A chara, —Joost Augusteijn (Letters, HI 17.4, July/Aug. 2009) states that the Sinn Féin manifesto in the 1918 general election ‘did not call for a republic’. Not so. The relevant passage in the manifesto reads: ‘Sinn Féin gives Ireland the opportunity of vindicating her honour and pursuing with renewed confidence the path of national salvation … Read more
Sir, —Re your editorial, ‘Up the Republic/Commonwealth!’ (HI 17.3, May/June 2009), Ulster for some signifies nine, Three more than others can muster. Take one from t’other and all’s fine, As six adds up to UKster. —Yours etc., JOHN MORGAN Dublin 24
Sir, —In your entertainingeditorial on the perils of putting names to places in Ireland, you saythat nationalists find obnoxious the use of ‘Ulster’ for NorthernIreland (‘Up the Republic/Commonwealth!’, HI 17.3, May/June 2009). Butthat was not always the case. De Valera, for example, in August 1921,when questioned in the Dáil about possible talks between Sinn Féin … Read more
Sir, —Although delighted to see my book A history of the Northern Ireland Labour Party: democratic socialism and sectarianism reviewed in the last issue (HI 17.4, July/August 2009), permit me to address some of the points raised by Dr Brian Feeney in his highly selective critique. Dr Feeney claims that ‘the NILP could never … Read more
Sir, —Tara Keenan-Thomson’s description (HI 17.4, July/Aug. 2009) of New York’s Mayor John Lindsay as ‘an American Republican’ strikes an odd note, particularly in the context of an essay that pushes the theme of Irish-American support for ‘conservative hegemony’ and ‘racist attitudes’. Technically speaking, Lindsay was still a Republican when he honoured Bernadette Devlin with … Read more