Army should not promote colonialism
TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar, while on a visit to Mali, has indicated that the Irish Army Ranger Wing is likely to be sent to Mali in Africa as part of a EU military mission.
It has been suggested that our Government is seeking the support of Mali for Ireland’s bid to join the UN Security Council, and is likely also to be seeking French government support.
Irish Defence Forces involvement in foreign military missions should be confined to genuine UN peacekeeping missions and should be strictly in the humanitarian interests of the people suffering from serious conflicts, and not in Irish national interests or in the broader European interests.
What has been happening in Mali and other former French colonies in Africa are not straightforward anti-terrorist situations, but a complex series of civil wars that Isis and others, including France, have taken advantage of.
By supporting compliant undemocratic regimes, France has ensured that virtually all its former colonies are held in neo-colonial circumstances for the exploitation of these valuable resources in ‘French national interests’.
Also, the Irish Army Ranger Wing is an elite special-forces unit and is not trained or organised for peacekeeping.
Their proposed deployment to Mali may be an attempt to justify their continued existence because An Garda Síochána has consistently failed to allow the Ranger Wing to have any real role in internal security or anti-terrorist type operations in Ireland.
This issue should be resolved in Ireland and not in Mali and the Irish Defence Forces should not be used to promote European neo-colonial interests.
EDWARD HORGAN, Castletroy, Co. Limerick.
Larry the legend
WHEN I was a young teenager in the late 1970s, before RTÉ Radio 2 was set up, Larry Gogan started presenting a pop music programme on RTÉ Radio 1, on FM only, or VHF as it was called on some radios.
This offered excellent sound quality in stereo which was far superior to medium-wave broadcasts and was relatively new at the time. I remember telling a school friend about it and he was wondering if he could adapt his radio to pick up Larry, citing the fact that people built radios out of spare parts during World War II.
Now, as Larry is retiring from 2fm, he is moving to RTÉ Gold, the digital radio service, which can only be picked up on DAB radios. The golden oldie that is Larry Gogan is ahead of the times again. As for my friend in north Roscommon, I presume he has since bought an FM receiver.
However, if he wants to listen to Larry broadcasting on the new platform, he shouldn’t hold his breath. No matter how he adapts his radio, there are no digital radio signals in that part of the country or most parts, for that matter.
TOMMY RODDY, Galway.
Waste of money
RECENTLY, a Japanese man, Kiyoshi Kimura, bought a 278kg bluefin tuna for the top price ever at about €2.7million.
Although this was done more for publicity than a potential restaurant profit, there may have been better ways to spend the money.
Perhaps Mr Kimura, who may already be a generous person, could have helped establish some soup kitchens or food redistribution centres so that many other people could have got simple food that would keep them alive.
The world should concentrate on making sure all people have an adequate food supply before there is a need for super-expensive foods for a small number of people. DENNIS FITZGERALD,
Melbourne, Australia.
Tell it like it is
SURELY no procedure is cloaked in euphemism like the abortion procedure. Most commentators talk as if it is analogous to having a tooth removed. In reality, what is involved is much more gruesome. The British Pregnancy Advisory Service is a little bit more truthful with its p definition: ‘Abortion is when a pregnancy is ended so that it doesn’t result in the birth of a child.’
ERIC CONWAY, by email.