Sir, – Ireland has built up an international reputation as a peacekeeper, as a mediator and as a country of integrity and high regard on the international stage. We have done this by safeguarding our positive neutrality. Regardless of one’s view on the subject, President Higgins has now opened up a conversation that needs to take place. – Is mise,
KILLIAN BRENNAN,
Dublin 17.
Sir, – We seem to have a Government that is afraid to express its real view about our current President and his continual forays into the Government sphere, be it housing or neutrality, etc.
Matt Williams: Take a deep breath and see how Sam Prendergast copes with big Fiji test
New Irish citizens: ‘I hear the racist and xenophobic slurs on the streets. Everything is blamed on immigrants’
Jack Reynor: ‘We were in two minds between eloping or going the whole hog but we got married in Wicklow with about 220 people’
‘I could have gone to California. At this rate, I probably would have raised about half a billion dollars’
Future presidents will note how easy it is to play to the gallery of public opinion and to disregard the policy of presidential silence on Government issues of the day. – Yours, etc,
MIKE MORAN,
Clontarf,
Dublin 3.
Sir, – President Higgins has apologised, rightly, for what he terms a “casual” and “throwaway” remark regarding the chair of the upcoming forums on neutrality. Commentators have questioned the President’s broaching of the subject in the first place. However, the President really ought to face criticism, not only for stepping outside his constitutional remit, as some would have it, but for making casual or throwaway remarks while doing so. –Yours, etc,
PETER DECLAN O’HALLORAN,
Belturbet,
Co Cavan.
Sir, – There are many public servants and office holders who are constrained by regulation or convention from becoming involved in public political debate. This includes members of the judiciary, gardaí and members of the Defence Forces. President Higgins has flouted this convention by his intemperate intervention in the neutrality debate, as well as on other political issues. If he feels the need to oppose Government policies, the office of President is not the appropriate place from which to do it. – Yours, etc,
JOE AHERN,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 16.
Sir, – Surely, after a lifetime in politics and 12 years in the Áras, Michael D Higgins recognises that there is no such thing as a “throwaway remark” when giving a presidential media interview? – Yours, etc,
MARY CANNON,
Navan,
Co Meath.
Sir, – Louise Richardson is a Waterford woman who is one of the most talented people Ireland has ever produced. She has an unrivalled record, making a big mark at Harvard and in US academia, and then becoming the first female and Irish vice-chancellor of Oxford University. Her track record proves her academic excellence and her unbiased analysis of political situations.
Her recognition with an award of Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is something we should all be proud of.
For the President of Ireland to take such a cheap shot is unconscionable. – Yours, etc,
EUGENE GATH,
Pallaskenry,
Co Limerick.
Sir, – Why do our over-sensitive politicians have a hissy fit when our President speaks out on matters of public interest? – Yours, etc,
AIDAN RODDY,
Cabinteely,
Dublin 18.
Sir, – I did not know that there is a “small” DBE. Apologies can be half-hearted, qualified, opportune or sincere. In respect of the recent presidential apology, take your pick. – Yours, etc,
MARGARET LEE,
Newport,
Co Tipperary.
Sir, – I am troubled by the approach of some of our politicians to President Michael D Higgins’s commentary on the Consultative Forum on International Security Policy. For all of his career, the President has been an advocate of peace and neutrality. Indeed, it was based upon this record that he was elected and re-elected to a term as president of this great democracy.
As President, he has expressed concern that the country may be heading into perilous waters should we abandon our neutrality or dilute it to such an extent as makes no difference. Commentary by people such as the president of Young Fine Gael Eoghan Gallagher, invoking the “thundering disgrace” phrase used by then-minister for defence Paddy Donegan in relation to President Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, leads me to wonder if Government policy on an abandonment of neutrality has already been set in stone.
This has not been evidenced in the manifesto of any party seeking government in the last general election. Attempts to silence the highest office in the land to stifle debate are the real disgrace here. – Yours, etc,
TERENCE O’CONNOR,
Dundalk,
Co Louth.
Sir, – Our President’s commentary on Ireland’s careless drift toward Nato serves as a timely warning, where he explores the dangerous perils of confrontation in a nuclear age.
His comments sound like a healthy exploration of pathways to a safer, more just and more sustainable future, for the world. The concentrated militarism of the EU poses a very serious threat to human security, both regionally and globally. His comments feel like a cautionary and timely effort on his part for Ireland to move from warlike confrontation to cooperative coexistence, and peaceful diplomacy. It is what Ireland does best. Ireland’s peacekeepers and our policy of active neutrality are what will keep this country safe. Neutral Ireland is essential as a safe space for all sides to negotiate, in this time of nuclear threat, which could end life on Earth. – Is mise,
MIRIAM RYAN,
Dún Laoghaire
Co Dublin.
Sir, – I have serious concerns in relation to the transparency of the upcoming consultative forum on international security. To this end, I have written to the organisers of the forum with the following four questions:
1) What model is being used for this consultative process, and what will be the model for the decision-making process which will follow?
2) Are there examples of where this model has been used before?
3) Will all submissions to the process, whether of public, private, corporate or of state origin, be made available to the public?
4) Will a full list of those involved in the exercise be made available to the public, including all contributors, experts, and consultants?
I have written to the forum organisers twice over the past three weeks and have yet to receive an acknowledgement. Is there anybody in a position to answer these questions? – Yours, etc,
ELIZABETH CULLEN,
Kilcullen,
Co Kildare.
Sir, – “Positive neutrality”, says President Michael D Higgins. In other words, always give a good old Irish nod and a wink to Nato, as we may need its help one day. – Yours, etc,
MJ FREEMAN,
West Kirby,
Merseyside, UK.
Sir, – If the President truly believes in “positive neutrality”, perhaps he should visit Ukraine and make one of his erudite speeches praising Ireland’s proud tradition of positive neutrality of standing on the sidelines. I am sure the Ukrainian people, who are courageously defending their country from Putin’s army of thugs, would give the President’s speech on positive neutrality the response that it deserves. – Yours, etc,
JASON FITZHARRIS,
Swords,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – Given the composition of the forum panels, what do you think the outcome of their deliberations is likely to be? – Yours, etc,
DAVID FitzGERALD,
Kiuruvesi,
Finland.
Sir, – Perhaps the Government is secretly thinking that when it wants the President’s opinion it will give it to him? – Yours, etc,
TOM GILSENAN,
Dublin 9.