Madam, - John O'Shea (Opinion, December 9th) is in danger of throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
Of course giving money to corrupt rulers in Africa is pointless, and there have been many corrupt rulers in Africa. Over the past number of years there has been a growing acceptance that the absence of good governance is perhaps the greatest obstacle to development in Africa. Stability and transparency are absolute requirements for any society to prosper and it is only governments which can provide these. NGOs do marvellous work in Africa, and Irish NGOs are among the best. But their efforts need a stable environment to take root and develop.
The policy of Development Co-Operation Ireland has been to identify countries with governments they believe they could work with and enter into long term agreements of support with these governments. This is a policy with which we in the Sierra Leone Ireland Partnership strongly agree. Yes, there could possibly be more open accountability and DCI could wield a bigger stick, but the overall policy is correct. Only governments can govern and without good government all our work in development is put at risk. - Yours, etc.,
JOE MANNING, Sierra Leone Ireland Partnership, Market Square, Bagenalstown, Co Carlow.