Manipulation of letters in the Irish Times

international | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis Sunday December 25, 2011 16:24 by Frank Maher

Strange powerful forces at work!

The writer of a letter to the Irish Times was surprised when it was published on the 22nd. inst. it was in response to an earlier letter written by a Ms. O'Dwyer expounding the virtue of German efficiency. His letter is reproduced in the full content below. It was expected that there would have been a vigorous response to it, instead no response was published, however two days later, two letters were published in regard to Ms. O'Dwyer original letter. The peculiar aspect to these letters was that they were published under a different heading to the first two letters. I have never seen that happen before despite being a reader of the IT for over twenty years. The writer of the letter is concerned that powerful forces influenced the Irish Times to kill the topic, that is that Germany is involved in a conspiracy so as to bring about a federal Europe through economic manipulation of the economies of the peripheral states of Europe. He also wonders if he is in danger, I'm not sure.

I was surprised when the Irish Times published the following letter under the heading "A German wonderland". It was published on the 22nd. inst. "I believe that Tracey O’Dwyer is right about Germany’s efficiency. (Letters to the Editor, December 21st.) But was its financial regulatory system remiss in permitting its financial institutions to lend billions of Euros to Irish and other European banks, who in turn lent this money into ballooning property markets. To me everything makes sense if the German strategy is to get the peripheral states into so much debt, that they lose their economic independence. They can therefore be forced through economic circumstances into a federal Europe. This scenario suggests a German efficiency which plans well into the future, and which is now playing a game of brinkmanship so as to achieve its objectives, irrespective of the potential damage to the European, and perhaps the world’s economy. " After reading it I was waiting for the "s**t* to hit the fan but no responses were published. I am convinced that the pro European and pro German fanatics would try to ridicule the letter and its author. However two letters responding to Ms. O'Dwyer's original letter were published on the 24th. but under the heading, "Making our own wonderland". I have never known the Irish Times to change the heading of a subject under discussion on its Letters page, and I have been reading the IT for over twenty years. Are there powerful forces at work here that we should fear, the writer of that letter is slightly apprehensive. Should he be?