DUP and British government are the ‘misguided’ ones by trying to redraw Good Friday Agreement

The Belfast/Good Friday Agreement commits both the Irish and British governments to promote the all-Ireland economy and sets up InterTrade- Ireland and other agencies to assist in doing so.

The ability to trade freely across an open border was one of the main reasons the agreement was endorsed in referendums north and south.

The importance of this responsibility to promote the all-Ireland economy was also underscored in the 2017 Joint EU/UK report on the Brexit negotiations that was later incorporated into UK law in section 10 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.

Yet paragraphs 71 and 114-116 of the UK Command Paper “Safeguarding the Union” (the DUP deal) have the audacity to describe the all-Ireland economy as a new, misguided and divisive political construct and declares the British government’s intention to repeal its commitment, in section 10 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, not to diminish any form of north-south cooperation provided for by the Belfast Agreement.

In addition, by discussing and agreeing these proposals only with the DUP, the British government has failed to observe the “rigorous impartiality” and “parity of esteem” for all of Northern Ireland’s political parties and traditions as required by the agreement.

I wonder how unionists and the British government would feel if the Irish Government, following discussions only with Sinn Féin, was to produce an 80-page white paper entitled “Safeguarding the All-Ireland Economy” emblazoned with Tricolours, describing Northern Ireland as a new, misguided and divisive political construct and declaring its intention to call a referendum to restore Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution claiming jurisdiction over all of Ireland.

Frank Schnittger, Blessington, Co Wicklow

Push to dispense with our national anthem to satisfy unionists is an outrage

Dermot Keegan (Letters, February 15) challenges the use of Amhrán na bhFiann as an anthem for the Irish rugby team. His anthem “quandary”, however, deserves little attention or support.

Unionist-minded folk are keen to piggy-back on Irish sports teams, despite their fundamental ambivalence towards the country, ascribing a mere sense of quasi-Irishness to secure their inclusion.

Otherwise, they like to distance themselves as a wholly separate statelet – one that was contrived via sleight of hand and obdurate vindictive contortionism by the likes of Lloyd George, Edward Carson, James Craig et al back in the day.

They all seemed content to carve out their own “wee” demesne to control and suppress with an iron hand – no velvet glove.

Yet they still wanted to hold on to the bits of sport allegiance that suited them – just like the surge of Irish passports sought when Brexit came home to roost.

I feel it is accommodation enough that we afford their players the opportunity to play and represent the country against other nations, but to be pressed to drop our own anthem to pander to their discomfort is an obsequious step too far.

I have no problem with them playing, but I don’t understand their perennial avowed and stubborn reluctance to engage fully in an all-island dispensation across the board, rather than the current “pick-and-mix” approach, amounting to a faux Irishness being invented to bend a patent reality.

Not that I feel our actual anthem is a veritable masterpiece, but it is our national anthem, residing in the proud hearts of our citizens, and I feel it should stand despite its archival militaristic tendencies – like many other countries’ anthems.

Jim Cosgrove, Lismore, Co Waterford

Less populism and more punitive measures needed to right wrongs at RTÉ

While we are all enraged at the chicanery that has occurred within RTÉ and the exorbitant exit packages for some of its executives, Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty seeking an amnesty for those who haven’t paid their TV licence is more populist than it is realistic.

The fact that he didn’t refer to those of us who paid our TV licences obtaining a refund says a lot for the mindset of the opposition party.

It’s not the first time it has opposed initiatives, like water charges and the local property tax, only to backtrack.

While we all want answers to the wasteful use of licence fee and sponsorship money to pay presenters and executives eye-watering salaries, or for a failed musical, the drip-feed of information from the executive and the board should be warning enough that a top-down clear-out is needed, and those executives who fail or refuse to appear to answer questions should have their salaries or payouts stopped.

We need to hold them responsible if we are to have any belief in an inquiry system that holds people to account.

Oireachtas committees need to have powers to compel people to appear by way of legal summons, and where people fail, a lawful court summons with fines and or imprisonment needs to be imposed.

Christy Galligan, Letterkenny, Co Donegal

Only transparency on how TV licence payers’ money was spent will stop the rot

I have paid my TV licence and have always done so; therefore, I have the right to know how the money was spent.

What a sad story at RTÉ. Letters signed despite misgivings – it was only our money after all.

Why did HR not reply that in their opinion the request was morally wrong and legally questionable?

As an active trade unionist, I have had dealings with voluntary severance.

The €450,000 package for former chief financial officer Breda O’Keeffe did not fall within the definition of any voluntary severance scheme I have heard of, as the recipient was replaced before they left.

If the €450,000 plus €11,000 tax is correct, that is 2,882 TV licences.

I t would appear that the former director general of RTÉ, Dee Forbes, has a different perspective on voluntary severance than former midlands correspondent with RTÉ, Ciaran Mullooly, who went through the process. Who is right?

I wish to know what other “packages” or handshakes I have contributed to. Public money must be accounted for. Failure to do this means the rot still remains. Therefore, there has been no progress to date on reform.

Paddy Murray, Castlepollard, Co Westmeath

Song and dance about our wasteful broadcaster may be a complete sell-out

What next? Golden Handshakes The Musical?

Tom Gilsenan, Beaumont, Dublin 9

We must not forget the horrors perpetrated on the people of Syria too

Dr Edward Chu’s detailing of his time in Gaza is harrowing in the extreme (‘Crises in Ukraine and Congo are minor compared to Gaza’, Irish Independent, February 13).

His accounts of the deaths and suffering of the civilian population are utterly catastrophic to say the least.

But I was somewhat puzzled by his omission of Syria when he named other countries, like Ukraine and Congo, to bolster his article.

For the last 10 years, according to the United Nations, the combined forces of Bashar al-Assad and Vladimir Putin have killed up to a million Syrians, including women and children, in a bid to wipe Assad’s political opponents from the face of the earth.

In 2016, the shining city of Aleppo was razed by a bombing campaign the likes of which had not been seen anywhere since World War II.

On the Turkish border at this point in time there are up to four million Syrian refugees who are highly unlikely to ever return home.

Eddie Naughton, The Coombe, Dublin 8

Snub to the garda chief by rank and file is no surprise given the lack of supports

I wish to highlight the decision taken by the central executive committee of the Garda Representative Association (GRA) not to extend an invitation to commissioner Drew Harris to attend the GRA congress in Westport, Co Mayo, in April.

This vote was carried by a two-thirds majority and comes as no surprise to anybody who has been observing the deterioration in the relationship between the commissioner and rank-and-file members.

Members of the GRA overwhelmingly voted no-confidence in Mr Harris last September. The rank-and-file members on the ground are doing everything in their power to police our streets as well as they possibly can. However, they are not being supported by those in leadership roles.

Liam Galvin, address with the editor

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