Courage of Aids victims helped turn back the early tide of ignorance and intolerance

The last of the RTÉ 1 series of programmes on the prejudices faced by people with HIV/Aids in the 1990s (July 7) must have brought back sad memories for many people who at that time suffered in silence.

I was actively involved then in the Fight Against Aids campaign in Ireland. I am pleased, despite the strong opposition to the campaign, with the progress made to date.

In the 1990s, I was honoured with the task of launching, in Cork, Stories from Silence, a documentary on Aids by the Irish Planning Association and Aids Action Alliance, later shown on RTÉ 1.

In the film 11 Irish people tell their stark stories which not only leave you in tears, but also full of admiration for their courage.

Because having Aids, or even merely being HIV positive, means not only the prospect of long bouts of illness and possible death, but also a high degree of social isolation and loneliness. It seems attitudes here have changed to such a degree we are now prepared to educate people in the ways it can be avoided. The launch of these films and their showing on national television heralds a new era of understanding and Christian charity towards victims. However, it is a sad fact that there are still those who would lock Aids sufferers away or try to convince them they were incurring divine retribution for their past sins or indeed, by some curiously perverted process of logic, the sins of the past lives of others.

Cllr Noel Collins

Midleton

Co Cork