Madam, - Michael D. Higgins's article in your edition of August 4th ("It's not a time to break trust with the poorest of the poor") could only have been written by somebody with little direct experience of Africa, though I imagine he has visited the continent, possibly many times.
I might have agreed with his views three years ago but my opinions have changed. During that time I have been working in Mozambique and have seen at first hand the aid/development machine in action both in that and neighbouring countries.
There was a time when economists made a direct link between an increase in money aid and an increase in economic growth. Those days are gone. In fact the kind of aid Mr Higgins seems to be talking about can actually compound the problem.
The main problem in Africa is corruption, which is the other side of the "bad governance" coin, and is the reason why rich Africans - and there are many - invest outside Africa. As their money leaves, it passes aid money on its way in. This Western aid deepens the corruption problem as much of the money, given the lack of transparency and accountability, is diverted into people's pockets.
Another major problem is Africans' lack of belief that they themselves can achieve something or make things happen. I admire their stoicism but deplore their low self-esteem. Aid organisations compound this problem too. Instead of empowering the people they help, they leave them with an even greater sense of dependency than before.
I do, of course, support certain kinds of help. Humanitarian aid cannot be refused even when it produces ludicrous situations, as in Swaziland, where the king is building a 12th palace for his 12th wife as food aid arrives to help his people. Debt relief can be a help if the money saved is used productively. Certainly an important help would be to open up agricultural markets in the West. Perhaps Mr Higgins could persuade farmers' representatives in Ireland to accept lower subsidies? Let him grasp that nettle rather than proposing the easy option of more money.
I have spoken with many aid workers in Mozambique both from NGOs and state-funded aid organisations. Many work very hard and idealistically and many are handsomely rewarded. Most I have spoken to are extremely cynical about what they are achieving. But then, what earthly reason would they have for telling the truth to the governments or organisations which employ them?
Mr Higgins may call me cynical, but it would be like my reproaching him for being naive. - Yours, etc,
DONAL CONLON, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique.
Madam, - Michael D Higgins TD is one of Ireland's beacons of hope in a world of cynics such as Dan McLaughlin, chief economist with the Bank of Ireland (Opinion & Analysis, July 18th). Mr McLaughlin's appeals for pragmatism and so-called realpolitik support a status quo which allows people in yet another godforsaken African country to die for no reason.
This reader is grateful to the Labour foreign affairs spokesperson for highlighting the indisputable urgency of reaching our target of 0.7 of GNP for foreign aid. He writes that Norway has increased its foreign aid target to 1 per cent of GNP. Yet even he, as a highly influential politician, doubts that our elected representatives have the will, despite all Ireland's wealth, to reach even the original target of 0.7 per cent.
One has to infer either that the Government is not listening to the people or that it believes it is reflecting the wishes of the majority of the electorate. Could we have an Irish Times opinion poll to help establish the reality of what people living in Ireland really want?
If the poll doesn't yield a massive majority in favour of meeting or exceeding our target forthwith, then I've been living on the Planet Zog for the past half-century. - Yours, etc,
GREG ROSENSTOCK, Seapoint Road, Bray, Co Wicklow.