and fatherless, and hardworking citizens pay taxes to support this situation. 

Something is very wrong with this picture. 

Patricia Phelan 
Freeport, New Yor

EU Coverage Important

ALTHOUGH I enjoy the Irish Voice, I feel that your newspaper could use a few more intellectual articles. 

I enjoy reading John Spain’s insightful articles on the European Union, particularly his column “Global Warming Irish Style” in the January 28-February 3 issue. We need to have more articles on the economics of the EU. 

Americans need to understand the effects of the EU on the economy of the U.S. I am writing to you to ask John Spain to keep writing his articles on the EU and to keep us informed. 

As a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts, I wrote a paper on the EU just prior to the organization of the EU countries. The EU has developed rapidly and will change Europe forever. 

Although I am happy for the current economic development of Ireland, my last visit to the country left me feeling a bit sad that so much has been lost culturally. 

I would also like to see your newspaper have simple lessons on spoken Irish to help promote the Irish language among Irish Americans. This might also help to promote subscriptions in western Massachusetts. 

Maire MacEoin 
Southampton, Massachusetts