Madam, - Insurance companies in the West will pay out more money in travel insurance related compensation to holidaymakers caught up in the Asian tsunami disaster than a seismological early warning system, such as the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii, would have cost.
It is only the poverty of the nations affected by the disaster that has prevented the creation of such a system, which was recommended at a UN conference in June, where experts had warned that the Indian Ocean was significantly at risk from tsunamis.
Western tourists, who could afford to inhabit the best parts of these poor countries, will be compensated by insurance companies for the loss of their luggage, for example, with sums of money that would support for life one of those local inhabitants now made homeless by the disaster.
Empty planes are being sent to evacuate Westerners caught up in this tragedy of biblical proportions. The West now must face its moral responsibility by sending more empty planes to evacuate those who have been made homeless by this disaster and relocate them, with each country taking a number in proportion to its population. - Yours, etc.,
DEBRA JAMES,
Cummerduff,
Gorey,
Co Wexford.
Madam, - Your edition of December 29th refers to 700 Irish citizens who have been "accounted for" through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs following the tsunami disaster, the majority being in Thailand.
Add the visiting Irish who were not near the beaches and who contacted their families without bothering the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Irish residents of Thailand (like myself), and you probably get close to a total of 3,000 to 4,000.
With the thriving economy in Ireland, the large disposable incomes of many young Irish people, and the poor holiday value in "rip-off Ireland", countries such as Thailand have become major Irish tourist destinations. Travellers can lose a passport, break a leg, get robbed, get framed for carrying drugs, etc. Try solving such a problem without embassy help while dealing with Thai authorities who have little or no English . . . The nearest Irish Embassy is in another country: Malaysia.
I wrote to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin a few years ago, asking why Thailand did not have an Irish Embassy; "costs" were quoted.
To my great surprise, Bertie Ahern, on a visit to Vietnam a few months ago, announced a new Irish Embassy for that country. Vietnam before Thailand! I can think of only one reason for this strange allocation of embassies: the Government puts trade with foreign countries before its own citizens when choosing where to place embassies.
Could I appeal to the Department of Foreign Affairs to do justice to the people it is supposed to serve by establishing an embassy in Thailand in 2005? - Yours, etc.,
PATRICK HENNESSY,
Bangkok,
Thailand.
Madam, - I propose that we in Ireland have a day of national mourning next Monday, January 3rd, for the victims of the natural disaster in the Indian Ocean and that all Government Departments and offices be closed with the exception of those engaged in the provision of vital or emergency services. - Yours, etc.,
Cllr TONY McDERMOTT,
(Green Party),
Westfield Road,
Dublin 6W.