IT SEEMSmore than coincidental that in many countries where Shell operate the people directly affected by their operations assert that Shell's operations ignore the damage being inflicted on them and claim that their human rights are ignored.

Being one of the world's richest companies operating in oil and gas exploration, governments tend to treat Shell with servile docility when their operations are challenged by local people.

Community representatives from seven countries affected by Shell's operations (Nigeria, the Philippines, South Africa, Brazil, Curacao, USA and Russia) in a joint effort to have their complaints upheld have bought shares in Shell in an attempt to have their grievances heard at board level.

Official complaints have been filed by Brazilian and Filipino groups to the OECD.

However, Shell's Nigerian operations continue to cause "huge" environmental damage and human suffering to the local Nigerian people in the vicinity of Shell's facilities.

In June 2005 there was a huge oil spillage in the Shell Oruma facility and twice Shell have been ordered by Nigerian courts to stop gas flares but the courts' judgements are ignored by Shell.

Based on Shell's global record, is it any wonder that the people of north Mayo have little confidence in the company's health and safety policies.

Brendan Butler, 45 The Moorings, Malahide, Co Dublin.

Psychic researchers offer real hope From John Fitzgerald

RICHARD Dawkins's book The God Delusion has re-ignited the centuries-old battle between science and religion, with Dawkins saying that all religion is crap and God doesn't exist, with the many religions and sects equally adamant that, number one, God does exist, and, of course, number two, that their own belief system is the "one true faith".

There appears to be no compromise possible between the position of hard-nosed atheism and that of religiously motivated belief in an all-powerful creator of the universe.

Yet I would suggest we have much to gain by supporting a third position . . . the one adopted by researchers into the paranormal in many parts of the world. Attacked by both scientists and organised religion, these people are in fact doing more than either faction to explore the mysteries of time and space that have perplexed mankind for millennia.

Psychic research has uncovered a wealth of evidence confirming life after death . . . from experiments involving mediums, from near-death experiences, from death-bed apparitions, and from the testimony of people who have spoken under hypnosis of previous lives and of a state of existence of "between lives" in a world or dimension that sounds remarkably like the one described by clairvoyants.

Such evidence may not necessarily confirm any particular religion's concept of God, any more than it bolsters the conventional scientific rejection of God's existence. But it certainly indicates that there is more to life . . . and death . . . than what can be examined under a microscope or through a telescope, or analysed in a test tube.

I believe that the continued work of psychic researchers may prove more valuable to the human race than either the rantings of organised religion or the scathing atheism of science. It offers real hope . . . and a potentially priceless pathway to whatever 'truth' is really out there.

John Fitzgerald, Lower Coyne Street, Callan, Co Kilkenny.

Should we be grateful to Ian Paisley?

From Cllr Dessie Ellis

DICK KEANE says "all democrats should be profoundly grateful to Ian Paisley" (Letters 22 October). I wonder why.

Is it because of his silence in the wake of the conviction of former DUP Coleraine mayor Dessie Stewart for vote fraud?

Is it because he collaborated with loyalist paramilitaries in 1974 [at the time of the Dublin Monaghan bombings] and 1977 in the so-called Loyalist Workers' Council?

Is it because he helped establish Ulster Resistance, which later imported weapons which killed elected representatives north and south of the border?

Is it because he supported the actions of the RUC in killing the first victims of the troubles in 1969?

Cllr Dessie Ellis, 19 Dunsink Rd, Finglas, Dublin 11.

Vilest form of abuse used in family law From Mary T Cleary

IN THE unnecessarily acrimonious family law system, allegations of domestic abuse by women are now commonplace, especially in cases of separation and divorce. The widespread reporting of the allegations of domestic abuse by Heather Mills against her estranged husband, Paul McCartney, brings into the limelight the way in which such allegations of abuse are now used as a routine tactic in order to gain the upper hand.

The motivation behind such allegations include: a more generous financial settlement, a greater share of the family property, the estrangement of the children from their father and the desire to destroy. Such allegations have devastating consequences for the accused, his reputation and his family.

This is abuse in its vilest form.

Elaine Epstein, former president of the Massachusetts Bar Association, has said, "It has become essentially impossible to effectively represent a man against whom any allegation of domestic violence has been made, " and she added, "in many [divorce] cases such allegations are used for tactical advantage. . . in these cases the facts have become irrelevant."

Over the years, Amen has regularly heard from men against whom such allegations are made. In many instances these unfounded allegations are accepted by judges without any supporting evidence.

While Heather Mills has come in for some criticism, the publicity her allegations have attracted may have some beneficial consequences if it causes people to question the use of this unscrupulous tactic, which is successfully used in too many divorce/separation cases.

Mary T Cleary, Founder/Coordinator, Amen, Railway Street, Navan, Co Meath.

Mosney Utd not FAI but SARI/Brian Kerr From Perry Ogden

IN AN article on Mosney United football team (News, 22 October) your reporter refers to them "playing in the FAI's Brian Kerr Inter-cultural League". I would like to point out to your readers that this is in fact SARI's (Sport Against Racism Ireland) Brian Kerr Inter-cultural League and not the FAI's.

SARI was founded in 1997, in the wake of a growing number of racist attacks in the Dublin area, and since then has been supporting and promoting cultural integration and social inclusion through sport.

This Sunday, as part of the Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) Action Week, SARI, in association with Bohemians FC, are hosting a match between the Brian Kerr SARI XI and Bohemians FC XI, at Dalymount Park, Phibsboro, Dublin 7.

I would like to extend an invitation to all Sunday Tribune readers to please come along and support the message of inter-culturalism . . . and the SARI XI! Kick off 4pm.

Entrance free.

Further information on SARI and the Brian Kerr league can be found on our website www. sari. ie Perry Ogden, Chairman, SARI.

Seeing red over 'amazing guy' Bono YET again, we are subjected to the nauseating hypocrisy of Bono and his celebrity cronies, this time with the so-called "Product Red" initiative.

We are supposed to rush out and buy a red Apple iPod Nano at the behest of Ireland's most celebrated tax avoider, the investor with a major stake in Forbesmagazine ("the capitalist bible"), and practitioner of an open-minded philanthropy that encompasses the legal pursuit of a former 'stylist' over a pair of 20year-old trousers.

At the same time, Bono can accept, without blinking, the praise of renowned global humanitarian President George W Bush at this year's US National Prayer Breakfast: "You're an amazing guy, Bono. God bless you."

Please tell me if I'm missing something, but the words 'stink', 'rank', and 'hypocrisy' come to mind.

Ultan O Broin, South Circular Road, Dublin 8.