Fred Johnston attacks Provos

galway | anti-war / imperialism | other press Wednesday May 31, 2006 00:24 by TomTom

Letter in Galway Advertiser

Conservatism suits a sort of republicanism
Dear Editor,

Being a serial letter writer, I am unable to avoid replying to John Devlin's offering, 'Bravo to Nelson's bombers,' a headline which itself says it all, really.

Part of the subtext of Mr Devlin's letter is that one should not have a voice, one should not speak, one should remain ignorant and controllable. This kind of conservatism suits the more antideluvian forms of republicanism, which see things in black-and-white; interestingly, very much in the same fundamentalist mould as George W Bush, for whom ' with-me-or-against-me' and hearing voices from God have become symbols of presidential integrity.

That the sentiments of Mr Devlin's letter, absurdly archaic as they are, may reflect upon may of his fellow Galwegians, their families and their relatives, some of whom will have served in the British forces but see themselves as being no less Irish, doesn't occur to him.

It is important to Mr Devlin and those who think like him that Irish history is not closely examined for its various shades of grey; vital that we have a Brits-bad/We-good dichotomy and nothing more complex. Even as the cenotaph in Derry is framed in the Union Jack alongside the Tricolour, Mr Davis lashes out, celebrating as heroes men who blew up a stone statue.

He is not alone. I have already had an 'Our Day Will Come' letter shoved through my letterbox for sentiments recently expressed in print. I say let's commemorate as often as we can those brave and often nameless Irishmen who fought proudly in a British uniform (often because their Ireland was too poor to feed them) for the freedom of small nations, including their own; those who served in the merchant marine (for instance) braving the German U-boats during the Second World War, and those airmen, among whom were numbered Irishmen, who fought and died in the Battle of Britain.

Real damage has been done to the people of this country, and our reputations abroad, by conniving with the US administration to permit the use of Shannon Airport for military purposes, not to mention those of our gallant patriotic politicians who wheedled and slipped envelopes into their pockets, or those patriotic businessmen who winked and nodded to ensure they never had to pay a penny tax.

Yours,

Fred Johnston,

Carn Ard,

Circular Road,

Galway