Eurovision and Israel
Sir, – In the conversation regarding the continued participation of Israel and our own participation in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest the media quoted this statement from the organisers, the European Broadcasting Union: “The EBU is not immune to global events, but, together, with our members, it is our role to ensure the contest remains, at its heart, a universal event that promotes connections, diversity and inclusion through music”.
This statement is in addition to the long-stated position that the Eurovision Song Contest is “non-political”.
This year’s contest saw the Israeli entry, for a second year running, receiving a disproportionately high public vote compared to the judges’ vote. This, in tandem with a considerable, multi-platform, international campaign run by the state of Israel calling for votes for their act, appears to me to show that the song contest clearly has been politicised.
Ireland should start, from now, to consider our participation in next year’s – and future years – contests. If as a contest it has become politicised in this way it is no longer a song contest, it is a propaganda contest at best and as a neutral country we have no need for it and to continue to participate is to legitimise the political aims of the countries choosing to use it in this way.
I suggest that RTÉ now lodge a complaint with the EBU and request an examination of the role of public voting in this contest and a clear definition of what it means to be non-political. They should also request a cap be agreed on advertising spend by participating countries, and that the EBU requires participating countries to commit to holding this contest in a non-political space, and to agree to self-exclude where their participation may go against the stated aim of being non-political, such as in times of conflict.
Basic standards aimed to uphold the existing, stated position of the EBU and Eurovision Song Contest, may hope to make this a contest about inclusion, diversity, promoting connections and importantly about writing and performing songs. Without this, I do not know why Ireland would continue to participate in this sorry affair which has become an insult to our songwriters. – Yours, etc,
SARAH GLENNANE,
Arklow,
Wicklow.
Mobile phone radiation and cancer
Sir, – The Irish Times article, published on Thursday Feb 27th, “Is there a connection between a mobile phone and cancer?” concluded that “mobile phones do not cause cancer”,
This statement was scientifically and factually untrue. The article in question was informed by the scientifically disputed and discredited findings of a 2024 review by researchers funded by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Significantly, the latest WHO review by a different team of researchers published in May 2025 confirms the association between everyday radio frequency radiation (RFR) exposure and a risk of cancer found in extant animal studies. It reports that the “results of this systematic review provide high or moderate [certainty of evidence] for several cancer sites [in animals] relevant to cancer hazard identification for humans.”
In response to the findings of the latest WHO study, Dr Ron Melnick, a former senior toxicologist and director of special programs at the US National Toxicology Program and the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), states: “The evidence is now clear – cell phone radiation can cause cancer in animals in concordance with the tumor types identified in human studies of mobile phone users.” Thus, any claim, such as that made by the WHO 2024 review, that RFR “likely does not increase the risk of brain cancer” in humans is also untrue.
In support of its thesis, the article also cites Prof Deirdre Murray of the National Cancer Registry Ireland who reports that “NCRI data shows that brain cancer incidence rates have remained stable” since 1994. My analysis of the full data set obtained from the NCRI covering 1994-2019 finds the incidence of all types of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) in Ireland more than doubled since 1994, with certain subtypes showing increases of between over four to six times, after adjusting for population growth. These are forms of aggressive brain cancers scientists associate with RFR exposure in research studies. This notable increase in the most serious types of brain cancer is obscured by the decrease in certain other types since 1994.
It is also of concern that other cancers linked with RFR exposure from smartphones are also on the increase. The following statistics were drawn from publicly available NCRI data 1994-2021 for the age range 10-49 years: As with GBM in 2019, thyroid cancer presented a 2.3-fold higher risk for males and 3.6-fold higher risk for females by 2021.
However, researchers are concerned with the rise in other cancers, as adolescents and young adults carry their smartphones in their pockets. Thus, my analysis of the Irish NCRI data 1994-2021 for age range 10-49 revealed that colorectal cancer presented a 1.5-fold (males) and 1.6-fold (females) increase in risk; testicular cancer presented a 2.1-fold increase in risk; while the incidence of prostate cancer rose dramatically from 1 in 5,000 in 1994 to 1 in 313 in 2021, reflecting a 16-fold increase in risk.
While environmental and lifestyle factors may play a role in the observed increases in cancers, the elephant in the room is the ubiquitous RFR from smartphones and other sources. Incidentally, while oxidative stress is a major pathway linking environmental toxins such as RFR to diseases like cancer, other mechanisms (eg, genotoxicity, inflammation) may also play roles.
The WHO-sponsored reviews, one of which was cited in the article and formed the basis of its conclusions, are the subject of critical commentary from several independent scientists and the International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields
Prof James Lin, former commissioner of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), summarises criticisms thus in the IEEE Microwave Magazine Health Matters, January 2025: “The criticisms and challenges encountered by the published WHOEMF systematic reviews are brutal, including calls for retraction. Rigorous examinations of the reviews reveal major concerns. In addition to the scientific quality, they appear to have a strong conviction of nothing but heat to worry about with RF radiation. The unsubtle message that cellular mobile phones do not pose a cancer risk is clear. The reviews exhibit a lack of serious concerns for conflicts of interest and display unequivocal support for the recently promulgated ICNIRP RF exposure guidelines for human safety.”
The matters addressed in The Irish Times article in February are of serious import for public health, particularly that of children and adolescents. International colleagues, including Dr Hugh Taylor, professor of obstetrics, gynaecology, and reproductive sciences, and also professor of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology at Yale University, and Dr Linda Birnbaum, a world-renowned scientist and former director of the NIEHS and the US National Toxicology Program (NTP), and I addressed our concerns in a monograph entitled “Wireless technologies, non-ionising electromagnetic fields and children: Identifying and Reducing Health Risks”, published in the journal Current problems in Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care in 2023.
Parents and the public are unaware of the very real risks EMF exposures pose to children. The Fourth Estate has a responsibility here which it needs to live up to if it is to properly inform the public and hold policymakers and industry to account. – Yours, etc,
Prof TOM BUTLER,
University College Cork,
Western Road,
Cork City.
Pope Leo’s inaugural Mass
Sir, – Pope Leo’s inaugural Mass has officially opened his pontificate (“Pope Leo XIV holds inaugural Mass at St Peter’s Square”, World, May 19th). Watching the event, I was left with two contradictory impressions – negative and positive.
Over 100 cardinals participated in the Mass – all men, no women. This is a feature which is out of date, isolated from the real world with no theological justification. In contrast, the 200,000 enthusiastic faithful in St Peter’s Square were both genders, multinational and all ages – truly universal.
Here’s hoping! – Yours, etc,
BRIAN CALLANAN,
Ennis Road,
Limerick.
The late Paul Durcan
Sir, – One of the most affecting poems penned by Paul Durcan deals with that sadness which comes when recognising the plight of those who feel strangers in their own land. His poem Ireland 1977 I’ve always thought summons up that angst. He dealt with that sense of foreignness when he wrote –
“I’ve become so lonely, I could die” – he writes,
The native who is an exile in his native land:
“Do you hear me whispering to you across the Golden Vale?
Do you hear me bawling to you across the hearth rug?”
A fine poet with magical sensibilities. The journey’s now over. Rest in peace. -Yours, etc,
ALASTAIR CONAN,
Coulsdon,
London,
England.
David McWilliams on dereliction
Sir, – It’s not often that I agree 100 per cent with David McWilliams, however his insightful piece on Saturday (“Property dereliction is antisocial behaviour perpetrated by the rich”) was a case of hammer hitting the nail exactly on the head.
The shocking lack of vibrancy “between the canals” in Dublin’s case, along with the dereliction seen throughout the historic centres of our towns, is symptomatic of the doughnut effect seen in the United States, where the downtown area is lost to the blight of dereliction while suburbs thrive and new developments are tacked on to the edge of towns for the sake of developer, and planning departments, convenience.
It is no longer sufficient for the Government to let this stand. Without radical intervention, and punitive punishments for dereliction, our town centres will continue to decay and become more antisocial in front of our eyes.
This is not what we voted for. – Yours, etc.
RORY J WHELAN,
Drogheda,
Co Meath.
Sir, – I, in walking through the centre of Dublin, am somewhat ashamed of the level of dereliction in the centre of the city. What can be done to fix the problems our capital finds itself in?
The big idea being proposed is a city tax on tourists who stay overnight in our city, but this is trying to fix a huge problem with a mere plaster. The backers of such an idea, while well-intentioned, don’t lack the vision to fix the problems which have beset our capital.
If we look at taxes we will see that €40.9bn of taxes are collected from Dublin but a mere €1.5bn is given to Dublin City Council to run the city despite its very evident problems.
I would suggest that a larger proportion of taxes collected be utilised to bring the capital city back to where it should be. The time for talking and reports has long passed. – Yours, etc,
ANTAINE O’DUIBHIR,
Ranelagh,
Dublin 6.
In defence of the hare
Sir, – Ella McSweeney shows empathy and a degree of reverence towards the Irish Hare in her article (“Irish Hares are Unique but the law of the land is against them”, Weekend, May 17th). Unfortunately, empathy is not afforded to this beautiful creature by the hare coursing clubs or the Government.
Each year the 89 coursing clubs in the Republic of Ireland are given a licence to capture the hare by the relevant minister. These licences are typically issued in July and the hare is captured from August onwards. The hare, by nature a solitary creature, is transported to the coursing venues and penned there for weeks before the event. It is both unnatural and traumatic to keep a wild creature in captivity.
Apart from coursing, the hare is also under threat from habitat loss and other environmental factors associated with climate change. There has been a 42 per cent decline in the numbers of hares trapped by the clubs in the last decade, evidence of dwindling numbers requiring urgent Government action to protect them.
The first modern hare coursing club was set up in England in 1776. It was the realm of the ruling classes and the nobility who then brought it to Ireland. Those who brought it to these shores have had the decency to ban it for over 20 years and although colonial rule has ended in Ireland the cruel practice of coursing continues dressed up as “culture and tradition”. It is anything but.
Our oldest living mammal has many names indicative of the affection with which it was held in the past. These include “the long lugs”, the “dew cat”, “the earth sitter” and many more. Hare coursing should be banned immediately. It is cruel and barbaric and reflects poorly on us as a society to treat any living creature in this way. We are better than this. – Yours, etc,
JOAN BURGESS,
Friars Walk,
Cork.
Trump’s unthinkable jet
Sir, – I am admiring of Joe Humphreys for his forthright calling out of Donald Trump for stupidity (“Why Trump is stupid to accept gift of a luxury jet”, Opinion & Analysis, Monday, May 19th).
Indeed, I suggest that this president’s stupidity extends well beyond the gift of a luxury jet, the focus of Mr Humphreys’s article.
The end of that stupidity will be what the compassionate world will be most thankful for at the end of his term in office. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL GANNON,
Kilkenny City.
Video calls from cars
Sir, – Your correspondent Vincent Wall (Letters, May 19th), makes a very fair point about the obvious dangers of people making video calls from cars. It strikes me that this behaviour could (and should) be covered under the existing catch-all regulations for driving without due care and attention.
I’m not holding my breath for enforcement, though. – Yours, etc -
RICHARD BANNISTER,
Cunnaberry Hill,
Co Kildare.
