A chara, - Is Fianna Fail still a "republican" party? If so, why does it not outlaw the wearing of Crown toppers in our courts? For too long, Irish republicans have concentrated on the recovery of the "fourth field" to the neglect of making this 26-county state into a genuine republic with true equality of citizenship, in deed as well as in theory.
I know that Fianna Fail cannot be blamed for declaring this State a republic, but what has the "Republican Party" done since 1949 to make it into a true republic in fact, as well as in word? To judge by the continued wearing of Ascendancy wigs by our court officials, and by the toleration of large-scale slum conditions in our cities, little would seem to have been done to bring about greater equality in our society, despite all the bombast, and despite all the years Fianna Fail has been in power.
Symbols are important, as they help to convey the ethos and values of a society. The wearing of wigs by our judiciary - suggesting that they are the new Ascendancy - merely confirms that this 26-county state is not a genuine republic, but a territory marooned in a post-colonial limbo, bereft of political idealism and now, seemingly, morally corrupt as well. As an alternative, and in keeping with current values in Irish society, perhaps I should be suggesting the wholesale wearing of masks by Kathleen's sons and daughters - the inheritors of a once noble political ideal. - Is mise,
Liam O Geibheannaigh, Ath an Ghainimh, Co Atha Cliath.