Sir, – The reported killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis is a deeply troubling event that deserves careful investigation, restraint and humanity from those in power.
Instead, the public reaction from US president Donald Trump and Homeland security secretary Kristi Noem was swift, reactionary and strikingly graceless, delivered before any serious investigation could reasonably have taken place.
Political leaders set the tone in moments of crisis. When that tone is accusatory or inflammatory, it undermines public trust and risks compounding tragedy rather than clarifying it.
The purpose of leadership is not to dominate the narrative at all costs, but to safeguard due process and social cohesion when emotions are understandably raw.
RM Block
Mr Trump increasingly appears to govern the United States as though it were a predatory business venture, bullying his way to outcomes rather than persuading through principle or example.
The damage extends far beyond American borders. Given the scale of US power and resources, political leaders around the world find themselves obliged to tiptoe around his childish sensitivities, reshaping global politics in ways that reward bluster over balance and intimidation over integrity.
What is most shocking is not the behaviour of one errant leader, but the number of power-hungry individuals willing to suspend their own moral compass to support this style of governance.
The quiet sacrifice of decency and accountability, dressed up as loyalty or pragmatism, may prove to be the most lasting and corrosive legacy of this moment. – Yours, etc,
GEOFF SCARGILL,
Bray,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – I agree with Eoin Burke Kennedy when he writes: “it’s humiliating to be a European watching this”, with reference to our obsequious approach to US president Trump (“Europe needs to stop curtsying at the medieval court of Trump,” January 9th).
May I also add feeling further humiliation when listening to Government Ministers defending their no vote to the Mercosur agreement.
Where has the leadership gone?
It’s a definite case of the tail wagging the mouse. – Yours, etc,
OWEN McKEON,
Skerries,
Co Dublin.
Invading Venezuela
Sir, – Most of the media coverage of the abduction of the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, uses language to describe the action of the US forces that obscures the reality of what actually occurred.
The almost exclusive use of the word “capture” implicitly ascribes a legitimacy to a flagrant enterprise that was clearly contrary to international law and a grievous assault on global stability.
The use of disingenuous terminology cannot disguise the fact that Mr Maduro, along with his wife, was kidnapped from sovereign Venezuelan territory on the instructions of the president of the United States. – Yours, etc,
CON LYNCH,
Schull,
West Cork.
Sir, – In all the reports and commentaries on the US raid on Venezuela there has been precious little mention of the people killed by American armed forces during the raid.
Estimates are that 60to 80 people were killed in order for US president Donald Trump to make yet another deranged point.
Between 60 and 80 families are now mourning the loss of loved ones, yet this hardly gets a mention in our newspapers or news bulletins.
I can only despair and ask what is happening to us? – Yours, etc,
GARY DOYLE,
Straffan,
Co Kildare.
Invading Greenland
Sir, – The threatened “Anschluss” of Greenland by the US is reminiscent of the outrageous annexation of Austria by the German government in March 1938.
That takeover was met with little or no protest from European neighbours, to the extent that the Germans felt emboldened enough to annex Czechoslovakia a few months later.
The position today is that the EU must urgently and publicly assert the integrity of all of its territories and deny the US any concocted rights to incorporate Greenland into its own hoped-for, increasingly enlarging state. – Yours, etc,
KLAUS UNGER,
Killiney,
Co Dublin.
Nollaig na mBan
Sir, – I was out with a friend in the early evening on Nollaig na mBan. At the appointed hour he said he had to go home and “make the dinner” in his all-male household.
Can I suggest we consign to history this relic of the past that says among other things that a woman’s place is to be catered for by the patriarchy on “little” Christmas.
It is overtly sexist and demeaning to all females who wish to live in a fair and equal society. – Yours, etc,
TOM McELLIGOTT,
Listowel,
Co Kerry.
Missing our climate targets
Sir, – What a letdown to read that the State will reduce greenhouse emissions by just half of its 51 per cent target by 2030 (“Ireland will miss emissions-cut target by half, says Minister for Climate Darragh O’Brien,” January 7th).
The cost to humanity, and those most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, is far above the possible €28 billion in fines.
Various scientific reports have shown that if global warming exceeds 2°C, adaptation costs could rise to $565 billion per year by 2050. However, if global warming is limited to 1.5°C through strong mitigation, adaptation costs stay closer to $215-$387 billion per year by 2030. Failing to meet mitigation targets now will more than double adaptation costs by mid-century, and push loss and damage costs into the trillions.
Investing in mitigation today is the most cost-effective way to protect children and communities tomorrow.
The impacts of climate change are here and now: across countries like the Solomon Islands where I visit frequently, homes are being washed away, schools destroyed, food sources lost, and families displaced.
These are not distant stories, these are the lived realities of communities, threatening futures, livelihoods and the identity of Solomon Islanders today.
It is not just the fines we must consider but the fundamental threat inaction poses to human rights. – Yours, etc,
MAURICE SADLIER,
Programmes & Policy Director,
World Vision Ireland,
Dublin.
Architects and environment
Sir, – Sinead O’Sullivan’s article (“Why is Ireland so lacking in architectural ambition?” January 6th) accurately captures the mood of architects towards the environment they find themselves in today.
Armed with one of the lengthiest educations and ever-improving creative tools, it is frustrating for architects that cost control and compliance increasingly dominate every project meeting.
The writer may have missed Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers’s announcement last July that the Government intends to prioritise “cost and efficiency over design standards and aesthetics” for future projects last June.
I can only imagine that if Frank Gehry was hired to build a Gandon-esque civic project on Dublin’s quays in today’s world, his insistence on titanium cladding and an extended programme for the design phase might not be greeted with a song and dance in Kildare Street.
When architects proposed converting derelict churches in Dublin into housing for up to 2,000 people several years ago, a Dublin City councillor labelled it “a dreadful indictment of architects who want to ‘exploit’ the housing crisis for their own benefit”.
The old adage of a building being as good as a client’s priorities is eternal, but our willingness to “build with meaning” may be ephemeral. – Yours, etc,
KEVIN BARRY,
Bohermeen,
Co Meath.
Drinking in January
Sir, – Róisín Ingle is absolutely right about the risk of becoming an insufferable bore on the subject of alcohol. Her article, coupled with that of Conor Pope on dry January, leads me to think that The Irish Times should be renamed The Temperance Times.
I drink regularly, as many of my friends do, and we don’t drink to excess or wake up with hangovers. I drink wine, I am fascinated by the history of wine, the different varieties, and the smell and taste of these different wines.
I find it a wonderful accompaniment to a meal, and a gentle stimulant to socialising and conversation. Judging by longevity in the Mediterranean regions, it undoubtedly has some health benefits when drunk in moderation.
I have the utmost respect for those who don’t drink, but let’s also recognise the pleasure and relaxation that it brings to those of us who consume alcohol in moderation. – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN LOGAN,
Antibes,
France.
Sir, – We are only one week in but I am already fed up of reading and hearing about dry January.
If the absence of alcohol makes such a positive impact to your life then you shouldn’t drink at all. The rest of us, who enjoy one or two drinks at the weekend, should feel free to ignore all the badgering and treat ourselves to a glass of something this month if we want.
January is dark and miserable enough as it is without being made to feel guilty about small simple pleasures. – Yours, etc,
KAY CHALMERS,
Douglas,
Cork.
Sir, – Articles abound this time of year about, and by, folks going on the “dry” and turning their backs on alcohol. I applaud each and everyone of them – including Róisín Ingle’s two-year abstinence as referenced in her column (January 7th).
What I’d like to know, however, is this: has anyone, anyone ever gone on the drink in January; people who were, perhaps, pioneers all their lives and who subsequently discovered the joys of drinking: the zesty taste of a gin and tonic, the creamy swallow of a pint of stout, the merry-making with friends and the wonderful conviviality, and camaraderie, on a night out? Just wondering. – Yours, etc,
GERRY MORAN,
Kilkenny.
Sir, – How do you know someone has given up alcohol? They write about it in The Irish Times. – Yours, etc,
COLM DOYLE,
Arbour Hill,
Dublin.
Reconciliation in Northern Ireland
Sir, –Your editorial, “Politics must have greater ambition”, on the feast of the Epiphany (January 6th) was timely but also depressing. Certainly Northern Ireland needs “wise men” and indeed wise women to lead it out of its current political stasis.
One wise man, George Mitchell, pulled together the Belfast Agreement as a starting point for the parties. Neither he nor the other architects of the agreement saw it as the endgame, rather it was a path to a fully functioning political process.
The agreement did not stand the test of time in political terms and has been amended on several occasions; most egregiously by the St Andrews Agreement which enabled Sinn Féin and the DUP to enter government together, but weakened the principle of collective responsibility and created “ministry silos”.
Twenty years on from that agreement the same two parties are at the helm and, sadly, as they prepare for new Assembly elections, they will not be promoting what’s best for Northern Ireland, but rather how do they hold on to their seats, ministries, salaries and perks. Powersharing and the d’Hondt proportional representation system are failing the people of Northern Ireland.
Your invocation to the British and Irish governments to pass the legislation “required by the new agreed legacy machinery” ignores the flaws in that machinery; most obviously the fact that the information retrieval body will only deal with “Troubles deaths”, thus disenfranchising the tens of thousands of victims and their families who had loved ones maimed or injured in the Troubles. There is no attempt to promote reconciliation.
The status of those giving “protected disclosures” is still unclear. Most worryingly, as set out in the latest Bill before the UK parliament, it provides little incentive for veterans and former combatants to participate.
The machinery allows the two governments to hide behind “national security” in denying access to State records. Without open and transparent participation by the two governments and the paramilitary bodies, legacy issues will continue to prevent Northern Ireland society from functioning normally.
It is eight years since we first proposed a “Truth Recovery Process” run jointly by the British and Irish governments, based on conditional amnesties for former combatants and veterans.
The two governments seem to believe in doing the minimum now required in the mistaken hope that time will eventually cure the problem. Nothing could be further from the truth; without a radical rethink from the two governments, legacy issues will continue to fester and blight Northern Ireland society. – Yours, etc,
HARRY DONAGHY,
Northern Chair,
JOHN GREEN, Southern Chair,
PADRAIG YEATES, Secretary,
Truth Recovery Process (CLG),
Dublin 13.
Caught short by the crossword
Sir, – Your letter writer Lesley Kerrigan, seems to have been caught short with the clue in the Simplex Crossword on January 7th, 31 across (6 letters), Large group of fish. Your writer considers the only answer is shoal. Where in fact the answer was school.
A “school of fish” is a large group of the same species swimming together in a synchronised, co-ordinated way, moving at the same speed and direction for safety or foraging, while a looser, mixed-species grouping is a “shoal”.
I hope this helps to enlighten your writer. – Yours, etc,
JOE O’FLAHERTY,
Galway.
Sir, – Sorry, Lesley (Letters, January 9th), the Simplex clue failed to add the operative words of “fish of the same species” = “school”. For your shoal to be the answer, it would have to have been “fish of mixed species”. – Yours, etc,
JOHN RISELEY,
Co Dublin.
