LETTERS Lay Off GAA, Dervan
idiot like Cathal Dervan to write a sports column when it is clear as day he is not a supporter of our national sport?
I am sick and tired of Dervan’s continual jibes at the officers of the GAA, mainly those in charge of Croke Park, and why they wont allow soccer or rugby to be played in “our” national stadium.
Tom Jones’s rendering of “The Green Grass of Home” is more pleasant to my ears than listening to rugby’s four provinces song. Mr. Dervan, the only one here with the narrow mind is you.
Does Dervan know anything about history? For example in 1921 when the Black and Tans, England’s forces, drove into the middle of Croke Park and shot dead 13 people, including Tipperary footballer Michael Hogan, who the Hogan Stand was named after?
Now Dervan wants to see Robbie Keane play in Croke Park. Imagine Michael Hogan turning in his grave when “God Save the Queen” is sung and a Union Jack hoisted, which would happen if our soccer team was playing England.
And also Mr. Dervan, where is all the money the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) made with the Irish team over the last 20 years or so? Our soccer team has been in a few World Cups since then, so why don’t they build their own stadium?
And as for our rugby team, I was in Twickenham a few years ago and they won’t even play the Irish national anthem because we have Protestants in our team. Did you ever hear that happening in any other country?
So in closing, Mr. Dervan, why don’t you inquire where the FAI spent their money, and why our national rugby team won’t play our national anthem before every game. And leave us GAA supporters alone to enjoy our national pastime.
Robert G. McIntyre
Maspeth, New York
No Arms for Bush
AFTER reading last week’s Irish Voice coverage on President George W. Bush’s visit to Ireland in June, one can only hope that the Secret Service agents are better at both shooting and making valid judgment of threats than the armed services has been in Iraq.
How many innocent civilians and foreign journalists have been slaughtered in error? I fear for the Irish people, especially the thousands who will be protesting the visit.
The Irish people (who in actuality are the government) should refuse to let Bush’s thugs enter the country unless they disarm. Would I be allowed into Ireland if I were carrying a handgun? I certainly doubt it.
This man and his violent entourage should be stopped at the gates!
Frances Miller
Copake, New York
Were Clinton Guards Armed?
I READ in last week’s Irish Voice how some in the Irish government do not wish to permit our Secret Service to protect President George W. Bush by carrying arms while Bush is visiting Ireland in June for the European summit.
The suggestion by these people that we should not be able to protect the leader of the free world is ludicrous in itself.
My question is simple – did the Irish government allow President Clinton’s Secret Service to carry arms when he traveled there?
Perhaps the Irish should focus more on all the weapons that were coming into their country to fund terrorism in Northern Ireland, and not be as concerned about us protecting our president.
Molly McGuirk
Troy, New York
Bush Has Guts
IS it my imagination, or are Irish Americans in this country afraid to vote Republican rather than Democrat all the time?
It seems that most Irish Americans I encounter vote for party rather than man or principal, regardless of whether it is good for our country or not.
In my opinion President George W. Bush may not be the end all, but Senator John Kerry is certainly a far cry from savior or presidential material. Kerry speaks out of both sides of his mouth and flip-flops on every issue.
People seem to hate Bush because of the war in Iraq, but are our memories so short or so selective that for 30 years or 800 years, the Irish forgot they fought a war against British occupation in the north of Ireland?
Our enemies are real! September 11 was real! Bush has the guts to stand up to our enemies, whereas Kerry stated he is ashamed he served in the armed forces.
Helen McClafferty
Nutley, New Jersey
Radical Changes
WE are forever faced with a changing world of fashion and lifestyle trends, but we have to try and live in the real world and not get carried away with too radical a shift in our lifestyles, otherwise we will face an insurmountable dilemma.
The Irish authorities have taken what appears to be one of the most radical changes that will have far reaching effects for the majority of Irish people, and they appear to be taking it almost casually.
Not only have they banned smoking, they are attempting to legalize homosexuality. That will probably create a situation whereby the Pro Cathedral in Dublin will be specially reserved for gay “marriages” on particular days. How ridiculous, and what’s next?
Who is instigating these absurd notions in a party that has survived on the backbone of its Irish identity? It all indicates that Fianna Fail and its leadership in particular has been well and truly undermined.
The various left wing councils in Britain were very often referred to as left wing loonies, so how are we going to refer to their equivalent in Ireland, the green gombeens?
Let’s face the facts. Ireland is, and the Irish people always were, one of the most conservative people in the whole of Europe, and old ways die hard. Nowhere will it be more evident than at the polling station, come election time.
When a ruling party such as Fianna Fail adapts radical ideas and attempts to put them into practice, then it will inevitably face the consequences, and that is a radical change in the voting patterns.
Fianna Fail, like Fine Gael, were founded out of the struggle for Irish independence and put together form the greater part of the Irish electorate, but should they stray too far from their original goal, then they will undoubtedly decline from public favor.
P.J. O’Reilly
London, England
What Does Egan Think?
AS was pointed out in the “Intelligencer” column in last week’s Irish Voice, it would certainly be nice to hear Cardinal Edward Egan provide some sort of response to the bigoted beyond belief comments made recently by James Barker, executive director of the New York City St. Patrick’s Day parade committee.
Mr. Barker went on record with his views concerning the agenda of gay and lesbian Irish Americans, that being the imposition of their “warped lifestyle” on young children. Jolly Jim did not stop there, going on to offer his diagnosis of gays and lesbians as “ill,” and suggesting that the whole lot of them should be viewed as nothing more (or less) than “filth.”
Maybe I’m naďve, or just maybe all the Boru vodka I’ve taken in over the last couple of weeks has impaired my judgment, but I have to believe that such a hateful and un-Christian sounding diatribe from a powerful bully like Mr. Barker will elicit some sort of rebuke from Cardinal Egan.
The latter is, after all, the shepherd responsible for tending to the needs of all us Catholics out here trying to emulate the loving teachings of Christ.
Cardinal Egan, please remember that Jesus had the guts to toss those rapacious money changers out of His Father’s house of worship. Now it’s your turn to provide some sort of discipline in response to this recent bastardization of the true teachings of Christianity.
All it would take on your part is the courage to take on the politically powerful Mr. Barker and other like-minded bigots within the AOH. Christ our Lord was quick to demonstrate courage of this sort. How about you?
Vicki Rogers O’Brien
Nyack, New York
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