Sir, – You report that Ireland wants the International Court of Justice to broaden its interpretation of genocide to include deaths which can reasonably be inferred to be a foreseeable consequence of actions, even if the actions in question had another motive (“Ireland wants ICJ to use ‘inference’ test in genocide case”, News, January 9th). According to your report, the State considers that this wider interpretation is necessary to avoid genocide being excluded in most if not all cases of armed conflict. In other words, Ireland is seeking to make the term genocide applicable to deaths in most if not all cases of armed conflict, as long as these deaths can reasonably be inferred to have been foreseeable.
But if all, or almost all, deaths in armed conflicts can be defined as genocide, does this not make the term genocide so broad as to void it of any particular meaning? Hitherto, the term genocide has generally been used to describe the intentional and systematic murdering of an ethnic or national group. If it is now to be applicable to foreseeable deaths in all armed conflicts, then the effect is to greatly diminish the significance of events such as the killing of the Tutsi in Rwanda, or of the Holocaust; they become just two genocides among many.
Ireland has had an awkward history with Jews and Israel: the refusal to admit Jewish refugees during the second World War; maintaining neutrality in the face of evidence of the concentration camps; offering condolences on Hitler’s death; not officially recognising the State of Israel until 1963; officially recognising the State of Palestine only a few months after Hamas’s (genocidal?) October 7th killings.
There comes a point when, however reluctantly, having seen a succession of actions that resemble the walking and quacking of a duck, an observer might reasonably infer that these actions are, in fact, being performed by a duck. – Yours, etc,
Higher pay for public service staff to afford homes should be time limited and phased out
‘I make a mark in the grass with my foot as I go.’ How GAA groundstaff line pitches for new football rules
WRC ruling is final nail in coffin of the right to remote working
‘I stepped through a door and emerged as a US citizen - but now comes the journey of belonging’
MARK HAYDEN,
Sauvian,
France.
Sir, – Ireland’s intervention this week in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) case alleging genocide by the Israeli state has significant implications for our Central Bank’s ongoing role in authorising the sale of “Israel bonds” across EU markets.
When questioned by the Joint Oireachtas Committee last October, Central Bank Governor Gabriel Makhlouf assured committee members that while the Bank “had to work within certain parameters . . . if those parameters allow us to do things we have not done, we will look at it deeply and carefully”.
Ireland’s submission to the ICJ notes “evidence of a general pattern of widespread and systematic acts directed at the protected group which leads to their destruction, in whole or in part ...” As signatory to the Genocide Convention, the State has a legal obligation to ensure that State institutions are not complicit in genocide, which surely now changes the parameters around this matter.
The published prospectus for “Israel bonds” repeatedly notes their significance in sustaining the Israeli state’s “war in Gaza”; in other words, in continuing the “general pattern of widespread and systematic acts” that Ireland proposes may well amount to genocide.
When reminded by Senator Alice Mary Higgins that the Central Bank has the power “to prohibit or suspend advertisements” for bond prospectuses if “the information provided in the prospectus is not complete or comprehensible”, Mr Makhlouf dismissed the prospect of invoking this measure.
As the Central Bank will not deploy the powers at its disposal, the Government must lay down some “parameters”. A legislative commitment not to authorise bond prospectuses for states facing charges of genocide at the ICJ is all that it would take to place our Central Bank on the right side of history. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN Ó ÉIGEARTAIGH,
Dublin 4.
Sir, – Ireland’s attempt to re-engineer the definition of genocide in order to to secure the conviction of Israel at the International Court of Justice speaks to how ridiculous its case is.
If the Irish Government’s “inference” test had been applied in the second World War, just imagine the long list of Allied generals and politicians who could have ended up in the dock for actions such as the area bombing of Germany that killed as many as 600,000 civilians.
One can only hope the incoming Trump administration is paying attention. – Yours, etc,
KARL MARTIN,
Dublin 13.
Sir, – Ireland has recently formally requested the International Court of Justice to narrow its definition of genocide. Yet Ireland has not recognised the Armenian genocide of up to 1.5 million men, women and children. Most members of the EU, together with the devolved parliaments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, have recognised this atrocity. – Yours, etc,
Dr MICHAEL DELMONTE,
Monkstown,
Co Dublin.
China and the Uyghurs
Sir, – Your Beijing correspondent recently visited the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region on a visit organised and presumably paid for by the Communist Party of China (“China pursues diplomatic offensive to counter accusations of forced labour in Uyghur region”, World, December 21st). In his article, Denis Staunton extensively quoted a number of party officials who criticised sanctions which had been imposed as being unfair and unwarranted.
However, he did not quote the former UN Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet, who after also visiting the region found that accusations of violations by the Chinese government against Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities – including torture, forced labour, and mass imprisonment in internment camps – were not only credible but “may constitute . . . crimes against humanity”.
Nor did he quote the eminent human rights lawyer Sir Geoffrey Nice who chaired an independent tribunal into allegations of human rights abuses in the region which found that the government of the People’s Republic of China had committed genocide against the Uyghur and other ethnic minority groups via birth control and forced sterilisation measures.
In his report, Mr Staunton did not interview any of the survivors of the over one million people who have been imprisoned without trial for demonstrating “wrong ideology’ or “negative thoughts”.
Nor did he interview any of the Irish Uyghur families who have seen their relatives disappear into this appalling system, and who face harassment even within Ireland for attempting to find out what has happened to their loved ones.
Given that the Chinese government is actively using tourism and media trips to present a Potemkin village version of the region, something documented by other international journalists, an article like Mr Staunton’s runs the risk of acting as an uncritical mouthpiece for the Chinese Communist Party. – Yours, etc,
Dr DAVID O’BRIEN,
Co-Director,
Irish Uyghur Cultural Association,
Krakow,
Poland.
The National Women’s Council
Sir, – In his letter (January 9th) referring to Orla O’Connor’s opinion piece of January 6th, I would like to correct Barry Walsh’s reference to the National Women’s Council as an “unelected and completely unrepresentative body”.
The NWC is an organisation that promotes equality diversity and human rights for all women. It represents 190 women’s organisations and a large cohort of individual members. Ms O’Connor is the director employed by the board and as such represents the organisation.
The elected persons in the organisation are its chairperson and the executive board, who are elected by the full membership of NWC and who oversee the work of the director and staff.
Mr Walsh in his letter uses the term “left” which immediately puts the opinion into a political domain, which in today’s world is problematic and polarising and which totally contradicts the purpose of the NWC, whose aim is to represent the views of all women in Ireland regardless of their creed, race, colour, disability, sexual orientation and political preferences.
The NWC is not elected in a political sense but it is absolutely representative of a vital constituency of 51 per cent of our Irish electorate. – Yours, etc,
ELLEN O’MALLEY DUNLOP,
(Former chairperson,
National Women’s Council, 2017-2020),
Dublin 6W.
President Higgins and Nato
Sir, – Regarding President Michael D Higgins’s criticisms of Nato and defence spending (“President condemns Nato and escalating global military spending when number affected by hunger has risen by 200 million”, Science, January 7th), the President’s naïveté would be forgiven if he were a first-year student union rep, but for a man in his position it is dangerous.
It is of course quite easy to be anti-war when your State is shielded by its neighbouring Nato member.
One wonders how the President’s moralising would be received in Poland, Ukraine, or the Baltic states? –Yours, etc,
EOIN GEOGHEGAN,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.
Zuckerberg – watch this space
Sir, – When Mark Zuckerberg announced his ending of fact-checking he was shown wearing a Greubel Forsey watch worth about $900,000. It does look rather nice but so does my house.
Doesn’t Facebook have a clock function or is it no longer reliable as no one is checking its accuracy? – Yours, etc,
DENNIS FITZGERALD,
Melbourne,
Australia.
Dart lifts and wheelchair users
Sir, – When I arrived in Tara Street in Dublin on Monday, there were two passengers in wheelchairs trying to exit the station. Alas, the lift didn’t work so their only way out of the station was to take a train to Connolly Station and hope that the lift there would be working so that they could continue their journey.
It was an embarrassing experience for the staff on duty in Tara Street. It’s now time to get all of the lifts working all of the time! – Yours, etc,
ITA O’HANLON,
Dublin 5.
The price of a comic
Sir, – Last week I bought the first Beano of 2025 for one of the grandchildren. Waiting to pay at the till my eye fell on the UK price, £3.25. The sticker on the comic showed €5.90 in a Dublin retailer. My trusty calculator on my phone showed that the sterling price of £3.25 converted to €3.89. My gob was certainly smacked by what might be construed as brazen profiteering. No doubt we will hear a litany of whines “explaining” the yawning differential. The culprits quoted no doubt would include VAT, Brexit, Holyhead diversions, delays in forming a government, potential invasions of Greenland and the Panama Canal, snow falling over Ireland and possibly delivery vans being slower due to black ice. Should Coimisiún na Meán have a role in protecting readers of comics, young and old? – Yours, etc,
PATRICK JUDGE,
Dún Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.
Weather permitting
Sir, – In our house, we use the “bitterly index” for the weather. The bitterly index counts the number of mentions of the word “bitterly’”on the RTÉ weather forecast each evening. On bad days, it can reach as high as five within the two-minute broadcast. – Yours, etc,
JULIE DAVIS,
Stepaside,
Co Dublin.
A chara, – While driving home this week, I was amazed to see, walking on the footpath, a secondary-school student wearing a short-sleeved shirt.
I can only assume that the school prohibits shorts.
Oh to be young again. – Yours, etc,
KEVIN RAFFERTY,
Waterford.
Welcome to the club
Sir, – If Donald Trump takes Greenland, I presume it would be okay for me to take Doonbeg golf club. – Yours, etc,
EDDIE FOGARTY,
Nenagh,
Co Tipperary.