Support the U.S.

I COME from the heart of Ireland, having been born in Galway. I emigrated to the U.S. in 1955. 

I am embarrassed and dismayed by the lack of support shown by the Irish in general for the U.S. involvement in Iraq. I am also dismayed at the protests which took place in the land of my birth.

It is well known that the highest period in Irish immigration took place during the famine years. What is not widely known is that the next highest period was during the 1950s. The economic climate was at an almost all-time low during the ‘50s which accounts for the high rate of emigration.

Those of us who left during that era were very aware of how much people in Ireland depended on their relatives in the U.S. We can remember the support we got from relatives both in terms of money and clothing. How well we can remember all the welcome parcels received from America. These parcels contained clothing, new or old. In addition, money poured into the country from the U.S. to help those families who were hanging on by a thread. 

Have the Irish in Ireland forgotten the role played by America during the two World Wars? Europe was rescued not once but twice by American soldiers, thousands of whom gave their lives for the effort.

I suppose we all understand why Ireland was neutral in those days. But why are we neutral today, and beyond that, why are we criticizing America?

We are all familiar with the old saying about the dog who bites the hand that feeds it. Americans have been great, great supporters of Ireland for a long time. American tourism has bolstered the economy and continues to do so. So why are the Irish biting the hands that have fed them for so long?

If America had not liberated Iraq from a dictator who so cruelly subjugated and tortured his people, I would have been disappointed. How could anyone who had the power to change the situation stand by and do nothing?

Again, I say that I am embarrassed and ashamed of the recent behavior of the Irish. I am an American citizen, and proud of that fact. I have returned to visit Ireland from time to time, but I am not inclined to do so again.

I am aware, as an Irish native living in America, that there are many others who emigrated when I did who also feel the same way. Perhaps this letter will not change too many minds, but I believe I am saying what needs to be said.

Patrick O. Munroe
Tulsa, Oklahoma

Up Tyrone!

SURELY Sunday, August 24 will go down as one of the greatest sporting days in the history of the Red Hand county, Tyrone.

On that day Tyrone had to travel to Croke Park hoping to topple Kerry, the Yankees of Irish football, in the All-Ireland semifinal, while on this side of the pond Darren Clarke, a Dungannon son, was attempting the near impossible in trying to win the World NEC PGA Tour event against three-time winner Tiger Woods.

Not only did both win, they annihilated their opponents in cracking fashion. I watched the game in Maggie Mae’s in Woodside and rushed home to see Darren do his thing in the golf.

I wish Tyrone all the best in the All-Ireland final against their Ulster opponents, either Donegal or Armagh. As a Monaghan man I’m kinda jealous of you guys taking all the limelight, but Tiochaidh ar la. 

Sean McPhillips
College Point, New York

‘Intelligencer’ Off Target

IN the August 13-19 issue, “Intelligencer” writes, “Apart from Tim Pat Coogan’s definitive works on (the IRA), it is hard to name another that comes close.”

Perhaps that is true for your columnist, but not for those who have made a reasonable effort to check the matter out. The standard, critically accepted work on the IRA was done in 1970 by Dr. Bowyer Bell, then at Harvard, later Columbia. It is entitled The Secret Army. Much of the work was updated in his 1992 survey of the Northern Ireland conflict, The Troubles. 

Coogan’s work, by contrast, is anything but “definitive.” Coogan is a journalist, not an historian, and all of his stuff is marred by carelessness, sloppy writing and multitudinous factual errors.

The observations of “Intelligencer” about Ed Moloney’s book are also off target. Despite its title, A Secret History of the IRA, Moloney’s analysis is not a work of history, but a lengthy piece of journalism summarizing what the author perceives to have been happening during the peace process. But its tone is tolerably objective, and the writing competent.

Tom Mahoney
Buffalo Grove, Illinois

Arizona’s Lax Laws

THE McNicholl family should have lived in Arizona to save John McNicholl from his recent deportation. This is no joke – U.S. immigration authorities here do absolutely nothing to capture and deport illegal immigrants in Arizona.

These people are eating up our healthcare budget. They provoke all the ranchers in southern Arizona. 

Mexico makes demands for them, and the U.S. listens. They want Arizona to put water stations in the desert so the illegals won’t die from the heat. They bring their crime and stay on welfare for generations. I’m a public health nurse and see it every day. 

It sickens me to see how unfair the system is to deport John McNicholl. He wants to make something of his life and keep his family together. 

Mexicans are immune from all this. Our government discriminates against other races and uses a double standard. 

It’s terrible, and nobody in Congress cares or gives two cents. Why? Because they kiss up to the Hispanic vote. 

Give me a break! I wish we could help the McNicholl family out.

Carole Joyce
Phoenix, Arizona

Practice What You Preach

SO our beloved Cathal Dervan seems to think it is very sad that Republic of Ireland supporters boo players of opposing countries who ply their trade with Glasgow Rangers. Much of this has come about because of the trend to jump on the Celtic bandwagon in Ireland – something that even Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern has been guilty of.

Yes, bigotry in football is old fashioned and most of it has disappeared with the terraces, but before Dervan lectures us, shouldn’t he be setting an example by refraining from referring to Glasgow Rangers as “the Huns,” as he has in numerous columns in the past few years.

Jerry Murphy 
New York, New York

Our Political Faults

JIM Hawkins’ letter to the editor “Hungry for Glitz” in the August 13-19 issue painfully pointed out two faults which may eventually prove to be fatal to our political system. 

The first is our willingness to exchange our sense of morality for fiscal gain. Did anybody notice the number of politicians that defended or hid when President Clinton was impeached, only to condemn him after the stock market went into the toilet? 

The second is the legacy of Richard M. Nixon. That being the media and resultant public’s automatic reaction to every action taken by a politician as being nefariously motivated. 

Just as disconcerting is the measurement used by the public in selecting our leaders. Case in point is the recall in California, where the media and public in general are touting the candidacy of a Hollywood actor who is married to a Kennedy, and whose only claim to fame is framed on celluloid which is rapidly deteriorating to cellulite. 

Jerry Hoosier 
Cypress, California