Response :We will stop at nothing to defeat these groups

In response to Irish Minister for Justice, Mr. Alan Shatter's article in the Irish Times concerning the murder of Northern Irish Policeman Ronan Kerr.


The killing of a member of the police is a particularly serious crime and one that ought to be condemned by any right minded person. Those who murdered Ronan Kerr have no community support nor political justification for their actions, they are criminals who must be brought to justice.

While I expect Constable Kerr's grieving family may find some comfort in Minister Shatter's commitment to assist the PSNI in apprehending his killers, perhaps this would have been more appropriate in a letter to his parents, rather than a newspaper column?

What is not helpful for the peace process, is continued media stigmatization of Northern Ireland by overplaying the terrorist threat. As their economy falters, in no small part owing to a secondary property bubble fueled by speculation from Southern developers, it would be helpful if members of the Fine Gael led government used their media platform to remind the world that NI also remains open for business.

To put the threat to life in Northern Ireland into perspective, in 2010, 18 people were murdered, a rate of 1.023 per 100,000 individuals. In the Republic, during the same period, 59 people were murdered, a rate of 1.21 per 100,000 individuals. In other words, there is a 20% greater likelihood of being murdered in the Republic of Ireland than in Northern Ireland.

Any implication dissident gangs, with negligible political or community support, could be more well resourced than criminal organisations in the Republic would be misleading; any suggestion they pose a threat to the populations of Ireland or Great Britain, above and beyond that of serious organised criminals, is questionable.

May I also remind him of criminal matters within his own jurisdiction, according to the 2002 SAVI Report: Sexual Abuse and Violence in Ireland, conducted by the Royal College of Surgeons, one in sixteen women (6.1 per cent of the female population) disclosed they were the victim of a rape.

Only 7.9 % of women and 1% of men have reported sexual crimes of any nature to the gardaí. These are shocking statistics.

Recommendation three from the SAVI report states, "That barriers to the disclosure of sexual violence be addressed at the level of the general public, professionals and systems."

In light of recent events in Mayo, perhaps it would be preferable if Minister Shatter resolved "to stop at nothing" to ensure the SAVI recommendations are fully implemented, and perpetrators of sexual violence brought to justice. Such a commitment from the minister, published in a national newspaper, might bring some comfort and reassurance to the many victims of sexual violence who continue to suffer silently in Ireland.

Medicinal Cannabis Unlikely to be Made Available to Irish Patients

Amsterdamn based Irishman, Noel McCullagh who suffers from multiple sclerosis, was informed yesterday by the European Ombudsman that he had no right to travel home to  visit his family in Ireland while in possession of cannabis prescribed for his condition, as the drug was a schedule one listed in Ireland for which he may be arrested. 

While medicinal marajuana/cannabis is available for medicinal use in a number of countries, including Canada, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Israel, Italy, Finland, and Portugal, it is unlikely there will be any move to make cannabis available for medicinal use in Ireland. Under Irish law it is not recognised as having any medicinal benefits, although in 2003 the Irish Medicines Board granted GW Pharmaceuticals a licence for trials in Irish medical institutions for the use of a cannabis-based medicinal extract in controlling cancer and multiple sclerosis related pain. GW Pharmaceuticals subsequently went on to register a cannabis based medicine for the treatment of spasticity due to multiple sclerosis and their patented drug is also in development in cancer pain and neuropathic pain of various origins.

Cultivated cannabis legalised for medicinal use would is in direct competition with the Pharmaceutical industry markets on several fronts including, as highlighted above, their exclusive rights to therapeutic use through the patenting of cannabis derived molecules. Irrespective of the strong anti narcotics lobby – which is strong but misguided (deliberately so for political reasons) when it comes to drugs like cannabis – the Pharmaceutical industry lobby is, next to the petroleum industry, the most powerful in the western world and they are deeply embedded in national health systems. Also, given the numbers currently employed, albeit dwindling, in the drug industry in Ireland, the government would never consider doing anything to upset them.

Marijuana/Cannabis is a potent analgesic (painkiller), muscle relaxant, anti inflammatory, immune modulator (suppresses the activity of certain immune cells) and is useful in a variety of conditions from autoimmunity, rheumatoid arthritis, MS to cancer related conditions pain, loss of appetite and nausea associated with chemo etc. It is very inexpensive and – aside from the mellow high that tends to wear off quite quickly – there are minimal side effects when compared to some of the cartel priced pharmaceutical offerings for similar conditions. That’s the unofficial version, the official version is it’s dangerous and in light of that, there are more research studies currently being funded to “prove” it’s dangerous than any that consider the plant’s therapeutic value.

A synopsis of the history of the use of the plant in medicine from a review by Ben Amar at the University of Montreal suggests the first documented use can be traced back to the Chinese emperor, Shen Nung, who recorded the properties and therapeutic uses of cannabis in his compendium of Chinese medicinal herbs in 2737 BC. The plant was cultivated for its fibre, seeds, recreational consumption and use in medicine. It then spread to India from China. In 1839, William O’Shaughnessy, a British physician and surgeon working in India, discovered the analgesic, appetite stimulant, antiemetic, muscle relaxant and anticonvulsant properties of cannabis. The publication of his observations led to the expansion of the medical use even being prescribed to Queen Victoria for relief of dysmenorrhea (menstrual pain). In 1854, cannabis was listed in the US Dispensatory. It was then sold freely in pharmacies of Western countries and became listed in the British Pharmacopoeia in extract and tincture form for over 100 years, However, after prohibition of alcohol was lifted, in the US for purely political reasons, condemned the use of cannabis, making it responsible for insanity, moral and intellectual deterioration, violence and various crimes. Thus, in 1937, under pressure from the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and against the advice of the American Medical Association, the U.S. Government introduced the Marihuana Tax Act and in 1942, cannabis was removed from the United States Pharmacopoeia, thereby losing its therapeutic legitimacy. Great Britain and most European countries banned cannabis by adopting the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances instituted by the United Nation. Today however people, even cancer patients, can be arrested and jailed for possession and the situation is unlikely to change for the foreseeable future.

In Response to Vincent Browne's Irish Times Article "Intervention in oil states part of new world order"

The original Irish Times article is linked here.

It is appropriate to be skeptical of the supposed altruistic intentions of Western governments as they lead the charge into Lybia, we have good cause for this given their track records. While I felt it was necessary for some kind of UN backed humanitarian intervention in this situation, it has become quite apparent, in the light of the enthusiastic bombing campaign, this was less about protecting civilians, more about neutralising Lybia's military capacity and instigating regime change.  The data graphic below might lend some support to Vincent Browne's thesis.

It is worth noting that since the 1967 Israeli Blitzkrieg, subsidies from Libyan oil revenues have been used to support revolutionary groups across the region. While these activities were to have stopped with the recent dénouement that lead to a lifting of sanctions, Qaddafi was never to be trusted and it is reasonable to assume elements within the US administration would strongly favour regime change to a more pro Western/ Israel government. The three biggest opponents to the US/Israel influence in the region are Syria, Libya and Iran and by neutering Libya's capacity they will have removed one potential threat to Israel in the event of a war.

Parallel to this and more relevant, were developing relations between Chavez and Qaddafi and recently negotiations between Putin and Qaddafi with a view to establishing energy accords that would serve to challenge Anglo-American dominance of the petroleum industry. It was telling that among the five states that abstained from voting on resolution 1973 were the BRICs, Brazil, China, Russia and India, those countries now in direct competition with the US for global energy resources. Albeit disillusioning, it appears that Vincent Browne is correct in his analysis, this was not a military mission conducted with any real humanitarian intension in mind but rather undertaken for selfish strategic reasons.