Bondi beach attack
Sir, – One hopes the recent attack at Bondi beach might open some minds and hearts. Anyone who has ever called Israel’s war in Gaza a genocide bears some responsibility for this attack. Anyone who has ever singled out the only Jewish state in the world for special disapproval while ignoring similar or worse alleged deeds elsewhere shares in the responsibility for the attack.
They have created the conditions for the Manchester attack in September, for the Bondi beach attack on Sunday, and, unless action is taken, for many more attacks to come. The only moral response is to drop the Occupied Territories Bill, to end the boycott of the Eurovision Song Contest, and stop singling out of Israel for judgment by special standards that are not applied to other countries. – Yours, etc,
DAVID WOODS
Department of Classics,
RM Block
University College Cork,
Cork
Sir, – In your editorial dealing with the disturbing growth of anti-Semitism internationally, you correctly remark that the “imperative for political leaders is clear. They must confront anti-Semitism directly, [and] insist on careful and responsible language” to stop the revival of ancient prejudices (“Age-old hatred must be resisted”, Editorial, December 16th).
I would argue that this need for careful language is the responsibility of all citizens and particularly for those exchanging views on Israel’s appalling treatment of the Palestinian people because of the false association of that state with Jewish people globally.
The vile belief system of anti-Semitism must never be given any oxygen in civil society and should be challenged whenever it raises its malevolent head. – Yours, etc,
FINTAN LANE,
Lucan,
Co Dublin.
Family reunification for refugees
Sir, – Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan fears a “breakdown in social cohesion” while acknowledging the importance of refugee families achieving reunification once they can display their self-sufficiency and an ability to support their family members (“High asylum numbers a ‘threat to cohesion’ – Minister”, News, December16th).
To put financial hurdles in place for declared refugees seeking family reunification with their children will disproportionately affect women fleeing conflict from countries where their access to education is limited or denied, and early marriage is prioritised.
To deny refugee women reunification with their spouse and children runs the risk of creating a cohort of people who are marginalised in direct conflict to the Minister’s aim of social cohesion. – Yours, etc,
SIOBHÁN CONLON,
Kimmage,
Dublin 12.
Joint statement on the ECHR
Sir, – Your article on Ireland’s participation in the Council of Europe joint statement on the European Convention on Human Rights misses the central issues at stake (“Ireland is supporting a weakening of human rights,” Opinion, December 16th)
Ireland signed the statement not as a member of a marginal bloc, but as one of 27 Council of Europe states; a group that is grappling with the real-world consequences of criminal networks exploiting asylum systems and the growing difficulties in removing non-Irish nationals convicted of serious violent offences under current jurisprudence.
The article frames any discussion of interpretation as a slippery slope towards weakening human rights. That framing obscures the practical purpose of the statement; addressing criminality embedded in migration pathways and safeguarding citizens’ and asylum seekers’ security. It also reduces an important legal debate to unwarranted alarmism.
A clearer account of the substance of the issue would better serve readers. Human-rights law relies on credibility and enforceability. Ignoring systemic abuse while warning of hypothetical decline weakens both. – Yours, etc,
THOMAS VINCENT,
Kill,
Co Kildare.
50-year mortgages
Sir, – If 50-year mortgages appeared on the market tomorrow, enabling more people to enter the property market, it would increase demand for housing (“Bonkers or brilliant? How 50-year mortgages could ease the housing crisis,” Your Money, December16th).
This demand would chase the same available supply as exists today, driving up prices and probably making everyone’s borrowing requirement go up even further. The 50-year mortgage itself will not solve the systemic issues preventing us from rapidly increasing supply to the level of demand.
The solution to the housing crisis remains building sufficient housing to meet demand. Anything else is a distraction. In this case, an expensive distraction for hard-pressed homebuyers. – Yours, etc,
AARON McKENNA,
Clonee,
Co Meath.,
Price of an orange
Sir, – Today in a well-known supermarket one orange cost €1.00! How can this be possible! If you ate one of these oranges every day for a year it would cost €365 a year.
A short distance away in another well-known establishment one orange cost 49 cent. Can anybody explain what is going on? – Yours, etc,
LAYRA O’MARA,
Stillorgan,
Co Dublin.
Kilkenny Gaelic football success
Sir, – Less than 20 minutes drive north from Kilkenny City towards Castlecomer lies the townland of Muckalee, encompassing a small village of similar name. Consisting of about 3,700 acres, this rural area, stretching towards the Carlow county boundary, is home to typical family farms but, atypical for Kilkenny, its GAA club, founded in 1917, is dedicated to Gaelic football.
In a county where hurling is king, the club never “lost the faith”, a resilience that paid off with a victory in the dying seconds of the All-Ireland Women’s Junior Club Final last Sunday bringing the rarest of All Irelands to Kilkenny. To observe the team and the local community’s journey to this All-Ireland win eminently vindicates the GAA’s wisdom in the “split-season” whereby time is dedicated to club activity only. My antipathy to the concept is fast disintegrating. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL GANNON,
St Thomas Sq,
Kilkenny.
Mullally on housing
Sir, – I am energised by Una Mullally’s article calling on the Opposition to act now on the housing crisis through collective organisation (“United left must build a housing movement in 2026,” Opinion, December 15th).
It needs no repeating that the Government refuses to treat housing as a true emergency; this is evident in their actions or lack thereof. As Mullally argues, this has produced not apathy but defeat at a grassroots level, suiting those in power very well.
Following the successful campaign to elect our new President, the united left are well positioned to organise a housing movement to counter this defeat. I believe the scale of support for such a movement could extend beyond Irish shores.
Having moved to London nine years ago, I left an Ireland buoyed by marriage equality and found community in the London-Irish Abortion Rights Campaign, an organically-formed group which rapidly built an effective structure spanning protest, policy, media, fundraising, legal support – and, crucially, had direct links to active campaign groups back in Ireland.
A large-scale housing movement in Ireland would no doubt see similar satellite groups form here in London and across the globe. Over the past decade, the Irish diaspora have already proven they care deeply for our country through support for abortion rights and successive #HomeToVote campaigns.
However, I believe there would be greater support behind a housing movement, as housing not only affects those who stayed but also those of us who left. Many of us want to return but see no viable path to doing so. The belief and energy to fight for a better Ireland exists – and not just from within. What is missing is leadership to harness it. – Yours, etc,
SARAH CRONIN ROGER,
London.
Sir, – It is unclear what point your correspondent Una Mullally is making in her opinion piece today calling for a grassroots movement to address political failures on housing. The penny does seem to have dropped with her that Opposition rhetoric on housing is just that. What any grassroots movement can achieve is debatable.
Grassroots movements are fine in theory but rarely translate into political reaction (bar the water charges campaign which was an own goal in hindsight given the state of water networks).
In fact, the antisocial behaviour often linked to emotional grassroots movements is often counterproductive (far right stirring up race hatred a case in point) and where housing is concerned a radical policy shift is needed involving an all-of-government approach. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL FLYNN,
Bayside,
Dublin 13.
Sir, – Una Mullally’s column misses the obvious point that no Opposition party has published and argued for a housing policy that has gained traction with voters.
Rather than following in the footsteps of the anti-immigrant groups and advocating for another protest movement on the streets, she might explore why the parties of the left have repeatedly failed to develop a credible approach to solving the housing crisis.
That would require some tough choices and bluntness with the Irish people. None of the Opposition parties are prepared to do this. Why?
Ms Mullally should confront the failures of the Opposition just as much as she deplores the failure of the Government. – Yours, etc,
SE MOLLOY,
Rathgar,
Dublin 6.
Sir, – Una Mullally’s call for a robust, united, large-scale, broad and grassroots housing movement in 2026 should be pushing at an open door. The need is obvious and there is a ready-made structure on the shelf already.
Raise The Roof is a housing campaign anchored not only in the left Opposition parties but particularly in the trade union movement. Led by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, it already involves housing advocates, women and student organisations and rights groups. It has a new loose association with Community Action Tenants’ Union, the extensive tenants union mentioned by Una Mullally.
After it had organised local meetings, conferences and the biggest modern housing demonstrations, Raise The Roof was let go fallow. But in recent months Raise The Roof rallies in Cork and Waterford have shown the potential. The need is there, the scaffold is to hand, so let’s Raise the Roof in 2026. – Yours, etc,
DES DERWIN,
Dublin Council of Trade Unions,
Mandela House,
Dublin 1.
Why public transport is not working
Sir, – Niamh Byrne (Letters, December 15th) captures the daily reality faced by many commuters: long, unreliable journeys and public transport that simply does not work for those who must arrive at a fixed time. Her frustration is entirely understandable. But it also points, perhaps unintentionally, to the core problem in how we talk about transport in our cities.
We often say we support public transport in principle. In practice, however, we resist the very changes that would make it faster and more reliable right now. Buses cannot offer a viable alternative while they remain trapped in the same congestion as private cars. Limited road space is still overwhelmingly allocated to increasing numbers of single-occupancy vehicles, and no amount of timetable adjustments or additional buses can overcome that basic constraint.
Until we are willing to prioritise buses properly, commuters can expect their journeys to remain long and stressful. Supporting public transport does not just mean hoping for future investment; it means accepting present-day changes that reallocate space and inconvenience car drivers in order to move more people efficiently. – Yours, etc,
SÉAMUS WHITE,
Stoneybatter,
Dublin 7.
Eliza Bennett’s true motivation
Sir, – I applaud your columnist Sarah Moss in celebrating the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen (Weekend, December 13th). However, I have to challenge her commentary on that most attractive of heroines, Miss Eliza Bennett, and her suitor Mr Darcy.
Ms Moss would have us believe Eliza changes her mind and decides to marry Mr Darcy, firstly because she is overwhelmed by the splendours of his palatial home, and secondly through hearing the housekeeper extol him as the best and kindest of employers.
Eliza knows from the start that Mr Darcy is extremely wealthy; also, she has already visited the opulent residence of his aunt (Lady Catherine De Bourgh). She is not to be bought. And the discovery he is kind to his servants was hardly going to be enough to break down Eliza’s defences. She considers herself to be socially his equal – she spells this out explicitly to his aunt – and she is determined he should treat her as such.
Surely a fairer reading is to see Eliza as being won over by that most classical of tests: the suitor undergoing an ordeal to prove his worth. In this case, the ordeal is doubly appropriate. Darcy swallows his pride and forces himself to grovel to the person he has most reason to hate and despise (the infamous Willoughby). And he does this for the sake of the whole Bennett family – the family he had previously disparaged. He emerges triumphant from the test.
Miss Austen, with her sparkling wit and deep perceptions, succeeds in combining acute social commentary – especially on the status of women – with genuine exploration of romantic love. – Yours, etc.
DANIEL KELLY,
Clonskeagh,
Dublin.
Fit and trim
Sir, – On a trip into town on Monday morning I had made my way back to Hawkins Street to catch the 68 bus to Clondalkin-Greenogue. Constantly monitoring the TFI app, five minutes to arrive, three minutes, two minutes and then lord and behold it disappeared. Quickly checking the TFI app again, I noticed the 13 was due to leave College Green in a few minutes. I sprint to catch it, after all I’m only 62. It shows due in one minute and then can you believe it, the 68 comes slowly past Trinity College. I sprint again to catch it at the next bus stop. Got it.
Thanks for keeping me fit and trim Dublin Bus. – Yours etc,
PAUL DORAN
Dublin 22
