LETTERS Smoke Ban Is Good
ALTHOUGH I agree with many Irish Voice editorials, your “Reality of Smoking Ban” in the January 28-February 3 issue completely missed the mark by complaining that the New York smoking ban is bad for business.
Banning smoking is a good idea for all involved. Banning DDT from pesticides was bad for business but good for society.
Banning slavery was bad for business but good for society. Banning cars without pollution controls was bad for business but good for society. Banning child labor was bad for business but good for society.
The list goes on. Certain segments of the population selfishly complained during all of these changes. They complained that it was bad for business. Well, they adjusted, and all segments of society have benefited.
The pro-smoking lobby should take a deep breath of fresh air, relax, and let go of their short-term financial obsessions. Let’s realize this is a natural unstoppable progression in our first world society.
Plus, the billions saved in healthcare for smoking related illness will not be bad for business!
Robert Emmet Cleary
New York, New York
Britain’s Poor Irish
WE are constantly reminded of the plight of Irish emigrants in Britain who have now reached an advanced age and have suffered with poverty and hardship as a result of lack of care and proper management throughout their early working years.
What we are not made aware of is the fact that in nearly each individual case, it is as a direct result of abuse by their own fellow countrymen and women.
When an Irish man or woman arrived here in Britain, it was nearly always at the behest of their fellow countrymen, who were ganger men or sub-contractors, and they were usually accommodated in flea bitten digs that were owned and managed by Irish people or associates.
I personally witnessed Irishmen in Camden Town who were totally exhausted on a Saturday night and drunk lying on the floor of pubs that were managed by the very people who employed them, eagerly awaiting payment that did not arrive until about 9 p.m. or later. By then they would continue to drink on.
Many of these poor unfortunates have now passed away or been housed in sheltered accommodation. Their former employers and landlords have retired to Ireland where they now own imposing properties and are members of golf clubs and other such areas frequented by the well to do, or have found new residence in the more affluent areas of England.
It is good news that the Irish government has decided to share responsibility for the welfare of Irish pensioners abroad, but we should make known to the younger generation of Irish people the primary reason for this consideration and awful truth of the terrible abuse of Irish emigrants of yesteryear.
The very people who prospered at the expense of their fellow countrymen have failed miserably to redress this injustice, and instead have gone to much better things and left a trail of misery and poverty behind them.
The next time that you visit Ireland and see an imposing manor house or hotel, built by a returning construction boss or landlord, remember the source of this wealth, and spare a thought for the poor unfortunates in the sheltered accommodations in North London and elsewhere in Britain.
P.J. O’Reilly
London, England
The Rain in Spain
JOHN Spain’s column “Global Warming Irish Style” (January 28-February 3) was certainly a change from his usual cannon blasts at Gerry Adams or the IRA, or any one of several Irish icons and sacred cows. But when it comes to global warming he’s wandering away from his knowledge base, always dangerous for a writer.
Spain’s observations of birds and flowers around his yard in Dublin this winter, and his acceptance that this is a sure sign of global warming, is like visiting Phoenix, Arizona and experiencing several straight days of rain (it happens) and concluding that climate change is going on in the American southwest.
From the viewpoint of the climate scientist, the current hysteria over global warming is just that – hysteria. In 1988, it was observed that we had one of the hottest years on record and the stampede was on, fuelled by the enormous amounts of government grants being dished out to fund research (and researchers) to study the impending disaster.
The conclusion that the earth is warming and it’s due to the industrial products of productive societies in the space of the past fifteen years is pure junk science. Worse, it is generating the same kind of self-fueling evidence that apparently convinced the president to go into Iraq after the stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction being amassed there. The more “intelligence” we applied to that equation, the truer it seemed.
Several major geophysical forces contribute to climate change, and one of the best public presentations I’ve ever seen on this subject can be found in little old Ireland. In Co. Mayo, north of Ballycastle, in the visitor’s center of the Ceide Fields, is a very well designed diorama showing the effects of various earth forces on the climate of Ireland over the millennia.
It tells visitors about changing deep ocean currents, the Arctic Oscillation (a huge whirlpool of ice-covered ocean that goes astray every few decades), the recurring top-like wobble in the spin of the earth on its axis, the mysterious deviations that occur in the path of the earth around the sun, and several others, all known to have profound effects on our climate.
This is not to say that the accumulation of greenhouse gases from an industrialized society is not a cause for concern and for rational discussion. But there is considerable dissent in the scientific community about the causes and the effects of true global warming.
After all, the earth has experienced transient warm spells, often of many decades or centuries, thousands of time over the great span that marks the age of the earth. There is no cause to panic that dear green old Ireland is going to change into Tunisia in the foreseeable future.
And John Spain, you can go back to beating up on Sinn Fein and corrupt politicians. That’s what you’re good at.
Enjoy your daffodils. Next year the frost and freeze will probably kill all your flower bulbs during the winter and that Limerick blackbird will be pecking angrily at your window wondering where all that warm weather went that you were writing about.
Dick Devlin
Kingston, New Hampshire
Parade Is Fun
NIALL O’Dowd’s “Periscope” in the February 4-10 issue about the New York City St. Patrick’s Day parade was just plain silly.
The fact is, no one who goes to the parade each year really cares about the Irish gays being excluded, or the behind the scenes maneuverings that go on.
All we care about is a good time, period. And that’s what I have each year when I go to the march, and so do the hundreds of thousands of others who go to Fifth Avenue. Mr. O’Dowd should ignore all the other extracurricular activities, and just have some fun.
Mary Ann Breen
Staten Island, New York
Fun Flatley Fights
THE eagerly awaited Malachy McCourt/Debbie McGoldrick rematch took place in the “Respect Michael” letter and McGoldrick’s response (February 4-10).
Round One: McCourt unleashes a roundhouse right aimed at the Irish Voice’s coverage of Michael Flatley. McGoldrick nimbly sidesteps and connects with a pulverizing uppercut to McCourt’s chin.
Round Two: McCourt lurches groggily from his corner, arms flailing wildly. McGoldrick delivers the coup de grace, flooring McCourt for the count.
The winner by a knockout – McGoldrick. Negotiations are underway for a rematch.
James V. Dolson
Springfield, Virginia
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