Sir, – Dr David Woods inadvertently hits the nail on the head when he cites “a gross example of the distraction politics and virtue signalling that continues to undermine confidence in the Irish democratic process” (Letters, February 4th).
“Distraction politics” perfectly describes the series of fig-leaves proffered by the previous coalition government, from the vacuous move of recognising a Palestinian state, to mooting plans to build an EU consensus – inevitably to be blocked by Germany, Austria and Hungary – for the Israeli state’s suspension from the Euro-Med Trade Agreement.
The term “virtue signalling” certainly covers then-taoiseach Simon Harris’s repeated soundbites that the EU should use “every lever at its disposal” to end the Israeli state’s onslaught, even as his government blocked legislation in Dáil Éireann that would have made the Israeli government think twice.
As for actions that “undermine confidence in the Irish democratic process”, one stark example is government figures making pre-election promises to enact the Occupied Territories Bill, before attempting to shelve the Bill amid fears of the wrath of the Trump administration. Another egregious instance is the incoming Government’s rabbit-from-a-hat endorsement of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism, a move not mentioned in any Government party’s pre-election manifesto.
Ann Ingle: Deliberately going out of my way to move for no particular reason has never appealed to me
Gerry Thornley: How about an alternative look at Ireland’s Six Nations win over England?
Is Ireland anti-Semitic, an outlier of tolerance or in the middle ground?
How risky is it to buy a second-hand EV?
However, I cannot agree with Dr Woods that the Occupied Territories Bill will “do huge damage to the international reputation of Ireland”. We must remember that Ireland’s ground-breaking ban on import of South African apartheid produce is now remembered as one of our country’s proudest moments.
The Occupied Territories Bill will see Ireland take its place, once again, as a leading light, on the right side of history. We will be remembered as the little country that could. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN Ó ÉIGEARTAIGH,
Donnybrook,
Dublin 4.
Sir, – You report that Government officials in the Department of Enterprise have advised that an enacted Occupied Territories Bill would be “very difficult to enforce” and “might pose problems” for businesses, including for multinationals (“Israeli goods ban ‘very difficult to enforce’”, News, February 1st).
It is not entirely clear what we should make of these internal departmental observations. There has always been an air of reluctance around the Occupied Territories Bill in Government circles and among its advisors. Indeed, the current parties of Government repeatedly ruled out the enactment of this Bill for a number of years before the current catastrophe in Gaza.
However, despite their deep reservations, both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, responding to public opinion and the advisory opinion in July of the International Court of Justice, made unambiguous promises before the general election to enact the Occupied Territories Bill and this was reiterated in the agreed programme for government.
Nonetheless, in recent weeks, prompted in large part by the election of Donald Trump as US president, there have been vague mutterings that it might be unhelpful to upset an aggressive US administration and it has been suggested that the Bill should be long-fingered or significantly diluted.
Donald Trump, of course, has aligned himself with the radical right in Israeli politics, supporting illegal settlers in the West Bank, so it is uncertain how he could ever be satisfied with Irish foreign policy on the Middle East unless Ireland turns its back on international humanitarian law and repudiates the Palestinian right to self-determination.
The Occupied Territories Bill is aimed at prohibiting trade that helps to sustain Israel’s illegal settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. It is a minimalist sanction and supported by the advisory opinion on the illegality of Israel’s occupation and settlements issued on July 19th, 2024, by the International Court of Justice. The dropping or watering down of the Occupied Territories Bill would be a betrayal not just of the pledge made to the electorate, but arguably also of international law and its obligations. – Yours, etc,
FINTAN LANE,
Lucan,
Co Dublin.
Storm Éowyn aftermath
Sir, – Today I joined a queue in my local hardware shop to buy batteries for a radio, camping lights, a portable gas cooker – and a lock for the stable door. – Yours, etc,
TONY MOORE,
Ballyfarnon,
Co Roscommon.
Sir, – Day 11 without essential services, power, heat, phone, broadband. Gas heaters and cylinders purchased and brought up from Cork on Day Three by a family member for a neighbour and ourselves have both run out this morning. Moylough, Mountbellew and Tuam completely sold out of gas cylinders – on a bank holiday Monday,
How are we to accept that the authorities overseeing this emergency are “working tirelessly” and “will not be found wanting”?
Is this an adequate emergency response to people in communities who continue to be neglected, many of whom are older and live alone? – Yours, etc,
P HUGHES,
Ballinasloe,
Co Galway.
Sir, – A letter writer (February 3rd) blames “one-off dwellings” for the length of time homes are without power following Storm Éowyn.
The vast majority of rural power lines bringing power to isolated dwellings have been there for generations. Those living there are just as entitled to a power supply as those living in estates. So called “one-off” dwellings are generally built along these lines and are a major consideration for those building a house in rural Ireland.
No-one wants to build a house where they will have to bear the extra cost of bringing power a long distance from the nearest source.
Yes, there are many situations where a line serves only a small number of homes and they will be at the bottom of the list of priorities for restoration. Just one of the disadvantages of living in rural Ireland. – Yours, etc,
RICHARD ALLEN,
Cummeen,
Sligo.
Sir, – I would imagine that those many people sitting in the dark and cold of their powerless houses find Michael’s Lowry’s enlightened concerns about speaking privileges in the Dáil less than illuminating. – Yours, etc,
JOHN O’CONNELL,
Letterkenny,
Co Donegal.
Neutrality and undersea cables
Sir, – Clare Daly’s words about jurisdiction (Letters, February 4th), the number and length of the undersea cables near our coast, the ownership of them, or even the extent of our territorial waters, make no sense at all. The plain fact of the matter is that we depend, as a nation, on the continued efficient operation of these cables. Even if they do not land directly in Ireland, without them we would not have connectivity with the rest of the world and, crucially, neither would the many foreign direct investment and indigenous entities on which we have so much reliance for our economic wellbeing.
Any failure to use our proximity to these cables to assist in their protection against sabotage, depending on Nato to step in and do the job, will be just another example of the “free-rider” approach the Irish State has adopted since the second World War, and will be another reason for us to hang our collective heads in shame. – Yours, etc,
SEAMUS McKENNA,
Maynooth,
Co Kildare.
Reforming the Seanad
Sir, – As the 27th Seanad takes its final shape, we should not overlook some notable parts of this new Seanad.
A total of 19 of the 49 incoming senators did not in fact wish to be members of the Seanad – their goal was a seat in the Dáil, with the blue chairs of the Upper House being their runner-up prize.
Another noteworthy figure is the electorate for the National University of Ireland and Dublin University constituencies. While over 182,000 ballots were sent out to voters around the globe, a mere 53,000 ballots were returned completed.
In the month since the new higher education constituency register was opened, replacing the National University of Ireland and Dublin University constituencies from June onwards, 65,000 people actively registered to vote. These are not carry-overs from outdated registers, these are people who want to use their right to vote.
We are now entering a new era in the Seanad’s 102-year lifetime, with the end of the university constituencies, the highest number of Independent senators elected since 1961, and the first Traveller elected to the Oireachtas.
The 27th Seanad should put the shoulder to the wheel from day one and drive forward Seanad electoral reform so that everyone, regardless of their educational background, would have a right to vote in elections for the Seanad. This Seanad should be the one that takes its role more seriously than most of its predecessors. – Yours, etc,
TOMÁS HENEGHAN,
East Wall,
Dublin 3.
Public authority notices
Sir, – Reading Saturday’s Irish Times, I came across two legal advertisements relating to the property tax. One, inserted by Dublin City Council, took up almost an entire page. The other, almost the same in content, by Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, occupied half the space. The reason is that Dublin City Council’s notice was replicated in Irish as well as English. Now, I don’t know what the cost of an almost-full page advertisement is in your esteemed organ, but I imagine it isn’t cheap. This is great business for you, but not for the ratepayers of Dublin City Council. I wonder if anyone has costed this plethora of duplication in signage and Irish language advertisements in the media, especially on RTÉ radio and television? If the reason is to inform the public, as distinct from promoting Irish for ideological reasons, it is probable that advertisements in Polish or Ukrainian would be at least useful. – Yours, etc,
IAN d’ALTON,
Naas,
Co Kildare.
Dáil rules and political norms
Sir, – The Regional Independent Group stunt has made me reflect on the importance of political norms in our democracy.
These norms are not usually formally written down or legally codified, but rather they are informally agreed to as to how politics should be and how politicians should behave, a sort of subtle but important political consensus or contract, as it were.
When these norms are abused or undermined, then the political scaffolding of democracy itself is threatened.
Of course, when we look afar, internationally, we see political norms being blatantly disregarded, be it Russian aggression or American exceptionalism, and the general and pernicious dismantling of the global rules-based order.
That is why this decision to uphold parliamentary norms in the Dáil, a seemingly irrelevant issue for many people no doubt, is so vitally important. These norms are the glue of a properly functioning democratic system. – Yours, etc,
MARK HOGAN,
Wicklow.
Sir, – Et tu, Verona?
DAVID M O’SHEA,
Dublin 6.
Sir, – I am confused. What tent is Michael Lowry in now? – Yours, etc,
AIDAN RODDY,
Cabinteely,
Dublin 18.
Ukrainians in Ireland
Sir, – Sorcha Pollak’s article “Ukrainians in Ireland: ‘All of a sudden it’s like you’ve lost interest in us’” (January 27th) is a familiar story. My own family fled their home country before and again after the second World War to seek survival, while many relatives who stayed behind were sent to the concentration camps.
Today’s Ukrainian refugees have already been displaced by having to flee their homes to save their lives from war-torn Ukraine. These traumatised Ukrainian families, including many children of school age, having been given refuge here in Ireland, are now being forcibly displaced a second time and are being obliged to abandon communities in which they have started to make a new life.
Moreover, their valuable contribution to their new communities, established over the past two or three years, is well documented.
What sort of inhumanity and sheer faceless bureaucracy are they now suffering by being uprooted once more, forced to resettle and by having to try to start their lives yet again? – Yours, etc,
MARTIN KRASA,
Cork.
