Sir, – I was dismayed to read your front-page article “Occupied Territories Bill unlikely to include services”, October 15th, which reported that the Government may dilute this crucial legislation.
The Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s comments that inclusion of services “would be putting companies based here in a very difficult position... in respect of how it would be treated in the United States, ” are deeply troubling.
Are we really considering weakening this Bill because of a loud but small minority of US politicians and corporations?
Ireland has long prided itself on a foreign policy grounded in justice, human rights, multilateralism and international law. Yet we now risk making a dangerous shift towards Trump-style transactional politics.
RM Block
The International Court of Justice has made it clear: Ireland can, and indeed must, ban trade with Israel’s illegal settlements, both goods and services. We cannot selectively apply international law to satisfy our economic interests and some US corporations.
Senator Frances Black, author of the original 2018 Bill, rightly stated that “leadership now means including services. That is where the money is. It’s what the International Court of Justice says is required, and it’s where intense pressure is being applied to get Ireland to back down”.
A ban on services is entirely implementable. Ireland already bans trade in both goods and services with Russian-occupied Crimea. To claim we can’t do the exact same when it comes to Israeli settlements is farcical and reeks of double standards.
Human rights must be applied universally, not selectively.
The recent ceasefire in Gaza offers hope, and Trócaire’s partners on the ground are beginning to receive aid, which is hugely positive.
However, we can’t lose sight of the fact that the root causes remain unaddressed: decades of colonisation and apartheid. The illegal settlements remain still illegal.
We cannot lose momentum; the Occupied Territories Bill must be passed urgently and in full.
Spain and Slovenia have already taken this step, and Ireland’s Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee has recommended including services. Given this broad political and public support, there is no justification for further delay.
The Government is now at a crossroads: uphold human rights and international law, or cave to transactional politics. I hope we choose the path of justice.
GARRY WALSH,
Trócaire Campaigns Manager,
Trócaire Head Office,
Kildare.
The presidency and voting
Sir, – Reading ongoing coverage of Catherine Connolly’s 2018 visit to Syria, it is hard to discern what she is being accused of. Was it the act of wanting to inform herself about the horrors of the Syrian war, a conflict in which the Assad regime, Islamic State, and al-Qaeda all committed atrocities on a staggering scale?
Ms Connolly has been clear in her condemnation of Assad’s brutality and has spoken of returning from Syria horrified by what she witnessed.
It is worth reminding people that Syria is now led by a president who is himself a former al-Qaeda commander. That reality underlines how chaotic and morally compromised the region remains. In that environment, any politician on a fact-finding mission will inevitably be photographed with unsavoury figures.
If elected, Connolly will likewise have to meet and be photographed with unsavoury leaders, just as Micheál Martin has met and been photographed with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, against whom the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for war crimes in Gaza.
That is part of the responsibility of high office, and there is every reason to believe that Catherine Connolly would handle it with the integrity and independence she has always shown. – Yours, etc,
SÉAMUS WHITE,
Stoneybatter,
Dublin 7.
Sir, – Your front page headline “Connolly pictured with man linked to war crimes,”(October 17th) recalls the occasion when former president of Ireland Mary Robinson not only was photographed but shook hands with General Pinochet, a war and human rights criminal on her state visit to Chile in March 1995.
Mrs Robinson later complained: “I had no expectation that I was going to meet Pinochet, and it was with great dismay that I saw that he was attending the dinner . . . I did not show any pleasure in meeting him.”
If such a faux pas by a serving president of Ireland can occur when a war criminal ensures he can gain some credibility by turning up at an official state banquet then Catherine Connolly being pictured with a man linked to Syrian war crimes must equally be put in context. – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN BUTLER,
Drumcondra,
Dublin 9.
Sir, – I am an Irish citizen who has lived in Germany for the past 11 years. During that time, I have not noticed any special illumination in the window of the Reichstag dedicated to German expats.
There has been no discernible congratulation of citizens who fly home to vote in elections, no gushing about how great they are to support the German national football team when they play outside of Germany and, in my experience, TV crews are not dispatched to the local airports every Christmas to record the scenes as expats reunite with their families for the holiday period.
Germany does however, along with over 100 other countries around the world, support the right of all expat citizens to vote in national elections.
Despite all the rhetoric, Ireland does not see this as a responsibility it can trust all citizens with.
As president, Mary Robinson said that she would keep a candle lit in the window of the Áras for the Irish diaspora. Can I suggest that, for the incoming president, it is time for an upgrade. – Yours, etc,
KEVIN PHELAN,
Dresden,
Germany.
Sir, – I find myself more interested in what percentage of votes Jim Gavin will get rather than who actually becomes president. – Yours, etc,
DAVID CURRAN,
Galway.
Making a connection
Sir, – Rosanna Cooney (“In the loneliest country in the world, I’ve started chatting to strangers,” October 17th) neatly describes how minimal social interactions such as making eye contact or small talk with strangers can bring feelings of positivity and a greater sense of belonging.
Last month while attending a conference in Brighton I took part in an extracurricular activity called Connection in Nature.
The talk was given by a GP early in the morning on Brighton beach. One of her many gems was that “for some reason, just slightly turning up the corners of your mouth has an effect on how you feel”.
I suggest trying it – she could have called her talk “Connection to Humankind.” – Yours, etc,
AILEEN MURPHY,
Milltown,
Dublin 6.
Working on yourself
Sir, – The current debate about whether psychotherapists in training should undergo personal therapy reminds me of advice I once received from a leading practitioner and scholar when I was considering it myself.
She said: “When choosing a therapist, the most important question to ask is, ‘What work have you done on yourself?’” – Yours, etc,
JAMES QUINN,
Rochester,
United States.
Irish language belongs to us all
Sir, – Newton Emerson writes that “no, the Irish language does not belong to us all”, referring to a recent controversy about bilingual signage in Shandon Park, east Belfast (“No, the Irish language does not ‘belong to us all’. Stop insisting that it does,” October 16th).
The two place names he mentions, “Shandon” and “Belfast”, are merely anglicisations of “Sean-Dún” (old fort) and “Béal Feirste” (“mouth of the sand-bank ford”).
Their origin, as that of most place names in Northern Ireland, is purely Irish, so it would appear that the Irish language does belong to us all. – Yours, etc,
DR SEÁN Ó RIAIN,
Parentis-en-Born,
France.
Trump and London visit
Sir, – Finn McRedmond draws a number of conclusions from the fact that Donald Trump’s first state visit to the United Kingdom in 2019 drew 100,000 protestors to the streets of London whereas his second state visit in 2025 only drew 5,000 (“Let’s not forget who Donald Trump really is,” Opinion, October 16th).
She overlooks the most obvious reason, namely that Donald Trump didn’t visit London in 2025. – Yours, etc,
KEVIN
O’SULLIVAN,
Letterkenny,
Co Donegal.
Evolving education
Sir, – There has been a great deal of thought in the last few years in the Irish education sector on the topic of wellbeing.
As part of our contribution we, in the Catholic education sector have attended any number of events, including a presentation on a comprehensive survey of research on the topic, hosted by the National Council for Curriculum Assessment.
There, two researchers presented their findings using several binaries (eudemonic -hedonic; collective - individualism, etc) and finished with the observation that “of course, religious ethos schools have done all of this very well, but with religion being on the way out, we have to find a different answer”.
Needless to say, we objected to the observation of religion being on the way out (recent research on global trends appears to back my objection) but the thought also struck: why do we need to find another answer, particularly when secularism seems to be struggling so to articulate one – the researchers on the day notably did not propose any worked-out alternative?
While they, and your letter writer, Aoife Cassidy (October 16th), figure it out, Catholic schools in Ireland, as part of a global community of schools educating 67 million students, will continue to be dedicated to the wellbeing of their pupils and their academic excellence to the full extent of their ability, in accordance with our tradition and ethos, through a pedagogy that continues to evolve in our millennia-long experience as educators. – Yours, etc,
MARIE
GRIFFIN,
Chairperson,
Catholic Education Partnership,
St Patrick’s College,
Maynooth,
Co Kildare.
