Trump, Europe and Ukraine
Dear Sir,
It was good to see a balanced letter (John O’Reilly, Letters, February 21st) about the Russian threat to Europe. There is a threat, but it is exaggerated and if Europe works together and co-ordinates its defence forces, they can successfully counter any further Russian aggression. A huge increase in military spending is not needed, especially if it takes money away from dealing with real existential threats such as climate change, destruction of the biosphere, plastic and chemical pollution.
Russia was in a very weak position and it may not have been able to carry on the war for more than a year or so. The economy is suffering with inflation of about 10 per cent and a 21 per cent interest rate. Hundreds of thousands have left the country and many of these have been men who otherwise would have been drafted into the army. As many as 1.5 per cent of the workforce may have left and many of these are highly educated and represent a huge loss of talent.
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The population of Russia was falling before the invasion of Ukraine and is now likely to fall even more. They have also lost many soldiers, both killed and seriously wounded.
The Russian army has performed poorly and has old equipment. According to US experts, they can only manufacture about 60 new tanks per year. They have lost thousands of tanks so far in the war.
Russia is a kleptocracy with billions flowing out of the country. The Ukrainian army has been much more motivated and successful at slowing their advance and have also invaded the Kursk region of Russia. The Russians have not been able to force them out yet.
However, Russia looks like it will be saved by the Chamberlain of today, aka Donald Trump. Trump’s intervention will only buy some time for Russia.
It is important that Europe is not dragged into an arms race which will only benefit the arms industry while we ignore the real existential threats.
Yours sincerely,
Nick Armstrong,
Dundrum
Dublin 16.
Sir,
Commentators across the broadcast media, when discussing the “talks about talks” regarding the Russian/Ukrainian situation, are using the term “the illegal invasion” by the former. The question is, when could such an invasion be labelled anything else but illegal?
Yours etc,
Peter Declan O’Halloran,
Belturbet,
Co Cavan.
Hamas and terrorism
Sir,
Jane Mahony writes that Ireland is viewed as a global outlier in its attitude to Israel and that this is a stain on our reputation (Letters, February 22nd).
I disagree. Ireland is in the company of Spain and Norway and most of the Global South, and a majority of the UN General Assembly. The International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice both have cases pending against Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza.
Images of Hamas parading hostages before their release and even more inexplicably parading coffins before release to Israel are indeed deeply abhorrent as were the terrible massacres of innocent Israelis on October 7th, 2023.
Being appalled by the fundamentalist ideology, methods and administration of Hamas does not rule out a concurrent deep concern for the historic and current suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza, the West Bank and in refugee status in exile.
No need to remind Ms Mahony that the estimated death toll of innocent civilians is as yet unknown due to the thousands buried under the rubble of Gaza but as estimated by international agencies the numbers are in the tens of thousands, possibly 60,000 or more.
Horrific conditions will continue to be the plight of ordinary Gazans for many years to come in a decimated landscape. The also abhorrent and extremely right-wing government of Netanyahu holds responsibility for this devastation with the complicity of the Biden administration in failure to use their powerful leverage, and the failure of the EU in their moral passivity and arms supply.
Ireland was absolutely morally correct in recognising the State of Palestine in May, in an effort, in the face of enormous civilian suffering, to offer a moral bulwark and support to the ordinary people of Palestine.
Our government has constantly and repeatedly called out Hamas on the massacre of October 7th, and the cruel holding of hostages. They have also repeatedly called for justice for the Palestinians by the proper establishment of a two-state solution.
No need to be proud of ourselves but history will probably judge our chosen course to be right.
Yours sincerely,
Cynthia Carroll,
Newport,
Co Tipperary.
EU decision making
Sir,
How often do we hear that decision making in the European Union is indecisive and slow moving (“The Irish Times view on Europe’s economic ills: turning analysis to action”, February 24th). But who makes the decisions in the EU? It is each member state, through its elected representatives, acting collectively.
The chief barrier to effective EU decision making in a few critical areas is where unanimity is required. In other words, every country in the EU, no matter how small, has veto power. Imagine if Rhode Island or any small state in the US was ceded the power to block all US policy in similar areas. It is no wonder people like Viktor Orbán have assumed such a prominent role in the EU, blocking policy in several crucial foreign policy areas in recent years.
The rules governing EU decision making need to be overhauled if more effective decision making is to be achieved. The catch is that any changes to the voting rules will require unanimity. In the case of Ireland, and other member states, such changes would have to be ratified by the State. The key issue here is whether this needs to be done via a referendum or through the democratically elected parliament. The need, if it exists, to have a referendum in Ireland, and indeed other countries, could hugely delay, if not derail, any plans for much more effective EU decision making.
In the absence of any change to the decision-making rules, the only alternative in dealing with the various existential crises affecting the EU is that a selection of “willing” member states establishes new structures, that any member state can join but not compulsorily so, and make progress on a European defence force, greater economic integration, especially in terms of a single capital market, and foreign policy. There is a precedent with the formation of the euro zone.
Yours,
John O’Hagan,
Department of Economics, Trinity College Dublin.
A cabin in the garden
Sir,
With the news that planning rules on cabins in back gardens could be relaxed, will grants be made available for clay and wattles?
Yours etc,
Brian Ahern,
Clonsilla,
Dublin 15.
Casement Park
Sir,
The recent comments by GAA president Jarlath Burns concerning Casement Park (“Burns critical of DUP minister Lyons’s failure to engage on Casement Park”, Sport, February 24th), are a wake-up call to all GAA and sports enthusiasts. There seems little current likelihood of any Government funding that is so badly needed. It is sad, over the last 10 years, to drive past a stadium that was named after a great patriot and humanitarian and see it wither on the vine of dereliction. It is a despairing and morally deflating struggle for Antrim players and supporters.
Burns has shown leadership so far, and isn’t it time the GAA commences a national fundraising campaign at all club games and events in Ireland and abroad? Many would support this initiative and the governments would then have to take note and contribute. The Saffrons need to be back in Casement Park.
Is mise,
Denis McFerran,
Swords Road,
Malahide.
Irish rugby jerseys
Sir, - Great Triple Crown win for the Irish! But where were the traditional green jerseys? The team looked as if paint had been dribbled down their fronts.
Peter Boyle,
Stillorgan, Co Dublin.
Deaths on our roads
Sir,
Have you ever noticed how people in cars are “killed” on our roads while pedestrians and cyclists “die”.
The language we use in headlines and articles shapes our perception of responsibility in road crashes. Pedestrians and cyclists, the most vulnerable road users, don’t just passively die; they are killed due to excessive speeding, inadequate enforcement and poor active transport infrastructure. They are victims, not just statistics.
Words matter!
Yours, etc,
Dr Ola Løkken Nordrum,
Beggars Bush,
Dublin 4.
Death of Bik McFarlane
Sir, - Last Friday, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald announced she would not be attending the White House on St Patrick’s Day due to the United States’ apparent disregard for human rights and international law in relation to the people of the Gaza Strip (Sinn Féin opts out of White House St Patrick’s Day event, Home News, February 22nd).
On the same day, it was announced that former IRA terrorist Brendan McFarlane died in Belfast. McFarlane was sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in the sectarian murder of five Protestant civilians in a gun and bomb attack on a pub in Belfast in 1975.
On hearing the news of his death, McDonald paid tribute to McFarlane, saying he was “a great patriot who was dedicated to the struggle for the freedom and unity of Ireland, and the equality of its people”.
Why does the Sinn Féin leader oppose those who violate human rights in Gaza, but openly supports someone who was convicted of mass murder in Ireland?
Yours, etc,
Eugene O’Donovan,
London.
Sir, – With regard to the late Bik McFarlane (Former justice minister criticises McDonald’s tribute to late IRA figure ‘Bik’ McFarlane, Home News, February 24th) it seems that what Mary Lou McDonald thinks of as patriotism I think of as barbarism.
Gareth Colgan,
Kilmacud, Co Dublin.
Feeding data centres
Sir, - I note that the Commission for Regulation of Utilities has imposed new guidelines on data centres in order to mitigate or reduce their consumption of electricity used in the Republic, currently estimated to balloon to 33 per cent of consumption by the end of this decade (“What regulator’s ruling on data centres means”, Business News, Wednesday, February 19th). However, there appears to be no urgency, restriction or mitigation measures included to reduce their increasingly voracious appetite for water consumption used in the cooling process and drawn unsustainably from our already stressed public water systems. What crisis must occur before this dereliction is addressed?
Yours,
Tomás Finn,
Ballinasloe,
Co Galway.
Pope Francis
Dear Sir,
As Pope Francis struggles with serious illness, we think back on his visit to Ireland in August 2018. Francis’s visit was in marked contrast to that of Pope John Paul the Second 39 years earlier. The visit of the Polish pontiff, now Saint Pope John Paul the Second, marked a high point for the Catholic Church in Ireland. John Paul was destined to play a major role in modern European history. There can be no doubt the monster crowds that flocked to greet him on his visits to his homeland, and his support for the trade union movement Solidarity, were significant factors in undermining the stability of the communist regime in Poland and, subsequently, the entire Soviet bloc.
A strong and forceful personality, John Paul was also a consummate performer on world media. By contrast with the confident and even triumphant image of John Paul’s visit, Pope Francis came to a very different Ireland and to an Irish church that had been rocked to its foundations by the clerical child sex abuse scandals. The crowds were way down on those that had greeted the Polish pope. The face of the church presented by Francis was a much chastened and penitent one. On his visit to the Capuchin Day Centre in Dublin’s inner city, Francis met homeless people and said he saw in them the face of Jesus.
Pope Francis has had to carry the heavy burden of the sins committed by others in the church he inherited. In my opinion, he has done so with dignity and grace. People of goodwill everywhere will wish this humble man who rose to be the leader of the Catholic Church all the blessings he has long prayed for.
Yours etc,
John Glennon,
Hollywood,
Co Wicklow.
