Get Titles Right

The Irish Voice is, of course, within its rights to poke fun at “those silly little titles the British are so captivated by,” as reported in the “Intelligencer” column in the June 1-7 issue, though in my experience it is non-Brits who are usually far more obsessed with these matters than we are.

It would, though, help your readers if you could at least get it right. Should Mrs. Eileen Paisley be elevated to the House of Lords she will not become a dame, as you assert, but a life baroness, entitling her to be styled either “baroness” or “lady,” followed her surname or some place name of relevance to her life. A dame is the female equivalent of a knight, a title that carries no right to sit in the House of Lords.

Just to add to your general confusion, the wife of a knight, styled “sir,” is also prefixed “lady,” followed by her surname.

As someone who is not remotely captivated by a person’s title, I trust you have more luck dissecting the details of the peace process!

Jonathan Caine, Assistant Director, Conservative Research Department,
London, England

Money Talks, IRA

For generations O’Connell, Parnell and Redmond tried to politically bring home rule to Ireland. It was only when Pearse, Connolly and Collins took up arms did things change.

When all was said and done neither Gladstone nor Clinton had much to do with what is today. Ian Paisley’s view is no more flexible than that of Lord George when he denied Griffith the six counties.

Yet many Irish believe the way to peace is through the IRA laying down its weapons despite the axiom that you negotiate through strength, not love and kisses.

The IRA, unlike the original terrorist Collins, has a public relations problem. It earned this by killing people indiscriminately as opposed to isolating political targets.

Had it taken a page from Mick Collins’s, playbook maybe people could more easily identify with it and be more receptive to its goal.

Personally, I thought the bank robbery sent a message more effective than any act of violence. Money is a universal language easily understood and appreciated by all parties.

Jerry Hoosier, Cypress, California

Dervan Is Anti-Kerr

Cathal Dervan has more or less been predicting — maybe secretly hoping for? — the demise of Irish soccer manager Brian Kerr for some time now. Given the team’s lackluster performance in the World Cup qualifiers to date, it looks like Dervan may get his way.

Guess what Cathal? Your beloved Mick McCarthy was never going to manage the team forever anyway. Your barbs at Kerr are petulant and show what a sore loser you are. They also show that you are no fan of the Irish team if your boy Mick isn’t at the helm.

Good luck to McCarthy; he’s doing fine with Sunderland these days. But he badly mishandled the Roy Keane situation and eventually paid the price.

So, it seems, has Cathal. He’s probably relegated to the cheap seats in Lansdowne now instead of Mick’s VIP passes. Could that be the real root of his anti-Kerr rants?

John Nulty, East Northport, New York

Soccer Pundit

Ireland’s chances of qualifying for the 2006 World Cup are getting slimmer with every game.

Having to defeat France and Switzerland and lowly Cyprus (away) later this year is a tall order. It appears the turning point was the Ireland vs. Israel game that Ireland should have won.

Irish manager Brian Kerr blamed Greek referee Kyros Vassaras for Ireland’s failure to beat Israel. The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) appeal to governing body FIFA with video claiming that Ireland got the short end of the stick against Israel was immediately turned down that same night.

Is Israel really getting special treatment in World Cup soccer? This was the first time I heard this. However, after that game I read in a British newspaper that the Israeli soccer team was made up of non-Israelis, mostly Russian and, believe it or not, Arabs. This same writer questioned why the world soccer body gave Israel special permission to play in a European group.

Ireland could win their next three games, but only if they are injury free as the competition is very strong in two of the games.

Irish international soccer also took a low blow when the GAA refused them permission to play European Cup games in Croke Park. If Ireland had permission then the team would automatically enter the last 16 without ever having to qualify. It would also have meant that every game would be a home game in Croke Park.

The GAA allowed Michael Jackson and Notre Dame to play at Croke Park. If soccer had not been invented in England permission probably would been granted.

Small town people like the GAA do not know too much about the world stage.

Frank A. Geraghty, Bergenfield, New Jersey

Lose the Attitude

I’d like to respond to Mike Farragher’s very condescending column in last week’s issue addressing U2 and the Rolling Stones.

Farragher indicates that he has been “amused” by the letters to the editor on this topic. Since one of those letters was mine, I imagine I am some of the source of Farragher’s amusement.

Farragher claims that letter writers have been trying to “set this staff straight that the bands like the Rolling Stones are far more worthy of ink in our pages (than U2).” That’s sheer nonsense.

My letter was written in response to a letter that praised U2 but also saw fit to slam the Stones. My point was that one can praise U2 without attacking the Stones and that U2 fans would be wise to give the Stones their due.

At no time did I suggest that the Irish Voice should cover the Stones, to the exclusion of U2 or otherwise. Indeed, none of the letters that have been published on this topic even intimated at such a thing.

Farragher may find this hard to believe, but subscribers to the Irish Voice are actually capable of recognizing that it is a publication devoted to covering Ireland and Irish Americans. He seems to have made this entire thing up so he could find a way to mock the letter writers, which he did with obvious glee.

Farragher then proceeded to address the accusation by another letter writer that he is obsessed with U2. Now that issue wasn’t mine so I’ll leave it alone, other than to say that Farragher’s extreme defensiveness on the topic suggests that the letter writer may have come much closer to the truth than Farragher will admit.

Covering a band and fawning over a band aren’t the same thing, something a journalist would presumably know. Suffice to say that Farragher would be well served by losing the patronizing attitude when it comes to the readers and opening his mind a bit.

Joseph Daly, Arlington, Virginia

Break from U2

I have something to add to the U2/Irish Voice debate. While other readers have their own opinion on who the biggest band is, my complaint is content.

Three weeks ago, the Voice ran a piece on The Simpsons and their Irish connection that I thought was fantastic. My friends and I always make references to those particular episodes.

That particular piece ran in the same issue as the third glorious review from the U2 “Vertigo” tour. Las Vegas was first, followed by Philadelphia and finally Debbie McGoldrick from New York.

That’s pretty pathetic. As far as the Voice is concerned, whatever Bono does is great and newsworthy and cannot be criticized.

And to Mike Farragher — if any other band signed a commercial deal it would be “selling out,” but for U2 it automatically becomes great marketing. Give us a break.

Larry Reynolds, Astoria, New York