Qualified majority voting
Sir, – Your editorial on May 12th, “Any change to EU qualified majority voting could be a problem for Ireland“, raises an issue of fundamental importance to the future of the member states of the EU, going way beyond the questionable corporate taxation policy of one country you highlighted.
For qualified majority approval, it should be noted that at least 55 per cent of all states must approve, and the approval states must represent at least 65 per cent of the EU population. Using the first criterion, Ireland carries the same weight as Germany, namely it counts as one of the 55 per cent of countries required for a qualified majority, no more and no less than Germany does.
Thus, qualified majority voting rules are designed to protect smaller states and, as a result, render decision-making more difficult than using simple majority voting. However, the veto power of each member is by far the biggest obstacle to decision-making in the EU, in critical areas of policy. Let us take three examples.
First, any single member state can block security decisions, particularly currently in relation to Ukraine. Second, the veto power can block necessary sanctions against member states who are in breach of EU principles and values, as happens regularly with Hungary, and more recently, Slovakia. Third is the issue of enlargement and particularly the possible future inclusion of Ukraine and Moldova in the EU – any single member state can block the eventual accession of both or either.
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Why should a country with maybe as little as 2 per cent of the EU population be able to block the wishes of politicians representing the vast majority of the EU population? If necessary, the qualified majority applying in the areas which at present require unanimity could be stricter, maybe much stricter, than those applying to other policy areas. If the veto power is not modified, though, then the future integration of the EU could be in question, with possible breakaway coalitions emerging as the only means of addressing the existential threats that lie ahead. – Yours, etc,
JOHN O’HAGAN,
Department of Economics,
Trinity College Dublin
Outdoor drinkers
Sir, – As a twentysomething renter fortunate enough to live on the outskirts of the city centre, I was taken aback by just how many people were out enjoying Dublin this weekend. From pints on streets outside pubs, to people having coffee and pastries at small tables pushed out on to footpaths, to groups sitting along the banks of the canal, the city felt alive.
Dublin is so often criticised for falling short of its potential as a modern European city. Our public spaces are limited, and our architecture can be unwelcoming, even hostile, to those trying to enjoy and socialise in the city. But on a sunny weekend when people carve out space in the city, we catch a glimpse of just how welcoming and liveable Dublin can be.
City living often feels like an unattainable dream. But cities were meant for living. – Yours, etc,
HARRY McCANN,
Dublin 4.
Camogie skorts
Sir, – As a coach of women’s rugby from a club (Ballinasloe) this year celebrating its 150th anniversary, and that has last year opened specifically designed female-friendly changing rooms for our athletes, I’m delighted that GAA sportswomen have found the courage to rail against ridiculous, inappropriate, uncomfortable, imposed sports uniforms. It doesn’t have to be this way.
The Irish Rugby Football Union has in recent years – following consultation with women players and clubs – changed the colour of shorts worn at international level and is, progressively, going further at club level by running trial programmes providing period-positivity products to clubs and promoting female-friendly sportswear. In addition, they are developing female-specific training programmes – following research on injuries more frequently identified in women – and acknowledging different physical and psychological needs, with the overriding aim to increase female participation in health-enhancing sporting activities.
The increasing representation of women at officer level is obviously expediting these initiatives, and it’s no coincidence that women’s rugby is now acknowledged as one of the fastest-growing sports in Ireland. But this isn’t just a female issue, and men need to get on board to help drive change. Yours, etc,
TOMÁS FINN,
Ballinasloe,
Co Galway.
No cure for loneliness
Sir, – Mark O’Connell (“The machine is not the cure for loneliness”, Opinion, March 10th) helps to focus minds on the use of technology and the many issues we should be concerned about. Technology has many benefits, but too many people attempting to access the most basic services today can experience great difficulty.
Common sense would indicate that technology could never replace the human condition, the welcoming smile, the tap on the shoulder and the reassuring handshake that all will be well. While of course not forgetting a hug in times of need.
How right he is in his closing words: “It’s a solution that can only lead to a deeper emptiness, and to a lonelier and less human world.”
The old saying “the cure is often worse than the disease” comes to mind. – Yours, etc,
ALICE LEAHY,
Director of Services,
Alice Leahy Trust,
Dublin 8.
The singles tax
Sir, – Justine McCarthy rightly points out the myriad ways in which single people are financially discriminated (“Anyone not coupled up gets the message – no dogs or singletons welcome”, Opinion, May 9th).
To add to this, they have also been disproportionately impacted by the cost-of-living crisis over the last number of years, in which inflationary increases have a bigger impact on one salary than 1.5 or two salaries, which a couple in Ireland is likely to have. Yet, none of the cost-of-living measures targeted by government are specifically aimed to help single-person households.
Every single one, with the exception of a universal measure of electricity credits, went toward families’ cost of living, many of whom would be in receipt of two incomes and therefore better able to weather the storm without the aid of such supports. There is a lack of basic fairness to this approach – and this on top of already paying proportionately more tax on the same income. If you are a woman, this is further enhanced by the gender pay gap and pink taxes on spending. – Yours, etc,
NIAMH BYRNE,
Fairview,
Dublin 3.
Travel to Albania
Sir, – Regarding Aoife McElwain’s article on Albania published on May 10th in the travel section of the Magazine (“Albania has been dubbed ‘the Maldives of Europe’, but there’s so much more to this fascinating country”), as an Albanian living in Ireland for 20 years, who visits the country twice a year, I can confirm that it is as beautiful, friendly and safe as your writer describes it.
However, there is one slight challenge, which your writer also mentions at the end of the article: there are no direct flights to Albania from Ireland. There are direct flights from Tirana (Albania’s capital) to all major European cities and beyond, but none to Dublin.
I am appealing to our two major airlines here in Ireland, Ryanair and Aer Lingus, to correct this. Irish and Albanian people love to travel and will visit each other’s countries more when direct flights are established. They will discover plenty of similarities between each other. – Yours, etc,
DR ENIDA FRIEL,
Castleknock,
Dublin 15.
Pope Leo’s challenges
Sir, – The new pope, Leo XIV, promises to follow in the reforming steps of the late Pope Francis.
As your editorial on Saturday stated, among the many challenges facing him is that “like all senior clergy of his generation, the 69-year-old must also contend with the stain of clerical abuse and its concealment”.
It is reliably reported that at a pre-conclave meeting of the assembled cardinals in Rome it was agreed that clerical sex abuse must be one of the first challenges to be faced by of the incoming pope.
From his time as bishop of Sufar and apostolic administrator of Chiclayo in Peru, and as a Peruvian citizen, he must be painfully aware of the controversy of clerical abuse and its fallout that continues unabated in that country.
Indeed, the scandal of sexual abuse followed him to Rome in the person of Cardinal Cipriani, former archbishop of Lima, and a member of the traditionalist Opus Dei organisation who has been accused of sexual abuse – a crime of which he says he is innocent.
Pope Francis accepted his resignation as archbishop of Lima but imposed several penal restrictions on him, including the wearing of the distinctive red robes and the associated regalia of a cardinal, which he has largely ignored. In spite of this prohibition, he attended pre-conclave meetings and public events in the Vatican in his cardinal attire.
This is just one example of the serious challenges that Pope Leo faces. Hopefully, he will confront them with courage and tenacity. – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN BUTLER,
Drumcondra,
Dublin 9.
The war in Gaza
Sir, – Lara Marlowe’s article, “Gazans now eat one meal every two or three days as Trump plans his ‘Riviera’.” (May 11th), argues that “in a just world, Putin, Netanyahu and their enabler, Trump, would stand trial for war crimes and the US administration’s ‘green light for genocide’.” But in such a just world, would Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, and other officials who have maintained similar policies not also stand in the dock? And what of the European leaders who have supplied arms or offered diplomatic cover to Israel, even in the face of flagrant violations of international law and repeated warnings of genocide in Gaza?
Israel’s horrific use of starvation as a weapon of war began as early as October 9th, 2023, under what it termed a “total siege”. Nearly a year later, 99 American healthcare workers who served in Gaza reported that, by conservative estimates, 62,413 people had died from starvation. If this tactic, employed under Trump, constitutes evidence of genocide and western complicity, then surely the same applies under Biden.
Indeed, the failure of western leaders to intervene meaningfully in the past may well have emboldened Israel to continue its current course with impunity. – Yours, etc,
OWEN O’LOUGHLIN,
Cherrywood,
Dublin 18.
Building a maternity hospital
Sir, – In a nutshell: 19 maternity units in the country; four need relocation (one next door to the €2 billion National Children’s Hospital); 15 need upgrades; first relocation will be in Dublin 4, costing almost €2 billion (“Maternity Hospital projected to cost 10 times original price”, May 12th); falling birth rate; too many maternity units; not a lot left in the kitty; tariffs will mean cutbacks; the 10-year National Maternity strategy finishes in 2026.
What next? – that’s the €2 billion question! – Yours, etc,
CHRIS FITZPATRICK,
Dublin 6.
Tackling the housing crisis
Sir, – Gerard Howlin (“The status quo is in charge of Irish housing policy”, Opinion, May 9th) continues a pattern of absolving the Department of Housing and Local Government from any blame for our housing crisis.
To be clear that department is not solely to blame. It is, however, the department that for decades has actively worked to dismantle our local government structures – that were once the dynamic behind much home building.
It is the department that imposed the appalling Strategic Housing Development process, the even worse new Planning and Development Act and which, together with Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, imposes the stupid bureaucratic straitjackets on housing delivery through the city and county councils.
The first step to resolving our housing crisis is a complete reversal of the agenda of that department. Few ministers have shown a willingness to tackle that – and even less media outlets to expose it. Yours, etc
Cllr DERMOT LACEY,
Donnybrook,
Dublin 4.
Political book reviews
Sir, – I strongly object to having Paschal Donohoe as a reviewer of books on economics. We are not North Korea. He is the Minister for Finance and under his stewardship we have done massive damage to the global economy with our tax avoidance facilitations.
Concluding his review of three books, he states: “We must be ambitious in deepening our understanding of modern economies and of the political choices shaping them.”
He makes no reference whatsoever to the political choices he made in intensifying Ireland’s role to become the world’s largest tax haven. Books with titles like Why We’re Getting Poorer, Making Sense of Chaos and Deficit are unlikely to have omitted the damage done to many poorer countries by this shameful behaviour. Blandly parsing select content does not make for good reviews. – Yours, etc,
PAUL CONNOLLY,
Co Cavan.
