A chara, – Brendan Butler is of course correct to state that Ireland has the right to choose which alliances, if any, it joins (Letters, April 21st). Unfortunately, he does not seem to believe that right extends to the people of Ukraine – at least, not in any way which Ireland should trouble itself over.
Mr Butler believes that the Russian tanks and planes laying waste to Ukraine can be stopped by economic sanctions, or harsh words at powerless UN committees, and that military support for Ukraine will only makes things worse. The reality of the past two months has proven every point wrong, over and over. The only things that have stopped Russia and its war machine since it invaded Ukraine are guns, missiles, tanks and aircraft in the hands of Ukrainian soldiers – not sanctions, and certainly not diplomatic condemnation. By refusing to acknowledge this basic truth, the nebulous “solidarity with Ukraine” that Mr Butler calls for is as good as abandoning Ukraine to its fate.
Yes, Mr Butler, we are completely free to stand on the sidelines and look away, to demand that other countries protect Ukraine, or to insist that our diplomatic interventions actually do make a difference, in spite of all that is happening. We certainly don’t have to sign up to Nato, because unlike Russia, Nato won’t invade us if we don’t join. We can even continue to rely on nuclear-armed Nato members to protect our airspace from those same Russians.
However, nobody who refuses to give Ukraine the only help that actually makes a difference can claim they are showing “solidarity”. We live in the real world, and must deal with reality. – Yours, etc,
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REBECCA
CROWLEY,
Cork.
Sir, – Justin Kilcullen has vast humanitarian experience working worldwide with Trócaire. I was surprised therefore to read (Letters, April 19th) his negative comments on Irish neutrality and his description of the European Union as "a haven of peace and democracy".
Yes, the EU did a lot to promote peace within Europe, and by providing an alternative vision for governance compared with communist-controlled Soviet Union. Since the end of the cold war, however, the EU has largely failed to promote peace within Europe, and especially within the wider world. This is partly due to the reality that several of the EU’s most powerful states, especially France, have never fully abandoned their colonial exploitation.
Added to this is the failure of the international community, including the EU, US and Nato, to promote peaceful cooperation with our neighbour Russia within the broader Eurasian sphere. The counterproductive continuing existence of Nato and the reality of Nato expansion has been a major cause of the unjustified Russian war against Ukraine. The EU’s role as a peace project has been fatally compromised by the fact that 21 EU member states are also members of Nato.
Irish neutrality, supported by the vast majority of Irish citizens, is something to be proud of because it has enabled us to achieve far more towards international peace and justice than we could ever achieve as an insignificant belligerent state.
The “trials of war” are not confined to the “heart of Europe” and the people of Ireland are correct in wanting to bring peace and justice not only to Europe but especially to our sisters and brothers in Africa and the Middle East. – Yours, etc,
EDWARD HORGAN,
Castletroy,
Limerick.