Stop All Visa Denial

The editorial on the visa denial to the Provisional Sinn Fein U.S. representative Rita O’Hare in last week’s issue was right on the mark.

This policy of visa denial to be used as a political tool or a reward or punishment gesture is an ongoing tactic that is still being used against leading members of Republican Sinn Fein for years now. Why?

Not because of a glitch in some previous travels to the U.S. It is because Republican Sinn Fein refuses to compromise on the core beliefs of the Republican movement and will not accept the right of any Brit legal authority in any part of Ireland.

No matter how much pressure is brought to bear on Republican Sinn Fein and the Republican movement by Dublin, London or Washington, it is the right of the Irish alone to determine their course of action.

The U.S. visa denial of Republican Sinn Fein members has led to a one-sided failed peace process, where all discourse is limited to one solution, the Good Friday Agreement.

We are led to believe there is only one option out there, but there is not! Republican Sinn Fein has put forth their realistic blueprint towards peace and unity with justice in their Eire Nua political paper policy.

Eire Nua sets in motion the road to an independent federal type democratic socialist republic, contingent on a complete Brit disengagement from Ireland in orderly fashion north, south, east and west.

Eire Nua is not being allowed the open and honest discourse and format to be discussed and debated among the American Irish because the continuing denial of visas to Republican Sinn Fein spokespersons who can elucidate and promote Eire Nua as an alternative plan.

Special interests are at work against those who seek to change the status quo, but that will not stop real Republicans from continuing the struggle for national sovereignty.

I call upon the U.S. to stop the use of visa denials to discriminate against Republican Sinn Fein! And any other political party in Ireland, including the Provos.

Sean O' Lubaigh, Canton, Ohio

Support for Life

I was very interested in the story in last week’s “Ireland’s Eye” column titled “Miracle Man Weds.” It concerned a man who suffered brain damage and was declared clinically dead by all the so-called medical experts.

His loving girlfriend refused to believe the reports and refused to take him off life support. Lo and behold, the man eventually recovered and now the couple is happily married, her faith in her religion and her man justly rewarded.

The simple story from Ireland perfectly illustrates how life must be cherished and fought for at all times. No one but God above knows when the end should come, and while there’s even a sliver of hope for us all down here on earth, we should fight for the right to life no matter what.

I supported the parents of poor Terri Schiavo in their quest to keep their daughter alive. Perhaps if they had succeeded they too would someday have the happy ending that these folks in Ireland realized.

Life is a precious gift no matter what stage it is at. I applaud President Bush for his stance on embryonic stem cell research, and also his pro-life positions.

Helen Murray Hastings, Elizabeth, New Jersey

O’ Hare the Heroine

Sinn Fein’s Rita O’Hare is a lady of courage. She has always commanded the moral high ground. She has supported and dedicated her life to the cause of justice and freedom.

She has passionately fought for and supported the Good Friday Agreement. Rita O’Hare supports peace, not violence.

To bar her from the U.S. is disgraceful, shocking and intolerable. Rita is a heroine in the tradition of Countess Markievicz, Mary MacSwiney and Bernadette Devlin. Rita was arrested and imprisoned for supporting Irish civil rights.

In the Irish hero-patriot tradition Rita, like Father Murphy (Wexford), James Connolly and Gerry Adams, was also wounded and shed her blood for the noble cause of human dignity and freedom.

The Irish American community must cry out in public protest! We cannot let this visa ban on free speech stand.

By protecting Rita O’Hare’s freedom, we protect and safeguard our own.

Hal Cousins, Del City, Oklahoma

Brits Out Is Old

I couldn’t agree more with last week’s letter writer Thomas Keown, who firmly put previous letter writer Michael J. Cummings in his place about all these ridiculous inaccuracies about the British and Irish.

With people like Cummings and his tired old “Brits Out” cry, peace would never come to Northern Ireland. Perhaps Mr. Cummings should spend some time in the North these days, where people are enjoying peace, uneasy at times as it may be.

How easy it is to fight the war 3,000 miles away from the battleground. Does Mr. Cummings think the Northern Irish people want a return to the bad old days, all in the name of getting the Brits Out? Not on your life.

Irish Americans like Cummings need to get real and worry about the problems plaguing the U.S., instead of ranting on about dear old Ireland.

Northern Ireland may not be perfect, and there are still plenty of issues to sort out, but the people are getting there, little by little, and saving a countless number of lives along the way. And that, Mr. Cummings, is worth more than any of your empty, useless words.

Martin McGrath, Chicago, Illinois

U2 Obsession

Does U2 ever do anything wrong? Mike Farragher and Debbie McGoldrick are completely obsessed with the band, and now we have Niall O’Dowd, in last week’s issue, calling for a Nobel Peace Prize for Bono. Come on!

U2 are good, not great, and not rock gods. They are not — repeat not — in the class of the Beatles or Rolling Stones, and probably never will be. Both of those bands had a huge impact on the emerging rock form, and U2 is just cashing in on their hard work.

That’s not entirely fair. They’re a good band, they’ve written some memorable songs, but they’re not perfect. Bono going on and on about Africa is hugely annoying and at this stage it seems like he’s on a total publicity high, which takes away from the extreme worthiness of the cause.

Now that he’s on tour — and the “Vertigo” tour, which I also saw in Philadelphia, was just okay — he should just shut up and sing. If we want to her political talk we can turn on our TVs and watch CNN after the show.

John McCormack, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Seeking History

We’re looking for the score to the Irish American cantana “An Bard ‘gus an Fo: A Gaelic Idyll” which was performed in November 28, 1884 in Steinway Hall.

One of the current research projects of the CUNY Institute for Irish American Studies is creating an online archive of Irish American publications from 1820 to 1922. We came across the bilingual 30-page libretto in the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Centre, but we have not been able to locate the instrumental and vocal notation that Paul MacSwiney composed for the New York Society for the Preservation of the Irish Language.

This choral production was later performed in English under the title “The Bard and the Knight.”

If any of your readers might have a clue as to the possible location of any remaining copies of the score, they are kindly asked to contact us at 718-960-6722 or cunyiias@lehman.cuny.edu.

Professor Thomas Ihde, Bronx, New York