Sir, - Ireland, in her ancient past endured great tragedy and suffering, but never has she faced total annihilation in a period as short as a few weeks. Today, on the opposite side of the planet, a young nation is facing just that. Ireland does not have the military capacity to assist East Timor against the destructive might of the Indonesian army and its paramilitaries who seem bent on its annihilation.
However, Ireland is now in a new era, about to realise a massive budget surplus that seems only to divide us among ourselves as each interest drools over the pie. In the past we have given dribs and drabs to struggling nations and causes. Now is the time to give a massive once-off donation from the Irish Government and people of the order of a billion euros and the use of the Defence Forces' accomplished engineers towards the rebuilding of East Timor's infrastructure, recently annihilated by Jakarta's forces of terror.
Such a massive gesture could never be realised unless each of us lets our political representatives know that we believe this is what we would like to see become of some of our recent pot of gold. Could we still sleep sound at night knowing the plight of East Timor, if we did not do everything we could to help?
Let us just hope and pray that something remains of East Timor to receive such a gesture. - Yours, etc.,
Cian De Buitleir, Oakley Grove, Blackrock, Co Dublin.