Inside File A tale of four letters

By Ray O’Hanlon

Protocol, lest we forget, is the oil that greases the engine of the world, be we talking of politics, diplomacy business or whatever.

If Bertie Ahern expresses concern about the leaking tub that is the Sellafield nuclear power plant in remote Cumbria, then it must be dealt with at the highest level. If the concern over the health of humans, radioactive pigeons, sheep, etc. is expressed by a mere independent TD, well, it’s pass-the-buck time. That at least would appear to be lesson in the tale of the Mildred Fox letters — a clear case, according to Fox herself, of the tail wagging the dog.

As revealed by the British Channel Four documentary program "Dispatches," Fox wrote to British Prime Minister Tony Blair in May 1997. After congratulating Blair on his recent election success, Fox went on to express her "concern" over Sellafield. "I would appreciate your comments on the matter and I look forward to a favorable reply," she concluded.

A few weeks later, on June 11, two letters winged their way from the headquarters of British Nuclear Fuels in Risley, near Warrington. They were signed by Rupert Wilcox-Baker, a top executive in the BNFL public relations department. One letter was to Veronica McDermott, BNFL’s public relations person in Dublin.

"Please see the attached letter from Mildred Fox to Tony Blair!! The date is interesting pre-election stunt? Are you happy with the DTI’s [British government’s Department of Trade & Industry] reply? It seems reasonable to me in that it is from HMG [Her Majesty’s government]. I wonder if it should be signed by a more junior minister and if they should invite her to visit Sellafield …"

On the same date, Wilcox-Baker sent another letter to Ralph Steeden at the DTI in London. This letter brings tail and dog together.

"Thanks for letting us see the Mildred Fox correspondence," wrote Wilcox-Baker. "In reply to an Irish TD, we believe it is important to be assertive and not to be appearing to justify or apologize for the UK nuclear industry. I suspect if you checked with FCO [Foreign & Commonwealth Office] or the Embassy they would concur. Also Mildred Fox is one of a handful of Independent TDs and so I think the reply should come from a more junior minister. . . . Therefore may I suggest some alternative words."

Wilcox-Baker then presents a suggested reply to Fox that, a few days later, is largely reflected in a letter to Fox from John Battle, minister of state at the Department of Trade & Industry in London.

The Battle letter, not surprisingly, goes to some length in defending safety standards at Sellafield.

"The amount of radioactivity in the water BNFL discharge into the Irish Sea has been greatly reduced over the last 20 years. The water now contains less than 1 percent of the amount of radioactivity in the mid-1970s," Battle wrote in part.

He expressed hope that his letter would allay any anxiety Fox had about risks to people living in Ireland.

"As you will be aware," Battle concluded, BNFL have a policy of open communication and, therefore, may I invite you to contact BNFL direct if you have any further concerns."

Of course, Fox had, unwittingly, already done just that by writing to Tony Blair.

Times puzzle

The Sunday Times of London went after Sean McPhilemy, calling him a hoaxer, and lost in court. But the same paper is sniffing along a trail that McPhilemy would argue is highly familiar.

A recent editorial in the ST demonstrated that the paper’s investigative instincts are still alive and well directed. Here’s a sample: "Our latest revelations about the hounding of Martin Ingram, the whistleblower who exposed the misdeeds of a secret British Army unit in Northern Ireland, strengthen the case for an independent inquiry. The more we learn of the undercover efforts to silence Ingram, the more urgent the need becomes for the full truth to be known. The list of charges against agents of the state who regard themselves as being above the law is growing. First arson, now a suspected burglary in a foreign country. What next? An ‘accidental’ death? Ingram’s offense was to lift the lid on Northern Ireland’s ‘dirty war’ and find illicit links between the army, loyalist paramilitaries and the royal Ulster Constabulary which the authorities have good reason to keep secret. . . . "

The editorial continues in similar vein. The story of collusion accepted here by the ST is not a universe away from McPhilemy’s. In does, however, lack McPhilemy’s named committee of conspirators. Could be that McPhilemy’s major crime, in the eye of the ST, was to place himself between the story and the real professionals, in this case the hard-nosed hacks of the ST itself. McPhilemy was, if such be true, not a just a hoaxer but worse — a trespasser.

They said

€ "Downing Street’s new proconsul, wonder-boy spin-doctor Peter Mandelson, has taken only two months to calcify — if not destroy — the Mitchell Agreement." Robert Heatley in the April issue of the American Irish Political Education Committee newsletter.

€ "The Irish Republican Army refuses to commit itself to giving up its arms, and the province’s hopeful experiment in self-rule stands suspended. But amid this bleakness, one positive development stands out. David Trimble, Northern Ireland’s most important Protestant politician, unmoved by a militant minority in his Ulster Unionist Party, is seeking creative ways around the arms impasse. . . . Unfortunately, Unionist flexibility alone cannot guarantee peace. It is up to the I.R.A. to match Mr. Trimble’s political courage and repeated demonstrations of good faith with its own declaration of a permanent end to violence and a pledge to disarm." From a recent New York Times editorial.

€ "Ireland already festered with belligerent Celtic chieftains and dozens of armies, so the Vikings never settled the interior, but they made the island a trading base. . . . ‘The Irish and the Vikings are very intermixed cultures,’ said Eamonn Kelly, an arch’ologist at the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin. ‘The old view that the Vikings were thugs and enemies of Christ is still around, but increasingly they’re seen as making positive contributions to Ireland.’ " From National Geographic’s May issue.

€ Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael failed to reform the planning system that some of their own local councilors abused so flagrantly for their own financial gain." "Page One Comment" in the Sunday Independent following the latest allegations of financial sleaze in Irish political life.