Madam, - Your Editorial of February asked a disturbing question, one which the international community will ignore at its peril: "Could Kenya be the next Rwanda?"
The Editorial quoted remarks by UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon suggesting that such a frightening possibility can no longer be ignored. He warned that the "situation is indeed threatening to escalate to catastrophic proportions".
The international community must do all in its power to guarantee that the horrors seen in Rwanda are not repeated. But the "cycles of revenge", the unchecked spiral of murder and the explosive tribal tensions have a dismal familiarity about them which must be acknowledged if history is not to repeat itself disastrously.
Our own Department of Foreign Affairs sees itself as an emerging "player" in Africa, judging by remarks made by Minister Dermot Ahern. He was recently enthusiastic in outlining the noble role which Irish Aid has played on the world stage.
But, summoning all the solemnity of an international statesman, he blithely swept aside the concerns of Goal's chief executive John O'Shea, who has been sounding the alarm bells on the potential for disaster in Kenya for some time. Goal, like other NGOs, is heavily active in the slums of Nairobi which have become a time-bomb due to abject poverty.
For someone so well briefed on world affairs it is surprising that the Minister should have been so scathing of legitimate concerns over a global flashpoint. Mr Ahern went on to say: "We greatly regret that John O'Shea should have talked about another Rwanda looming. There is simply no comparison to Rwanda" (Opinion & Analysis, January 12th).
It is commendable that your paper sees fit to draw that comparison, just as it is disturbing that the Department of Foreign Affairs should be so dismissive of what amounts to a very real danger.
To quote the words of Paulo Freire: "Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless seems to side with the powerful, not to be neutral." - Yours, etc,
FERGAL McLOUGHLIN, Ardagh Close, Blackrock, Co Dublin.