Madam, - It is not for me to defend the committee of NUI Galway Law Society as its members are more than capable of doing that for themselves. Nonetheless, as a recent graduate of the university I feel compelled to lend my support to the society in the face of criticism levelled towards it by a small number of staff and students.
In a letter in your edition of November 26th, certain university staff attack the recent visit by Ambassador Thomas C. Foley to the law society. They signatories trot out the standard left-wing doggerel to attack America's intervention in Iraq and its prosecution of the (admittedly unfortunately named) "war on terror".
There, is of course, no mention of the fact that the vast majority of civilian casualties in Iraq are as a result of religious and civil strife, not American action. There is no mention of the relatively stable and prospering Kurdish region, which suffered most terribly under the odious Saddam Hussein and his cronies.
Privatisation, whatever that means, predictably takes a bashing too, without any mention of the vast oil revenues flowing through the coffers of the burgeoning Iraqi state.
This is not to deny the many catastrophic errors of the Bush administration, not least its ambivalent attitude to torture and the status of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay.
It may be, of course, that the protesters do not wish to hear any hint of good news from Iraq. It may be that they are comfortable spouting their tiresome diatribes bemoaning the ills of capitalism and blaming all the world's ills on Uncle Sam. Perhaps they are wise to object to the invitation to the ambassador, for if they were to engage in measured debate, instead of attempting of stifling it, they might find their most treasured beliefs exposed for the shibboleths they truly are.
The Law Society of NUI Galway is to be commended for its policy of inviting speakers to stimulate debate and conversation on important issues. Unfortunately it seems that the very people who should be taking a lead role in this debate - ie the academic staff of the university - are more than reluctant to do so. - Yours, etc,
DONAL KEANE,
Batterstown,
Co Meath.