Madam, - The Northern Ireland Women's Coalition, as one of the political parties which negotiated and signed the Good Friday Agreement, views with great concern the proposal by the Irish Government to amend the pledge that "every person born on the island of Ireland" has the right to be "part of the Irish nation".
In 1998, when people from every part of the country came out to vote for the agreement, it was in the hope that their action was helping to bring about the birth of a new society, one based on the principles of peace, equality and human rights.
These are the fundamental principles upon which we base all our policies.
As a political party formed to redress the gender imbalance in political life, we also wish to put on record our profound disquiet at the way in which pregnant non-national women, at the most vulnerable stage in their lives, have been made the targets of a policy that appears to us to be fundamentally racist and anti-woman.
The European elections offer Irish citizens the opportunity to vote for candidates who will work to ensure that the new, enlarged Europe takes seriously the responsibilities of implementing policies based on social justice. We sincerely hope that the electorate will remember the spirit of openness and generosity that characterised the historic referendum of 1998 and vote No to this ill-judged attempt to amend an agreement that should belong to us all. - Yours, etc.,
Prof MONICA McWILLIAMS,
Women's Coalition,
University Street,
Belfast 7.
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Madam, - Paul Cullen (Opinion, June 3rd) supports his call for a Yes vote in the forthcoming referendum on citizenship with an anecdote, which illustrates what he believes is not an isolated case. Voters would do well to remember the words of Frank Kotsonis: "The plural of 'anecdote' is not 'data'." - Yours, etc.,
Cllr RYAN MEADE,
(Green Party),
City Hall,
Dublin 2.