Ireland: Ghost of Empire exorcised-Robt. Fisk.

by D. Conlon Sun Mar 23, 2008 05:28

So Ireland is finally free of imperialism,-and even free of its ghost. Thanks to Eamon de Valera and Gerry Adams.
The anti-imperial sentiment that still exists in certain sections is merely something which atavistically has attained its own autonomy and continues on after the reality has altered.
Thank you, Mr. Fisk, for setting us straight.

by Cael - Sinn Féin Poblachtach Sun Mar 23, 2008 15:58

This article just shows that even a reputable journalist like Robert Fisk sometimes talks pure nonsense. Part of our country is still under English Crown occupation and the other part of it still operates according to English Common Law, which guarantees the privilage of the very few to the detriment of the great many.

by Edward Horgan Mon Mar 24, 2008 23:07

I admire the writings and works of Robert Fisk, particularly his book on Irish neutrality "In Time of War: Ireland, Ulster and the Price of Neutrality 1939-45" and his book on the Middle East, "the Great War For Civilisation" which is big enough to make a good tank obstacle.

However, I have to disagree with his statement that

"Irish men and women must count themselves lucky that they stayed out of the "war on terror", as they did from the 1939-45 conflict."

Ireland has not stayed out of the war on terror. As an expert on neutrality, surely Robert is familiar with The Hague Convention V on Neutrality, and with the significance of allowing over one million troops to pass through Shannon airport on their way to cause the deaths of up to one million Iraqi people.

While I agree with Irish troops serving with UN peacekeeping mission such as UNIFIL in Lebanon, and in East Timor and Liberia, I wonder how does Robert Fisk feel about Irish troops serving in the grey or murky areas of multi-national peace missions such as the EU force in Chad, which is a thinly disguised French support mission for General Idriss Deby's regime of human rights abuse.

Irish neutrality has been a valuable aspect of Irish foreign policy in the past, but it was abandoned on 20 March 2003.

by paul o toole Mon Mar 24, 2008 23:36

If Fisk had any credibility he would have exercised it on The Late Late with Pat Kenny when given the oppertunity, that Ireland has sold its Neutrality.
You must question a man with such a grasp on international affairs and access to the media about this kink in his logic.
Who questions Fisk? Dunphy and Kenny. Two overpaid bush/blair/bertie loving idiots pretending to be journalists as they give Fisk free reign to spout his propaganda as he fools the gullible.
He slams Tony Blair and Bush here in Ireland with zero efficacy, and he wont ...'tell the Irish what to do' ...cos 'we brits have been telling you what to do for eight hundred years'...
You are left wondering who pays his wages.

by D. T. Wed Mar 26, 2008 00:23

Cael,

Please explain how English Common Law guarantees the privileges of the few in the Irish Republic, (or 26-counties if you prefer) ?

Go raibh maith agat.

by Cael - Sinn Féin Poblachtach Wed Mar 26, 2008 15:39

By making the right to private property the central plank on which it rests, rather than the good of the people - as the 1916 Proclamation, the Declaration of Independence and the Democratic Program of the First Dáil Eireann does. This is why the tiny Landlord class in Ireland have been able to siphen off the wealth of Ireland and ship it abroad. This is why the so called Celtic Tiger has simply passed over the poorest part of our people - to the point that while 1% of the population own 36% of the usable capital of the nation, 20% of the people, or 750,000 Irish people live on incomes below the standard poverty level of 11,400 euro for a single person or 26,400 for a household of four,

by D.T. Wed Mar 26, 2008 22:57

Almost all countries have laws to protect private property and many of these do not share the common law heritage.
What countries with high, and increasing, mal-distributions of income have in common is the capitalist system.
But Ireland does have a particularly virulent form of capitalism,-the Anglo-American variety-and countries so afflicted do have very high degrees of income inequality.
One could of course argue that Anglo-American capitalism is a form of imperialism and that far from exorcising its ghost, the people of Ireland experience and suffer really existing imperialism.