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STATE PAPERS FROM 1987 reveal the Irish government intended to keep plans to increase the quantity of export credit in the Iraqi market secret from the Iraqi government so it could exert pressure to get back £5 million owed to Ireland in export payments.
In a departmental note ahead of a visit to Ireland from Iraq’s then Minister for Transport and Communications Mohammed Hamza, the Taoiseach was told the Iraqis were on a world tour to seek additional credit lines from their international suppliers.
Hamza was known as one of ‘Saddam’s Dirty Dozen’, the list of prominent people in Iraq who had largely been responsible for human rights abuses. He was Prime Minister of Iraq between 1991 and 1993 and had played a key role in the suppression of the 1991 Shiite uprising.
The note says Ireland is anxious to increase trade with Iraq, but there are “payment difficulties”.
Iraq owes is about £5 million in outstanding payments for exports. They are not defaulting on payments, but are taking longer credit periods which creates difficulties for our exporters.
The goes on to say the government recently decided to increase the quantity of export credit in respect of the Iraqi market to facilitate substantial beef export contracts.
“For tactical reasons, however, the minister for trade and marketing does not wish the Iraqis to know of the decision just now as it would undermine efforts he will be making to get them to make the outstanding payments to us”.
The Taoiseach was advised to emphasise that Iraq is an important market for Ireland, but that “money due to us is causing difficulties and we would welcome a resolution of this problem”.
The departmental note referenced service exports to Iraq, including a contract awarded to Parc – a subsidiary of Aer Lingus at the time – for the management of Ibn Al Bitar Hospital in Baghdad, which employed around 230 doctors, nurses and secretarial staff. The contract was worth £14 million to the company and the note said it was hoped that there would be an extension.
CIE were also “anxious to get consultancy contracts” in Iraq for the maintenance and construction of the railway system.
The note also suggests the Taoiseach should inform Hamza that Ireland is strictly neutral on the Gulf War. “We are deeply concerned at the continuation of this way and the resultant increase in tension in the Persian Gulf”.
A separate note from the Middle East section of the Department of Foreign Affairs also said Ireland had made it clear on several occasions “our strong condemnation of the use of chemical weapons”.
“It is a source of deep concern to us that such violations should continue despite repeated and pressing appeals by the international community”.
Hamza arrived in Ireland on 20 September 1987 and stayed in the Burlington Hotel in Dublin for three nights.
His itinerary included a dinner, hosted by Parc, at the Shelbourne Hotel, a tour of the National Museum’s treasures section and a visit to the Chester Beatty Library.
After the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, Hamza was captured in 2003 and died of natural causes two years later in a US military hospital.
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Permanently deleted my FB account last November and it was the best thing I did. I felt it was a complete waste of my time and was becoming more and more of a negative place. Now it’s great when I meet people cause I don’t know everything about them and makes for great conversation.
@Nollaig Elliot: The alternative is to be friends on FB with your actual friends! As opposed to the 500 or so that you had!
@James Mahon: Very true James, it got out of hand though. I traveled a fair bit over the years and it was convenient. However, after I finished a big trip last year it was always my plan to pull the plug then.
@James Mahon: Totally agree. Did a big cull of my FB “friends ” recently and it’s great.
Think it’s a good place for joining groups that have similar interests etc.
@Nollaig Elliot: I find it very useful to follow interests of mine, get notified of events I might be interested in and get access to news which might otherwise not cross my path.
I do know of people who use it to post a lot of what I would consider useless information but that’s their choice and I can easily avoid that if I want!
Bottom line is it’s a communication tool and how you use it is up to you.
@Nollaig Elliot: I did something similar, last november it was so bad, i have under 20 US facebook friends yet all their posts were saturating my timeline so i turned off all post notifications and have opened the app about 4 times since then to reply to some things that are commented on in my posts taken from twitter and youtube, i use facebook messenger frequently and because that’s a separate app i don’t have to worry about seeing stupid posts from people anymore.
About as arbitrary as The Journals rules so…
I’d love to see the Guardian’s moderation policy.
‘If you’re not of liberal persuasion do not enter this site’
In most cases trolls are ridiculed and put down by decent people on forums such as Facebook. A self censoring mechanism that we have in society already. The problem like they have now in Germany is that when governments get involved they usually infringe on free speech. A slippery slope indeed.
Suckerburg and his cronies support hate speech. That is a fact.
Deleted Facebook yesterday.Best thing EVER!!!!but I’ve nowhere to post or tell people so il post it here on a Facebook article
@The Magnificent Hog: It is not a personal thing, it just makes money.
Facebook is a private commercial entity they can do as they please. It’s a very successful business model that works. Some people have the mind set that it’s a public service.
@Baz Breen: No commercial entity can do as they please all are bound by the laws of each and every country they operate in. Facebooks private policy etc etc is irrelevant if it violates the law, or a persons human right, which is why they are so careful as indeed is the Journal no one is exempt,
Animal abuse is ok by facebook. you know what to do facebook users – delete ur account.
The guardian reported this earlier this morning, breaking news from the journal
@Jonny:
The article mentions the fact that the Guardian published this yesterday.
This one’s an exclusive for people who only read the Journal.
Off topic but Edward Snowden said that if you want privacy then you need to throw away all your devices and start living in a cave.
Delete your Facebook and stop shoving those screens into your babies faces
@The Grand O’Malley: there are techniques to maintaining privacy on Facebook and not just through privacy settings.
Perhaps the Journal could be just as clear in explaining why it bans people…???
There is life and there is Facebook.
Be careful what you say on facebook. I got a three day ban on facebook for calling someone an idiot. Plenty of snowflakes on facebook. Facebook is getting pathetic each day
@Just Some Guy: I feel your pain. Not being able call peole “idiots” is such an impairment of freedom of expression. Calling people “idiots” helps them to accept their errors. It is a highly effective and persuasive technique and develops a point very nicely.
@Tony Daly: Very true, I’ve also had posts deleted because someone with a delicate disposition found them offensive. Whips & chains I could understand, maybe even blood and guts, but mention anything about a certain Middle Eastern religion and certain people loose their collective minds… Incidentally I didn’t say a word.
The main issue with Facebook and its content is who views it. Pictures of difficult or upsetting themes are good as they are thought provoking . The issue is too many children lie about their age and view images not suitable for them
i got banned 3 times fro speaking the truth about certain people
have your say