From: Rossa O Snodaigh

I HAVE noticed with dismay the constant pounding the Irish language has been getting in recent years in the English print media in Ireland.

This is perhaps to be expected but it is interesting to note that there is more negativity toward the Irish language amongst those schooled through English then there is for the English language amongst those schooled through Irish.

Rossa O Snodaigh, Cluainin, Co Liatroma.

Colonial references missing the point

I READ, with great interest, the opinion paper by Robert Fisk: 'A French colonial legacy of despair' (International, 26 November). Fisk is a renowned Middle-East expert. His analyses are always incisive and his style particularly trenchant.

Both call for the following comments on my part:

The colonial legacy of France has long been forgotten.

Fortunately enough, the SykesPicot agreements belong to history. France left behind its language, a much-appreciated cultural presence and a constantly renewed friendship and dialogue with all Lebanese political forces. We also paid a heavy price for our commitment in favour of peace in the region and the necessary independence of Lebanon. A French ambassador, Mr Louis Delamare, was assassinated there in cold-blood.

Lebanon lies in the centre of a region tormented by war. The Land of the Cedar is a field of confrontation in which the socalled colonial legacy of France is no longer relevant. Other forces and countries are at work, with different agendas . . . an expert such as Mr Fisk cannot possibly ignore them and should have recalled them, instead of incriminating a remote and bygone past.

Recalling the past as 'colonial' seems to me uncalled for . . . it weakens the very notion of independence and territorial integrity, which France and the United Nations are currently working to strengthen in Lebanon.

Frederic Grasset Ambassador of France Lebanon without a mention of Hezbollah

From Ultan O Broin

WELL done to Robert Fisk for penning an 1,100 word, onesided, article about foreign involvement in Lebanon without once mentioning Hezbollah (International, 26 November 2006). I also noticed that this would-be cartographer of global ethnic and urban tension failed to disclose if he would be equally capable of knocking up a map of Iranian or Syrian influence in Lebanon, or indeed of anti-Americanism in some parts of Dalkey, Co Dublin.

Ultan O Broin, South Circular Road, Dublin 8.

Comments on Murdoch confusing

From Arran Dowling Hussey

MICHAEL Clifford's comments on Rupert Murdoch's involvement in the recent bid by NTL for ITV were most confused. BSkyB Plc which is chaired by Murdoch's son James, and in which Murdoch's main company News Corp owns 38% of the stock, recently bought 17.9% of ITV Plc. This purchase of shares was widely seen as being likely to block the possible acquisition of ITV by NTL or any other firm.

Murdoch therefore did not "make an audacious attempt to merge NTL and ITV."

Arran Dowling Hussey, Law Library, Four Courts, Dublin 7.

Huge anomalies in electoral register

From Victor Boyhan

AS AN activist in the democratic political process, I want to pay tribute to detailed and persistent analysis of the electoral system of this country by your political correspondent Shane Coleman in collaboration with election, poll and tally expert Odran Flynn.

The Sunday Tribune has done this state a huge service.

When your paper first highlighted the enormous numbers of people who were ineligible to vote for various reasons, and the fact that large numbers of eligible voters were not actually registered, many senior politicians brushed the issue off, stating the Sunday Tribune investigation was mere exaggeration.

To your paper's credit and that of Coleman and Flynn, you keep the electoral register issue to the fore, without such persistence it is doubtful if minister Dick Roche would have eventually ordered a comprehensive campaign and the additional resources to address the huge anomalies in the electoral register.

According to official estimates, up to 170,000 legitimate voters have been struck off electoral registers around the country.

In my own area of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, the official figures show that 21,908 have been deleted since February 2006. The current controversy and figures released by the Department of the Environment and Local Government clearly indicate incompetence.

Democracy is not served well when the conduct of the country's parliamentary election process loses the confidence of its people. Throughout Europe, most member states operate and manage their electoral system by an independent electoral commission.

The time has clearly come for the establishment of such a commission to independently administer all aspects of elections from constituency boundaries, compliance with political donations/finance, electoral registration and all other related matters.

Democracy will be strengthened if reform follows as a result of the current controversy and debate, to the Sunday Tribune well done on an excellent series of articles and professional journalism . . . you too have done this state some service.

Victor Boyhan, Grange Crescent, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.

No such thing as a perfect driver

From Gina Byrne

I HAVE no doubt that Henry Joyce is an excellent driver (Letters, 26 November). Just like I am myself. And if those he called idiots and fools were found, they too would surely describe their skills behind the wheel in similar lofty terms.

And therein lies the problem.

We all think we are great drivers. Bad driving is something only other people engage in. And for as long as we hold this attitude, our tragic toll of road deaths will never be reduced. We are all capable of committing errors from time to time. My misdemeanour today makes me some other driver's fool in tomorrow's letters page.

And while obviously accepting the life endangering seriousness of some manoeuvres, there is also no such thing as the perfect driver.

So let's all take some responsibility. As Mr Joyce points out, it's not about blaming boy racers, but neither is it about taking the high ground and name-calling other road users. We are all capable of being more patient with our fellow drivers or the road conditions we encounter. We are all capable of more careful overtaking. And most of all, we are all capable of slowing down.

Gina Byrne, Annaholty, Birdhill, Co Tipperary.

He knows when you've been bad or good

From Mr F Christmas

Mrs Claus and I would like to ask you for some help to make this Christmas even more exciting for all the boys and girls.

Please tell all the children to post their letters as soon as they can, so myself and Mrs Claus, and all the elves, can start sorting the toys for the sleigh on Christmas Eve.

The elves love reading the hundreds of thousands of letters we get and there's great excitement altogether when it's some little one's first ever letter! Tell them to send their letters to: Santa Claus, The North Pole . . . simple as that!

And when they do, Santa's helpers in An Post will make sure that they get a reply from me before Christmas . . .something they've been doing as a favour for me for 20 years . . . even though, like myself, it's their busiest time of year.

Imagine getting a letter from me with your name on it!

So won't you be good now and tell them? I'm watching to see who's naughty and who's nice!

Santa Claus, The North Pole.

UK press and the truth about collusion

From Paul Molloy

SO IT'S official. With the full knowledge of their government, British security forces were involved in a string of murders and bomb attacks on innocent Irish civilians in the 1970s and 1980s. And how do the British press manage to handle this shocking story of terrorism and collusion at the highest level of their establishment? Easy!

They ignore it.

Paul Molloy, Tullamore, Co Offaly.