A chara, – This week two Irish Times columnists indulged in snide and inaccurate attacks on both myself and Sinn Féin.
The flaw in Newton Emerson's particularly, and personally, offensive tabloid column (Opinion & Analysis, May 5th) is evident when he describes me as having moved abroad! Is Louth abroad? Is the Dáil abroad?
Like others he dismissed the very obvious historic parallels I draw between the treatment of the Irish people over many centuries under colonisation – which included slavery – and the experience of African Americans carried in slave ships to work on plantations in the US.
He also dismisses my comparison of the two civil rights struggles in the 1960s
That comparison between people denied the right to vote, discriminated against in jobs and housing, and denied rights and enduring injustice is perfectly valid.
I have met many black civil rights activists in the US who have no difficulty understanding this. I am not surprised that there are some here like Mr Emerson who chose not to.
Noel Whelan (Opinion& Analysis, & Analysis, May 6th) has, not for the first time, peddled falsehoods about the democratic structure of Sinn Féin and the role of our public representatives.
The structure of Sinn Féin is the most transparent of any political party on our island. Our collective leadership, an ardchomhairle, is democratically elected every year at our ardfheis which is the sole authority in and of Sinn Féin.
Our ardchomhairle also contains a majority of members who are public representatives. A point Mr Whelan duly ignores.
He also says the party has no parliamentary meetings – another complete falsehood. The Sinn Féin party holds weekly group meetings of all our TDs, Senators, Ministers, MLAs and support staff.
What part of this does Noel Whelan not comprehend?
– Is mise,
GERRY ADAMS TD
Sinn Féin President
Leinster House.