Madam, - A shocking event occurred in the corridors of power last week: the UN Security Council decided against any meaningful action to alleviate the suffering of the people of Darfur. This revealed to the world's population the sheer ineptitude of an organisation which some gullible people believe is there to protect the vulnerable.
The facts are easy to understand. Following the deaths of 50,000 innocent people and the uprooting from their homes of 1.2 million, the Security Council gave the Sudanese government 30 days to rein in the Janjaweed militia. Predictably, the Khartoum government gave a gigantic two-fingers response to the UN - and continued to support and encourage the bloodthirsty Janjaweed.
It is surely now time for the members of the UN to seriously consider what if any merit there is in having a Security Council. A move by one of its members - why not Ireland? - to leave the UN might cause this pathetic organisation to honour its obligations to its fellow human beings. - Yours, etc.,
JOHN O'SHEA, GOAL, PO Box 19, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.