Sir, – The politicising of the International Holocaust Remembrance event on Sunday by President Michael D Higgins is truly shameful (News, January 27th). What is even more shameful is that Jewish people who were in attendance at the event were forcibly removed when they protested in a quiet, dignified and respectful manner. On a day when she and others had come to commemorate and grieve the more than six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust to see a Jewish woman being dragged along the ground is a source of burning shame for our country.
On May 2nd, 1945, taoiseach (and future president) Eamon de Valera’s sanctimonious insensitivity to Jewish people was on full display when he visited the German legation on Dublin to express his condolences on the death of Adolf Hitler. Eighty years later, President Higgins showed that such sanctimonious insensitivity is alive and kicking in Áras an Uachtaráin. – Yours, etc,
RORY O’SULLIVAN,
Dublin 8.
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Sir, – I am a great admirer of President Michael D Higgins and I welcomed our President’s attendance at the Holocaust memorial event. He speaks eloquently from the head and the heart and has been a staunch opponent of anti-Semitism down through the years, for which we should be so proud. However, the memorial event is a solemn, spiritual space of remembrance for the millions who died and suffered during the Holocaust, and I believe it should be cherished and kept safe from all other commentary, no matter how well intended, save that we should never forget. – Yours, etc,
AIDAN RODDY,
Cabinteely,
Dublin 18.
Sir, – One may agree or disagree with President Higgins’s views on Israel, and one may agree or disagree with how tactful it was of him to express some of these views at the commemoration event organised by Holocaust Education Ireland. But if the reports are true and Holocaust Education Ireland allowed a Jewish woman to be removed by force for staging a silent protest against his speech, then this risks undoing what it is educating for. As the son of a Holocaust survivor, I am horrified. – Yours, etc,
ROY FLECHNER,
Dublin 6.
Floating offshore wind turbines
Sir, – I welcome Val Cummins’s article “Floating offshore wind is ready to deliver for Ireland” (Business, Opinion, January 20th). Her contribution helps to amplify discussion about Ireland’s energy future and encourages broader consideration of a range of complex issues that must now be embraced by the new administration.
The outgoing government, strongly influenced by Green Party perspectives, focused narrowly on developing near-shore, fixed-bottom, wind turbines. The repeated affirmation by both government and the fixed-bottom industry that floating turbines were not viable at scale has held us back for too long. Other countries have pushed ahead with vision and ambition. Rather than embrace this new technology, we have continued to promote projects that were conceived decades ago and allowed to advance in ways that circumvented crucial biodiversity safeguards to reach a point where they are now applying for planning permission. Not one of the currently proposed projects have been subject to any independent environmental scrutiny.
A further erroneous assertion has been that the developer-selected coastal sites on which it is proposed to construct these fixed-bottom turbines can be industrialised without harming vulnerable marine ecosystems. All industrialisation results in environmental harm, but currently proposed sites include some of Ireland’s richest and most biodiverse habitats, including seabed areas that have high-value carbon capture capability. This means that, from an environmental perspective, these are among the most unsuitable locations imaginable.
Ms Cummins confirms that floating offshore wind is viable at scale, that the technology is developed, tested and ready for commercial deployment and that it has been operating in harsh marine environments since 2017. This clarifies that there is another viable option that will allow us to balance the economic benefits of developing offshore wind with the protection of marine ecosystems and the integrity of coastal communities, while addressing our twin climate and energy security needs.
Given these facts, it is imperative that the new Government fully examines options and moves forward with the combination that best serves the public interest and aligns with our values as a nation. We see in US politics how easily public interest can be hijacked by private big business. While wind energy giants have a role to play here, they must not be the ones charting the way forward. Our newly elected representatives must take a fresh look to ensure that the far-reaching decisions taken now are ones on which we will look back with pride. – Yours, etc,
GRAINNE ELLIOTT,
Dalkey,
Co Dublin.
Tackling the housing crisis
Sir, –The Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government came into effect on July 23rd, 2016. It was preceded by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. Since March 2011, there have been five ministers across these two portfolios with responsibility for housing, prior to James Browne’s recent appointment. Of those five ministers, Simon Coveney stands alone as the only one who had previous senior ministerial experience when appointed to the role. He served in the post for 11 months, the shortest time of all ministers by far. Former minister Eoghan Murphy released his memoir recently and candidly told of how he was massively unprepared for the role and how it affected him.
I have worked in the private sector for over 30 years. In every organisation I’ve worked in, senior staff have always been appointed to lead critical projects or manage crisis events, with assistance from less experienced colleagues. Housing is the single biggest crisis we have in our country. To appoint another minister with no previous senior ministerial experience calls into question whether the Government parties are serious about trying to resolve this critical issue.
Our young people trying to access housing deserve better. – Yours, etc,
JON TILSON,
Delgany,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – David McWilliams’s recent article “Some are getting rich from the housing crisis, because one person’s mortgage is another’s piggy bank” (Opinion, January 25th) hits the nail on the head with regard to Irish property prices. It is a given that “the world is awash with money” with central banks around the world having introduced $30 trillion into the global economy since 2008.
While it’s clear that Ireland has not built enough housing in recent years, in the context of quantitative easing on this scale, it must be acknowledged that no amount of new construction could ever satisfy such unprecedented demand. If the new Government genuinely wishes to stabilise house prices, and it’s not clear that it does, ownership restrictions on residential property are essential. – Yours, etc,
ROSS KILLEN,
Brittas,
Co Dublin.
Lowry‘s central role
Sir, – In his letter of January 24th, Michael Brown mused as to whether Simon Harris should invite Michael Lowry to rejoin his former party. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have allowed Mr Lowry to be kingmaker in this Government, with an influence arguably greater than that of any of the Opposition party leaders. In the unlikely event that the Tánaiste were to make such an overture, why should Mr Lowry give up such a position of power? – Yours, etc,
DAVID M O’SHEA,
Dublin 6.
A chara, – Considering his prominent role in the selection and election of the Ceann Comhairle, his lead role in negotiations on Government formation on behalf of the Regional Independents, and in the election of the Taoiseach, who better than the influential and much-loved Michael Lowry as the next President of Ireland? – Is mise,
LOMAN Ó LOINGSIGH,
Dublin 24.
Sir, – If the Dáil sat a little longer, TDs could speak a little more. – Yours, etc,
DAVID CURRAN,
Knocknacarra,
Galway.
A time for leadership
Sir, – In the coming years, our pursuit of quick fixes and charismatic leaders will only intensify as the complexity of global challenges deepens. The recently installed Irish Government, for instance, will likely face the same fate as its predecessors – welcomed as a fresh start, only to collide with the stubborn realities of housing shortages, healthcare pressures, and economic challenges that no swift policy shift can resolve.
Meanwhile, in the UK, the political landscape remains mired in the aftermath of Brexit, with successive governments struggling to deliver stability amid economic uncertainty, regional divisions, and strained public services. Across the Atlantic, the US remains locked in a cycle of political gridlock, with Congress repeatedly stalling major reforms on healthcare, immigration, and infrastructure, leaving each administration, whether Republican or Democrat, frustrated in its ambitions for lasting change.
This pattern is not unique to the Anglosphere. Across Europe, Canada, and Australia, governments rise and fall with increasing frequency as voters grow impatient for immediate results while avoiding the uncomfortable realities of fiscal responsibility, social cohesion, and environmental action. Unless we embrace a collective willingness to face these challenges with patience and resolve, we risk becoming societies forever chasing the next “saviour” while real solutions remain buried beneath layers of wishful thinking and short-term optimism. – Yours, etc,
ENDA CULLEN,
Armagh.
Vital role of social workers
Sir, – Not a week goes by without a news headline highlighting a failure on the part of Tusla. As a former social worker with Tusla, I must highlight the draining and damaging impact negative news articles have on front-line social workers, who work tirelessly to protect and support the most vulnerable children, young people and families in our society.
While I appreciate these failures need to be highlighted and addressed, they could be countered by some good news stories or put in context, in terms of the complexity of social work. Media outlets often overlook social work when reporting good news stories, and this was particularly evident during the Covid-19 pandemic. Media lauded the commitment of nurses, An Garda Síochána and even retail workers. Social workers were forgotten, though they continued to support and protect children, young people and families in near-impossible circumstances. Tusla has a recruitment and retention crisis, and perhaps the incessant negative reporting and lack of appreciation is contributing to this. – Yours, etc,
MARY SANDILANDS,
Milford,
Co Donegal.
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Sir, – Further to the piece headlined “Storm Éowyn triggered a sense of pandemic PTSD – especially for parents of primary pupils” (Opinion & Analysis, January 24th), post-traumatic stress disorder is not something which causes you to feel a little upset when you read in your WhatsApp group that everyone is a bit annoyed their children have to stay home from school. PTSD is a life-changing and debilitating condition which causes many of us daily pain and suffering, and even an extreme difficulty to make it thorough the day. I suggest your journalists familiarise themselves with the condition, and perhaps speak to sufferers or psychiatric professionals to understand how such belittling of one of the most difficult mental health conditions to live with only causes sufferers even more pain. – Yours, etc,
GARETH SOYE,
Dublin 18.
Storm precautions
Sir, – Would it be possible to use a tiny percentage of our Apple windfall to take down all our overhead electricity cables and put them underground? End of storm-related power cuts. – Yours, etc,
SEAN MALONE,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – In stormy weather I’m grateful for a modest, cosy home, among fields, animals, wild life, the solid-fuel range, great neighbours, books and a vintage reading lamp, a solid marriage, the glow of candlelight and a battery-powered radio. – Yours, etc,
ANNE MARIE KENNEDY,
Craughwell,
Co Galway.
Sir, – Given the fact that the controversial Leinster House bike shed has emerged unscathed from the ravages of Storm Éowyn, perhaps, on reflection, we might now consider the cost of the structure (some €335,000) to have been money well spent? – Yours, etc,
PAUL DELANEY,
Dalkey,
Co Dublin.
Ministers and the ‘half-car’
Sir, – Further to Frank McNally’s “A History of Ireland in 100 Diminutives” (An Irishman’s Diary, January 17th), readers of a certain age may recall that when the Minister of State concept was introduced, some political wag christened them as the “half-car” in relation to the prestige that possession of the “full” ministerial car was believed to bestow on a minister’s constituency.
And with sales of electric vehicles declining and registrations of other new vehicles becalmed, it is perhaps heartening to acknowledge that the quantity of “half-cars” has expanded considerably in a relatively short period of time – at a very impressive rate of just over 15 per cent since last November. – Yours, etc,
JAKE WALSH,
Clogherhead,
Co Louth.
