I was appalled at Senator Norris's comments about driving to Shannon with a hatchet in the back of his car. That is the irresponsible type of leadership that should not be forthcoming from any elected public representative. Do we stand idly by or learn from our mistakes? Those who advocate inaction and non co-operation are the same people who would have advocated the same inaction in the face of Hitler, Milosevic and others. We would have had ethnic cleansing at will by so-called leaders. Our choice is whether we support a western-style democracy based on tolerance, freedom, openness and opportunity, respecting the rights of individuals within civil society, or we identify with the opposing model – a violent, political and ideological fundamentalist one that tolerates no opposition and accommodates no diversity.