Sir, – Conor Gearty is missing a number of points in his article (“Human rights best hope for mankind”, August 1st) on human rights and equality. First, democracy did not start with “the labour and suffragette movements” or with political independence. It goes back to ancient Greece. Second, all members of the churches may not, as he says, always practise the love of neighbour ethic which they preach. The fact that they do not always live up to the ideal, however, does not render the ideal “irrelevant”. Third, his statement that “the conditions that drove democracy in the past no longer pertain” is just not true. We still need the ideal of the equality of citizens to be enshrined in our political and legal institutions.
The fact that some citizens do not exercise their rights and that other citizens use their wealth and/or privilege to undermine that equality makes it all the more necessary for democracy to be defended. The fact that women, who are a majority in the electorate, are so badly represented in the Dáil is a challenge to democracy. The fact that those in control of mass media can determine public opinion is a challenge to democracy.
Despite all that, however, Conor Gearty is right when he says that “the drive for equality must inevitably return” and that “the democratic advocacy of human rights” is our best hope for the future. – Yours, etc,
ANTHONY LEAVY,
Shielmartin Drive,
Dublin 13