Sir, - Mary Robinson's decision not to seek a second term as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is a shattering blow for the many millions of oppressed and poverty-stricken people in the Third World for whom she was a brave and sometimes lone voice. The frustration brought on by lack of funding, personnel and resources to do her important work is something that GOAL, and I am sure many other Irish humanitarian aid agencies, can most assuredly empathise with. All Mrs Robinson ever wanted to do was to help those in greatest need. she had the will, the desire and the commitment - and most of all she had the courage to speak out. But tragically she was denied the resources.
GOAL has found itself in a similar situation for 23 years and we are saddened and frustrated by the fact that the Department of Foreign Affairs, which has the resources, continues to marginalise organisations such as ours. It seems illogical to me that those who want to do good and have a proven record of success are continually being deprived of resources by bureaucracy. - Yours, etc.,
John O'Shea, GOAL, PO Box 19, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.