Letters

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="04b785a3.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>Councillor Keith Martin </B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Councillor Keith Martin "><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="news21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="News"><U><I><B><U>Back to news page</U></B></I></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <IMG SRC="1ad966f0.jpg" border=0 width="150" height="111" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Letters</I></div> <bR> <div> Irish Times Saturday 15th April 2006</div> <div> Dear Madam,</div> <div> Commemorating 1916 is something that should be done quietly, with reflection and dignity. It is a historic and defining moment in Irish history and a sad and tragic event. Death and destruction were the immediate effects of the Rising followed by executions, followed by a renewed awakening of Irish Nationalism and sense of identity. </div> <div> The 1916 Rising is the most important event in Irish history as it was the beginning of the end of an occupation and the spiritual birth of the present Ireland. We should remember the Rising of 1916 and commemorate it with an examination of ourselves as a people, where we as a nation are today, where we are politically and how we relate to other nations and other cultures. </div> <div> We should remember the line from the Easter Rising Declaration stating “The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and all of its parts, cherishing all of the children of the nation”. 90 years later we should ask ourselves have we achieved the lofty aims of the Patriots? </div> <div> The events of Easter 1916 should be remembered through simple ceremonies, historical exhibitions and other acts of remembrance, it is not an occasion for militarism; it is not an occasion for drum beating or the march of military boots. The patriots of 1916 fought for an ideal and in commemorating them and their struggle we should remember their ideal not their militarism.</div> <div> Yours sincerely </div> <div> Councillor Keith Martin</div> <bR> <div> Irish Times Monday 10th April 2006</div> <div> Dear Madam, </div> <div> Your paper's tribute to the outgoing Dublin City Manager highlights the failure of local government in Ireland today. While the praise is no doubt deserved, it should have been a directly elected Mayor of Dublin who should have provided "civic leadership" over the last ten years a not an apointee of the Public Appointments Commission. Local government needs reforming urgently. Councillors are reduced to acting as "lobbyists" on behalf of their constituents as their powers have been steadily diluted since the the first City Manager was appointed in 1930. Better Local Government weakened councillors again, especially town councils. Councillors need to have their powers returned to them and each council should be headed by a directly elected full time Mayor/Cathaoirleach with executive powers. Town and City Managers should be left to manage and enact the policy decisions of the elected members and carry out the instructions of the Mayor/Cathaoirleach, instead of Manager's Orders we should have Mayoral Orders. The preception that local government is too important to be left to local councillors and that the local electorate can't be trusted to elect responsible local representatives is a myth and must end. It is in local government that political parties look for future TDs and it is the same electorate, who elect our TDs, who elect councillors. Local Councillors are directly accoutable to the people, management is accountable to no-one but their own peers. Without accountability there is no democracy. I wish John Fitzgerald all the best with his future. </div> <div> Yours sincerely </div> <div> Councillor Keith Martin </div> <bR> <div> Mayo News April 2006</div> <div> Dear Sir,</div> <div> With reference to your paper's article concerning the future of Westport Town Band, I can confirm that, over the last year or so, I have held several meetings with Mr Peter Hynes, Town Manager to discuss a permanent home for the Town Band. I have also met with Mr Larry Hingerton on several occasions to discuss same.</div> <div> In the past I contacted the Custom House Studios and other similar venues in search of a home for the band on behalf of the band at their request but unfortunately these approaches came to nothing as the premises I approached proved unavailable or unsuitable.</div> <div> I am currently, with the encouragement of Mr Hynes and Mr Hingerton, investigating how Castlebar Town Council has facilitated its own town band, which was in similar circumstances.</div> <div> It is unfortunate that over the last decade or more that our town band has been forced to move from pillar to post in search of somewhere suitable but hopefully those days are coming to an end.</div> <div> When a formal course of action can be agreed by the concerned parties I will introduce the motion to the council where I am sure it will have the full support of my fellow councillors as indicated by our Cathaoirleach Cllr Brendan Mulroy in your article in last week’s paper.</div> <div> Yours sincerely</div> <div> Keith Martin</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Irish Independent April 2006</div> <div> Dear Sir,</div> <bR> <div> Ireland was not born in 1798, 1916 or 1922, Ireland has been around as long as people could share a sense of community; always there and always changing. It is ridiculous for any one culture, religion, group or community to lay claim to Ireland. Ireland is much more than a place, a nation or an island; it is a state of mind.</div> <div> All over the world on March 17 people celebrate in peaceful, colourful parades what it means to be Irish. Let’s leave Military Parades to the Americans, the Chinese and North Koreans; they have nothing to do with being Irish.</div> <div> Yours sincerely</div> <div> Keith Martin</div> <bR> <div> Examiner March 2006</div> <div> Dear Sir,</div> <div> Over recent years there is a perception that the West should fear the extremists of the world, that our democracies could not stand up to their ire and that we should avoid upsetting these extremists, be they religious or political, for fear that they will wreak a terrible vengeance on us if provoked. </div> <div> The truth of the matter is that Western democracies do not relish the thought of confrontation but neither will they step down and allow religious or political extremists to impose their will on others. </div> <div> Just over 60 years ago the Western democracies stood up to extremist tyranny emanating from Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. Millions gave their lives on the battlefields of the world and millions more men, women and children endured terrible hardship to see that such extremism would not triumph. </div> <div> The lesson is as true today as it was then and those extremists all over the world who seek to intimidate the West with their hate and threats of violence would do well to remember that.</div> <div> Sincerely</div> <div> Keith Martin</div> <bR> <div> Irish Independent March 2006</div> <div> Dear Editor,</div> <bR> <div> One of the big lies</div> <bR> <div> Joeseph Gobbels, the Nazi propaganda chief, once said the bigger the lie the more people will believe it. In many respects he was correct. Even today in the 21st Century, the ‘information age’, with all the media we have access to, it is still possible to proliferate a big lie.</div> <bR> <div> One of the biggest lies to emerge over the year was the lie that nuclear power is the solution to the problems of climate change. Climate change is coming about slowly due to the combustion of carbon fuels and the spread of the by-product gasses into the atmosphere where they damage the Ozone layer. Nuclear power, the lie goes, can end our dependence and use of these fuels and thus halt climate change. But so can solar power, wind power, wave power, tidal power, and the use of Biodiesel and oil crop fuels none of which cause climate change and none of which give off by-products that will remain radioactive for thousands of years.</div> <bR> <div> The truth is that the real reason nuclear power is being mooted is two-fold. Firstly there is still a substantial nuclear lobbying body out there made up of companies that build and run such power stations. Many of these companies, since the discrediting of nuclear power, are on the brink of financial ruin and they see this as an opportunity for a return to the good days and are currently portraying nuclear power as ‘environmentally friendly.’</div> <bR> <div> Even worse than nuclear power companies repositioning themselves as saviours of the environment is the real reason for the proposed comeback of nuclear power. The real reason is not because the powers-that-be are so concerned about the environment but are in fear of the end of fossil fuels and our reliance on them.</div> <bR> <div> Nuclear power as a source of energy and the solution to climate change has become a mainstream issue once again since the price of oil went sky-high. This coupled with how easy it was for the Russia to switch off the gas to the Ukraine has forced governments to realise how much at the mercy of other fossil fuel producing states their countries are.</div> <bR> <div> So to counter this they have started looking to another form of power and have come up with nuclear power; but how to sell it to the public who wisely shun it as dangerous, dirty and don‘t want it next or near them? Now for the big lie that goes ‘nuclear power is the solution to climate change!’ So there it is, the big lie.</div> <bR> <div> The only thing to counter it is the big truth. The big truth is that climate change, if the sources of it are unchecked, could make Ireland uninhabitable within a thousand years, Nuclear power could make our country uninhabitable within hours.</div> <bR> <div> Yours sincerely</div> <bR> <div> Keith Martin</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>