Phony Irish

McCourt’s grumbling remarks in his letter in last week’s issue, “Phony Patriots,” claiming we are a bunch of “pseudo-Irish American patriots” because we speak our opinions, as he clearly has found the means to do.

Mr. McCourt poses a lot of questions in his letter, one of which is, “Where are the weapons of mass destruction?” Clearly he knows that Saddam Hussein did in fact have these weapons as he used them on his own people in the past.

Perhaps during the enormous amount of time the UN was squabbling over whether to uphold Resolution 1441, which France, Russia and Germany all agreed to, Saddam was busy burying his weapons or sending them across the borders. One thing we know for certain is that Hussein has always been a threat to peace and his own people.

In regard to Mr. McCourt’s claims that Irish Americans were planning to “boycott treacherous Ireland,” he fails to address the question of why. If one were to look back at many letters previously published in the Irish Voice, it is because a number of people were upset with Ireland’s vocal disapproval of the war, and the protests going on in Dublin and at Shannon Airport where our planes were being sabotaged.

It was not so much that England stood with us. Many felt there was a tone in Ireland from some who didn’t remember all we have done for the Irish. 

Clearly this is not the opinion of all, but there were many people I know who visited Ireland after September 11 and got rude receptions from the Irish, some of whom said we “got what we deserved,” and that September 11 was our fault in the first place. Others plainly said, “Go home Yanks.”

The tone has softened in Ireland in recent months. However, Mr. McCourt should be aware that there was plenty of anti-American sentiment in Ireland, as Niall O’Dowd has also reported in these pages.

What disturbed me most about Mr. McCourt’s letter was his line, “If the Irish vote for the present regime next year we will have lost any right to call ourselves a literate, freedom loving, caring people.” How dare he presume that because others can have differing opinions as to what is right, that makes us less literate than he is.

Healthy debate is always good, but saying we should send President Bush to Baghdad is clearly not the solution to our problems. After all, I should remind Mr. McCourt that the first President George Bush did serve his country proudly during war, just as the great men and women of the armed forces are doing right now in Iraq.

And let’s not forget about them, whether we agree or disagree about this war.

Patricia Daly

Lynbrook, New York

Old Friend ‘EastEnders’

TO letter writer Noeleen Smith and other EastEnders fans, I am also heartsick about BBC America’s decision to stop showing that great show. 

I wasn’t born in Ireland or England. I am a native American, but I love EastEnders. I’ve been watching it for about five years, and when it was moved to Saturdays at noon Central Time, it was inconvenient but I did all I could do to watch or tape it.

I’m doing everything that Noeleen suggested in her “Save EastEnders” letter in the October 1-7 issue. I hope it works.

Yes, I know it’s only a show, but I really looked forward to watching and I feel like an old friend has died.

Kathleen Martin

St. Charles, Illinois

A U.S. Appreciation

AFTER reading Tom Lawler’s letter in the September 24-30 issue, “U.S. Let Irish Languish,” I have to say that he reminds me very much of those frustrated socialists who harassed our U.S. soldiers at Shannon Airport on their way to Iraq.

As someone who has served in the U.S. military, I resent the tone of Mr. Lawler’s letter, especially when he claimed that the U.S. government never helped Ireland. This is far from the truth, as hundreds of U.S. corporations, with the consent of the U.S. government, form the backbone of the Irish economy. 

During and after the Famine, the U.S. government allowed one million Irish people to enter the country. Up until the 1960s Irish people received preferential treatment in the immigration quotas.

Some hundred years after the Irish Famine, European Jews fleeing from an even greater catastrophe were not so lucky. Their ships were turned away from our shores.

In my opinion the Irish American people and the U.S. government have given 100 times more help to Ireland than the rest of the world combined. This help has gone unreciprocated, I might add. The thanks we received was the spectacle of our planes being sabotaged at Shannon.

In conclusion, I salute Patrick Munroe for his very timely letter in the August 27-September 2 issue of the Irish Voice, “Support the U.S.” I believe he speaks for the vast majority of Irish Americans. I know his sentiments of appreciation and gratitude to the U.S. closely parallel mine.

Peadar O’Fiach

Bronx, New York

McCourt Makes Sense

FINALLY, a short and eloquent missive from Malachy McCourt on last week’s Letters page. Good on him! It is so encouraging to see sensible opinion about the idiocy in Washington, D.C., as opposed to all these right-wing Irish Americans who have been writing in for the past six months blathering on and on about how we should “support our president.”

We should support him out of town by way of impeachment, if anything. The lies and slick rationalizations (disguised as the “Fall PR Offensive”) from this administration are coming so thick and fast that I feel I might need to wear my Irish wellies every day.

On another note, thank you for the wonderful and insightful John Spain column, “Church Should Foot Abuse Bill,” also in last week’s issue, with the funny surprise ending. His articles are very educational for those of us who can only get back to Ireland once or twice a year.

A second thanks for continuing to be a venue for that wonder old man of the west country, Cormac MacConnell. His latest “Death in the Air” is a masterpiece of brevity and insight. One could teach a writing class with just a few of his essays.

Finally, good on all the good folks at the Irish Voice. Go raibh maith agat.

Jon Michael Riley

Asheville, North Carolina

Immigration Reform Now Needed

THE spectacle of Brian McLoughlin, president of the New York Central Labor Council, and Cardinal Egan, both out in the fields of Flushing Meadows, Queens, addressing the rabbits among the ruins of the 1964 World’s Fair at the failed “great immigration rally” two weekends ago shows how the ruling elite remains out of touch with the rank and file on immigration reform after September 11.

The country needs a comprehensive bill to lower admissions to under 300,000 a year, including 50,000 refugees. We need to institute a point system for admission, an amnesty based on the point system, a three year guest worker program for those who do not qualify for amnesty, a system to check work eligibility, and triple enforcement efforts.

This way, everyone will have a legal status, and our borders will be protected from terrorists and drug dealers and labor racketeers.

And our school and hospital systems will have a chance to recover to pre-1965 Immigration Act quality standards. Let’s save New York from its ethnic politicians and greedy businessmen!

Ed Price

New York City Council

Candidate, Upper East Side

New York, New York