Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 18, 1990 TAG: 9003222323
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: F2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Is this barrier that literally divides individual farms, which are under the control of two different countries, not the same thing as the Berlin Wall? I believe that it is. The only difference is that a "western democracy," England, is the perpetuator of this illegal division.
The present division of Ireland was forced upon the Irish after an English-mandated boundary commission and under the threat of "a great, a terrible war." Today, on a regular basis the Irish try to open cross-border roads between north and south, only to have the English army destroy their efforts.
Many of these Irish are small farmers whose land is divided. Some have to travel as much as 20 miles around to get to their land that is in sight of their homes.
Why don't we hear about this in the traditional media? Is it because England is a strategic ally? I believe that to be the case. If the light of day is to be seen in Eastern Europe, then shouldn't the same be the case of the invisible wall dividingthe nation of Ireland?
One reason we hear nothing of this is that no permanent American reporters are there. Most of our information on Ireland comes through the British military press office. Reporters based in London will be sent to the continent for a story, but not to Ireland.
This means the average American is led to believe that it is a religious war between Catholic and Protestant, rather than a colonial struggle similar to America's War of Independence from England.\ BARBARA PRYOR\ AMHERST
by CNB