Sir, - On May 12th Amnesty International placed an advertisement in The Irish Times picturing Bertie Ahern, Mary Harney and John O'Donoghue under the heading "Some say they're involved in racism". As a member of Amnesty and a lawyer who works in refugee law, I recognise many inadequacies in the Government's policies asylum and immigration. However, that particular ad was highly misleading and placing it will not have helped Amnesty's cause.
Firstly, the Taoiseach is not a racist. A search of your on-line archive will reveal his opinions on the topic. For example, on February 12th, a piece entitled "Emigrant ship is launched with a call to reject racism" reported: "The Taoiseach has called for the rejection of racism and prejudice and the promotion of equality and tolerance. `As a country with sometimes bitter experience of emigration, it seems very important that we remember the hardships and prejudices we faced in the past while we promote equality and tolerance and reject racism and prejudice wherever we find it,' he said."
Secondly, to tar the man with the "racist" slur is a poor tactical decision. In bandying false accusations of racism, Amnesty appear hysterical to anyone not already committed to our cause. Treating Ministers in an aggressive and misleading manner will make it less likely that our complaints will be heard in future. While it might make us feel better to vent our frustrations at those in Government, we don't have the luxury of treating them as enemies and attacking them. Our duty is to win them over.
Thirdly, I would contrast the manner in which Amnesty documents human rights abuses around the world with the way we communicate complaints about our domestic government. Amnesty's record of careful factual reporting and erring always on the side of caution has been the basis of our many successes and our deserved international credibility. We should be as careful of our reputation in domestic matters. - Yours, etc.,
Loughlin Deegan, The Maples, Dublin 14.