Sir, - The inaction and "head in the sand" attitude of the Irish to the Kosovo refugees is shameful.
As reported, the Irish Government has pledged a paltry £2 million to Irish charities to help refugees from Kosovo. In comparison, some £6 million was donated from abroad for the victims of the Omagh bombing. Since 1987, over £400 million has been given to Ireland through the International Fund for Ireland, funded mostly by the United States and the United Kingdom, not to mention the many, many millions given to Ireland by the Ireland Fund and other US charities and programs. In addition, Ireland has received well over £30 billion from the European Union. In return for this massive generosity from others, Ireland offers a miserly £2 million to aid the tragic victims of Serbian genocide.
In addition to the failure of the Irish to aid the Kosovo refugees, and perhaps to excuse that failure, many Irish dare to be critical of NATO. Ireland and the Irish have benefited for the past 50 years from the protection provided by NATO at no cost to the Irish taxpayer. Because of that NATO protection, Ireland need only maintain a token defence force, a further saving. To further show its ingratitude, Ireland has had the effrontery to demand payment from the United Nations for providing small contingents of peacekeepers in Lebanon.
Ireland and the Irish must come to realise that with the benefits of being in the EU comes some responsibilities. Ireland has shown that it can accept the benefits; it has yet to show that it can accept the responsibilities. - Yours, etc., Patrick McVeigh,
Hickory Street, Floral Park, New York, USA.