Galway Advertiser 1993/1993_08_05/GA_05081993_E1_023.pdf 

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L E T T E R S

Sharing Maggie's Anger
he popular v i e w has it that journalists, especially n e w s journalists and foreign correspondents, do not take sides, but aim at maintain ing an objective, unbiased position o n the subjects they cover. Of course, this is only true, as even a casual acquaintance with any an thology o f great reporting reveals, of mediocre or "textbook" journalists. And nowhere is the fallacy o f the neutral journalist shown so clearly as in the reporting o f war. From Charlie Russell sending back to T h e Times his devastating reports o n the incompetence o f British Forces in the Crimean War to Robert Fisk presenting the horrors o f Israel's "Operation Galilee" a few years back, the keynote o f this powerful reporting is a controlled but undeniable sense o f indignation, and a desire, sometimes amounting to an obsession, to let the world k n o w what is going o n . On Sunday night the Guardian's prize-winning journalist M a g g i e O'Kane joined this honourable tradition with a swingeing attack o n the man she sees as the architect o f former Yugoslavia's present agony, Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic. M s O'Kane knows what she is talking about. She has earned the right to present her case against this man. Since the beginning she has been reporting o n the breakup o f Yugoslavia, travelling to the the most dangerous areas, talking to the soliders and their leaders in the frontline, witnessing horrors that w e , sitting in front o f our television screens or reading the morning papers, have difficulty in even im agining. A s Sarajevo awaits its fate - a fate that looks every day likely to be another bout o f "ethnic c l e a n s i n g " , perhaps the most sinister euphemism since the N a z i ' s "Final S o l u t i o n " - she remembers the mass demonstration just a year ago when the Muslims, Croats and Serbs in this city loudly declared they wanted to live together in peace. A s with all megalomaniac dictators, Milosevic k n o w s better. M a g g i e O'Kane's obvious anger and frustration with what is happening in former Yugoslavia is a reflection o f the anger and frustation felt by many in the West over the terrible things that are happening in that tragically divided country. There is a strong feeling that something has to be done, that unless a stand is taken n o w , in fifty years time people will compare the feeble response o f Europe and the U . S . to Chamberlain's abandonment o f Czechoslovakia to the Nazis. At the moment the combined efforts o f the U . N . resemble nothing s o much as applying make-shift bandages to a large, bleeding wound. Very soon now the West is going to have to decide between all-out intevention, with all that implies, and just leaving the Serbs, Croats and Muslims to fight it out, with the almost inevitable consequence o f a Serbian " v i c t o r y " . The passionate and committed reporting of Maggie O'Kane is a tribute to this fine journalist's recognition that sometimes y o u have to take a stand when confronted with evil.

MUTTON ISLAND -- THE DEBATE CONTINUES . . .
Dear Editor, to locate the Sewage Treat Congratulations on your ment Plant on Mutton Island inspiring Editorial of last was based on the fact that week entitled "Planning For deep water was needed to Galway's Future". Galway dilute the water from the has been improved over the plant. Secondary treatment last twenty years with great still gives polluted water. If inner city development. the Corporation decide to Many thanks must go to spend the extra money need T . P . O ' N e i l l with his ed to complete the treat Galway 500 idea. What a ment, called tertiary treat difference it has made. We ment, the water leaving the have indeed reached a Plant will be pure. Isn't this crossroads and have many what we want if we look to complex issues facing us the future of our shell fish over the next few years. We and tourism industries? have a few lessons to learn Galway Corporation as well. The present state of needs to set up a consultative repair of the Town Hall is a reminder to us all to ask process in September; we Galway Corporation never ask them to meet the scien again to lease a building tists and get the latest facts without a proper main- and figures on rising sea levels, visit the towns in tainance contract. Northern Ireland who have The decision taken by opted for tertiary treatment Galway Corporation in 1989 and meet the w o r r i e d residents before they go ahead with this plan. It's a sad day for Galway if no one is interested in the sewerage issue and we don't care what decision is taken. The best solutions to all our planning will only be found when we all sit up and take notice. We need critical thinking and a mature way of doing business, with a large dose of imagination as well. It's no use being wise after the event. Yours sincerely, Geraldine Simmie Public Relations Officer, Labour Party, Galway West, F u r b o Hill, Co. Galway.

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LORD ATHENRY
he minutes of Galway Corporation in this week in 1717 record that Francis Bermingham, Lord Athenry, was swom as a member of the com mon council of the city. He took the required oaths in cluding the oath of abjuration. He was clearly a member of the Church of Ireland. As a descen dant of a family which first ap peared in Ireland in early Nor man times he represented a line which was interwoven with history. Indeed the peerage and title was one of the oldest in Ireland and carried great prestige. One Richard de Birmingham in the time of Edward Brace's cam paign in Ireland in the early fourteenth century, defeated Feidlim O'Connor and other Irish Chieftains in a bloody bat tle near Athenry. At the same time Sir John Birmingham fought against Brace's army at Foughart near Dundalk. By that stage the family was well established in the west and one member of it was the Ar chbishop of Tuam. Loyalty to the English monarchs was strong despite the religious changes of the Tudor and Stuart period. Nevertheless the Lord Athenry family did not change religion until the Stuart cause was lost. That point had been reached when Francis, Lord Athenry became a freeman of Galway. He was already tak ing his seat in the Irish House of Lords. Soon, however, he was in some trouble. Despite having become a Pro testant he made an approach to the Archbishop of Tuam, Dr. O'Gara to have a certain priest appointed to the parish of Dunmore. Dr. O'Gara'a reply, writ ten from a hiding place to which he was forced to resort because of the penal laws, was most af fable. Out of respect for Lord Athenry he agreed to the ap pointment. It was a remarkable letter in that period of persecu tion. However, it fell into the hands of enemies of Lord Athenry in parliament and they made every effort to unseat him on the grounds that be was a crypto-Catholic. On the other hand the O'Gara letter is evidence of a continu ing respect for families even after they had conformed to the state Church and in fact a recognition of the authority they had inherited in regard to some parish appoiintments.' Thomas P. O'Neill

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Our Precarious Heritage
fter surviving 6 0 0 years o f turbulent Irish history, last Sunday one of Ireland's precious historical monuments, the Cross o f Cong, col lapsed when a group o f tourists, having their photos taken, stood or leaned against it. This incident highlights the increasingly urgent pro blem o f whether or not our ancient monuments can any longer be left un protected. One o f the great attractions for visitors to this country is the way our monuments are there for all to see, without the sometimes annoying en cumbrances o f vistor's centres and the kind o f "overinterpretation" found in most European countries. But this attitude may no longer be good enough. Historical artifacts and monuments, unprotected o n the landscape, have been suject to both human and environmental depredation. Only a few years ago early Christian grave-slabs were stolen from Clonmacnoise, one o f the most important sites in the country. And potential danger from traffic led to the removal from the town centre of the Cross o f Tuam. Conservationists will have to g i v e immediate consideration to the most satisfactory way o f preserving Ireland's heritage for future generations, while also considering the consequences o f removing artifacts from locations where they have stood for hundreds, perhaps thousands o f years. It won't be easy. But it must be done, and s o o n , before further casual destruction is visited o n other, unique monuments o f our preserved past.

Dear Sir, As a result of comments made by Cllr Padraic McCormack, and others, at a recent Corporation meeting and the subsequent disgraceful behaviour of councillors in the chamber, who shouted down FFs Cllr Tom Cox (as reported on Galway Bay FM) I wish to make a few points to your readers. While Cllr McCormack and other councillors continue to try and transfer blame for delay in building this much needed treatment works on people, who like me are concerned to see only that Galway gets the best possible system. One which will resolve this problem of sewage disposal once and for all. The real villains of the piece are, in my view, the councillors themselves. Clean Galway Bay Group were accused of spreading Mis-Information about the issues, perhaps it would be best for the city engineer to spell out exactly where information is being

THE REAL VILLAINS!
distorted, so that the public can see for themselves. Will he please say what facts have been changed, so that we can all see where the truth lies? Simply put, any figures quoted have been directly taken from the E.I.S. Is he saying that this is wrong? Lastly. Perhaps the greatest fault in all of this is to be laid at the foot of councillors themselves. Who despite many complaints, persist in holding corporation meetings behind closed doors. Galway must be the only city in the country without access allowed to members of the public, by way of a Public Gallery. Perhaps when this policy is reversed and democracy can be witnessed to work, we will have respect for councillors! Until then I will reserve my compliments for those who take the trouble to reflect the views of those electing them. Derrick Hambleton 26 Manor Avenue Kingston, Galway

WHAT'S A "WAG"?
Dear Editor,
Since last week's Galway Advertiser, which featured my letter ("Putting A Cork In I t ? " ) , I have not met one person who understood the joke at the heart of the let ter. I'd better explain. The letter dealt with muzzling dogs, preferably a both extremes of their anatomy. I signed the letter " A W a g " . It will obvious ly come as a surprise to many readers that this was meant to be a pun. My dictionary defines " w a g " as " t o move to and fro, up and down, or from side to side." (Hint: dogs often do this with their tails. So do some humans.) Walt Whitman wrote: " H e r highborne turban'd head she wags and rolls her darkling e y e . " O.K.? My dictionary also ad vises me that " a w a g " can be " a jocular fellow" - and since my letter was written in a jocular spirit, I expected readers to spot the pun and emit a hearty guffaw at the jocularity of it all. Obviously puns are no longer appreciated. No matter, I have a number of other brands of humour at my disposal. For example, inversion: "Can a blue man sing the whites?" And parody: a sign outside a bar reads: "Ties required, but not sufficient".

A

LEAVE MUTTON ISLAND ALONE!
Dear Editor,

In relation to Mutton that can go wrong? We do Island: Visitors from need a treatment plant but Blackpool stayed with me put it in a more accesible last week. They are building and more appropriate place, a treatment plant in and leave our "Golden Blackpool for the last ten Treasure" alone. The plan years. It was supposed to ners must admit they have take only three years. made the wrong decision. If it goes ahead and there Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. It is are problems, our city plan being built on the shoreline, ners will pass the buck just their once golden treasure. like their English counter The beach is now a brown parts. No one will take the Yours, sludge and there are no b l a m e . But we will " A Wag" more visitors. The powers remember who was respon (Now do you get it?) that be say it will be ready sible for this fiasco. Their blunder will be for everyone in a year and a half. My visitors were hor to see for all time. They will NOPE. It's still M rified to hear of Galway's get no bualadh bus from me. mystery to me. plan to put a treatment plant Mary Reck 23 Loughnane Tee., on Mutton Island. What Editor about the disturbance and all Mervue, Galway.