Madam, - Some of your readers seem to be under the childlike impression that the only thing stopping the G8 leaders from ending world poverty is that they are harsh, uncaring or just plain mean.
Is it unfashionable to point out that if, for example, Chirac or Ahern, were to support scrapping the Common Agricultural Policy, thus giving African farmers a chance to compete, they'd be publicly lynched on their return home by ordinary people - the same people who demand action from the G8? How would the demonstrating masses with their earnest white wristbands react to Asian clothes manufacturers being forced to apply EU standards of workers' rights, and therefore EU costs and EU prices?
Helping the poorest nations requires us to make sacrifices. It involves Irish farmers losing out to African farmers, and Irish textile manufacturers losing out to initially cheaper imports. It involves sending large amounts of money that could be spent on our public services to the rest of the world.
That is the price we pay, and if it involves me paying a €10 a week "G8 tax" I'll pay it. But let us be honest about the cost and the sacrifice rather than pretend all it takes are eight signatures. - Yours, etc,
JASON O'MAHONY, Stillorgan, Co Dublin.
Madam, - After such a large media event as Live 8 it is easy to forget that the main obstacle to relieving poverty is not the eight world leaders meeting men in Scotland, but the contradictory demands of electorates in developed countries.
There is no questioning the public demand to "make poverty history", but when people get the chance to exercise their power at election time, job security, taxation and standards of living, rather than fair trade, are the main issues. Unfortunately these demands run contrary to meaningful action on poverty.
The French and Dutch electorates have recently rejected the European constitution because, among other things, they resent having to compete on fair terms with Poland. It is highly unlikely that they would appreciate having to compete with Kenya, whose costs are significantly lower.
President Chirac has had to pay the price for making a modest step towards fairer trade with a relatively wealthy and geographically close country. What incentive does this hold out for other G8 leaders and our own Government to to pursue fair trade and meaningful competition with the global south? Domestic job stability currently trumps any move towards fair trade. - Yours, etc,
PAUL TIGHE, UCD, Dublin 4.
Madam, - After the considerable success of the Live 8 concerts in mobilising awareness about trade, aid and debt in advance of the G8 summit, it is quite depressing how little awareness there is of the failure to protect Africans from rape, torture and often brutal murder.
The Africa Commission Report, for which Bob Geldof deserves credit, acknowledges that "violence causes as many deaths in Africa as does disease". But why is there such silence about the people living in fear, at risk of being raped and murdered, when there is no political will to mount the kind of peace initiatives that could save them, especially in Darfur, the Congo and Zimbabwe?
Are those waiting for justice in Darfur, undoubtedly the Auschwitz of Africa, not important enough? Why do the estimated 30,000 people dying every month in the Congo not count? And why are the victims of Mugabe's "Operation Remove Scum" in Zimbabwe politically inconvenient?
We must confront the perpetrators of gross human rights abuses and crimes against humanity. Ignoring the pleas from those innocent men, women and children caught on the killing fields of our time only serves to ensure that we will repeat the mistakes of the past and nothing will change. Finding the political will to answer these cries for protection is not only urgent - it is essential, because failure to do so makes us complicit in the crimes being committed.
How can Africans succeed without freedom from fear and basic human rights? Without respect for human rights, campaigns for aid, trade and debt relief will not succeed. - Yours, etc,
RONAN TYNAN, Esperanza Productions, Blackrock, Co Dublin.