Sir, – Watching the events in the new Dáil has been fascinating for the furious intensity our representatives bring to topics not related to policy. I think when Michael Lowry reflects on it all, he will be pleased his understanding of how power really works in Ireland will have been so thoroughly validated. – Yours, etc,
DANNY GOLDEN,
Inchicore,
Dublin 8.
Sarah Moss: People trying to sell diets enrage me on good days. On bad days I feel inadequate
Princess Margaret’s Galway island visit: ‘By the cut of you, you’re a lady. Will you take a drink?’
Analysis: EU leaders agree but disagree on defence
We built a bungalow on what was initially a boggy patch in my parents’ sloped front garden in Kerry
Sir, – Surely, if Fianna Fáil are agreeable to Michael Lowry’s Independent group, their partners in Government, asking questions from the Opposition benches during question time, it follows that Simon Harris on behalf of Fine Gael should also be afforded a similar privilege? – Yours, etc,
CHARLES SMYTH,
Kells,
Co Meath.
Sir, – If Michael Lowry wants to ask the Taoiseach a question, surely he can pick up the phone? – Yours, etc,
PHILIP LOUGH,
Templeogue,
Dublin 6W.
Sir, – I was fascinated and bemused by your headline “Government losing patience with Lowry” (News, February 1st). I thought that happened in 2011. – Yours, etc,
TONY BURKE,
Baldoyle,
Dublin 13.
Sir, – It appears clear that we have now entered the wondrous age of quantum politics. It is possible for our TDs to be both in Government and in Opposition. But we all know that quantum states depend on spin. – Yours, etc,
RENAAT VERBRUGGEN,
Ashford,
Co Wicklow.
Undersea cables and neutrality
A chara, – Gerard Howlin makes the claim that “we have jurisdiction over essential assets under our seas”, referring to undersea telecommunications and other cables under the Atlantic (“A good foreign policy is one that no one notices. Unfortunately that’s not Simon Harris’s style”, Opinion & Analysis, January 31st).
It is not true to say that “we have jurisdiction” over the vast vast majority of these cables, either as a proportion of the total number, or as a proportion of their length. Ireland has jurisdiction over its own territorial waters, which extend only 12km into the approximately 5,000 km distance by sea between Ireland and the United States. Our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which extends further (370km), is a zone that Ireland is allowed to exploit economically, but that permission doesn’t carry with it either a legal or a moral obligation to protect infrastructure within it. It’s not our territory, so it’s not our problem. Anyone can lay a cable in Ireland’s EEZ without any legal requirement to obtain permission from Ireland to do so. As a neutral state which is not party to any military alliance, we are free of any obligation to offer military protection to the infrastructure of another state laid in our EEZ. Nato is entirely free to go off and sail around the Atlantic protecting Nato countries’ cables if it wants, and there is zero obligation on Ireland to help them.
Notably, the vast majority of submarine cables are owned and operated by private multinational consortia consisting of between four and 40 stakeholders, with the secretive entities that own them typically based in tax havens. Essentially, Ireland is being morally blackmailed into surrendering its neutrality to materially support Nato and to invest public money to protect cables which don’t land in Ireland and which are outside its territorial waters; cables it does not have either a moral or a legal obligation to protect; and to do all of this on behalf of wealthy multinational consortia registered in tax havens whose names we don’t even know. This sounds like rather a bad deal for Ireland. – Is mise,
CLARE DALY,
Swords,
Co Dublin.
Time to quit fast fashion
Sir, – I applaud Sarah Breen on her journey to quitting fast fashion (“Quitting fast fashion in a year: ‘At my big age, I should be wearing clothes that aren’t stitched by tiny hands in a sweatshop’”, Fashion, February 1st). I made it my new year’s resolution five years ago and I have never looked back.
The clothing industry is devastating for the planet in so many ways: microplastics and dyes polluting water systems; droughts and the loss of whole communities’ water sources because it takes 3,000 litres of water to produce one cotton T-shirt; the emissions produced from shipping online orders across continents, and the fact that most of it ends up in landfill, a lot of which has never even been worn. Not to mention the exploitation of, and health impact on, poorly paid workers.
Shopping for clothes is a habit and an addiction that you can break, and you will be happier for it. You already own more than enough clothes! When I go out wearing something I’ve had for 10 years and have worn 100 times, my friends admire my outfit and ask me if it’s new and where I got it! Because most people really don’t remember what other people are wearing.
I implore everyone who reads this to give it a go for one year, or even one month. Just stop going into shops, stop scrolling websites, and only buy to replace what’s worn out.
You might be pleasantly surprised at what you discover about yourself, and about all the other joys that life has to offer. – Yours, etc,
AISLING JUDGE,
Ballinteer,
Dublin 16.
Childcare closure
A chara, – I am writing to raise urgent concerns about the abrupt closure of the afternoon session at Rainbow Community Playgroup in Stoneybatter, Dublin 7. Parents were given just one week’s notice, and without a clear explanation, despite the fact that this session is fully funded through Government schemes, including Pobal and (access and Inclusion Model (AIM) grants.
Rainbow Playgroup has long been a vital part of the community, providing high-quality early education and essential childcare. The sudden decision to close the afternoon session puts children at risk, disrupting their education and emotional stability. It also places enormous pressure on working parents, many of whom structured their jobs around this service. Finding alternative childcare in Dublin 7 is already near impossible, with two other playschools closing in recent years. Some parents now face the possibility of leaving their jobs due to a complete lack of options.
Concerned families have made multiple attempts to engage with the board to explore solutions, including keeping the session open or at least extending the closure date to allow time for alternative arrangements. To date, these efforts have been ignored. In response, over 50 parents, joined by local councillors and TDs, including Mary Lou McDonald, Marie Sherlock, Gary Gannon, and Ray McAdam, staged a protest on January 31st, demanding answers and immediate action.
Further action is planned as families refuse to accept such a sudden and unjustified closure.
This situation highlights the wider childcare crisis in Ireland. This is not the first playschool to close in such an unacceptable fashion. Best practice recommendations from Early Childhood Ireland state that service providers should give a minimum of three months’ notice of closure, yet Rainbow parents were given just one week. The Government claims to prioritise early childhood education, yet fully funded community services like Rainbow are being left to collapse without intervention.
We are calling for immediate action from Pobal and the Department of Children to prevent this closure and ensure families are not left without essential childcare services. – Yours, etc,
MARK SHEERIN,
Smithfield,
Dublin 7.
Ministerial appointments
Sir, – I naively thought that Ministers were appointed because of their ability to steer, guide, drive, or whatever verb you choose, growth in the area of their portfolio, and possibly a proven track record in doing this. Now it seems that they are appointed on their ability to juggle as many balls in air as possible, given the titles of some of their briefs. Jack Chambers, as Minister for Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, has a lot of balls in the air, and should he drop one, it can be attached to a different portfolio in the next reshuffle. Or quietly done away with. Watch this space. – Yours, etc,
PAT QUINN,
Inchicore,
Dublin 8.
The Occupied Territories Bill
Sir, – The article “Israeli goods ban ‘difficult to enforce’” (News, February 1st) draws attention to the danger that if Ireland unilaterally and without EU approval imposes a ban on trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, then there could be proceedings against Ireland in the Court of Justice of the European Union.
While there have been legal arguments put forward that Ireland could unilaterally impose such a ban on trade with Israeli settlements there is considerable doubt about whether they would be successful.
In the event of such proceedings against Ireland, the EU court might hold against Ireland on the ground that trade with third countries is a matter of exclusive EU competence. In such proceedings, it is possible that the court might rule against Ireland without considering whether a ban on trade with the Israeli settlements is required under international law.
However, Ireland could, possibly along with some other member states, submit a reasoned request to the European Commission to propose to the EU Council of Ministers a ban on trade with the Israeli settlements. Such a request could set out the obligations in international law to avoid assisting the unlawful Israeli occupation. If the commission refused to act on such a request, Ireland would then be able to take proceedings against the commission before the EU court. In those proceedings it would be possible to refer to the rulings of the International Court of Justice which hold that the Israeli occupation is illegal and to make a strong argument for an order obliging the European Commission to propose to the EU Council of Ministers a ban on trade with Israeli settlements.
In view of the clarity of the relevant rulings of the International Court of Justice on the illegality of the Israeli settlements, the Court of Justice of the European Union might be obliged to hold that there is an obligation on the EU to ban trade with the Israeli settlements. – Yours, etc,
PATRICK MOONEY
Donnybrook,
Dublin 4.
Sir, – The Occupied Territories Bill is a gross example of the distraction politics and virtue signalling that continues to undermine confidence in the Irish democratic process. Most Irish people do not care one way or another about this Bill, but a very vocal minority who are over-represented in the Irish media do. The Government needs to focus on bread-and-butter issues rather than continue with a Bill which, however well intentioned, will be weaponised by anti-Semites in their unceasing lawfare against Israel and do huge damage to the international reputation of Ireland. – Yours, etc,
Dr DAVID WOODS,
Department of Classics,
University College Cork,
Cork.
Energy credits and payments
Sir, – I read that the Government intends to abandon once-off payments such as the electricity credits as the focus will be on “regularising the budgetary process within a new medium-term fiscal framework” (“Households unlikely to receive energy credits and other once-off payments next winter”, News, February 3rd). Great! That sounds very exciting. Throw in another severe storm and, shur, we won’t have any electricity anyway, so we won’t miss the payment at all then, and the new fiscal framework will be up and running, and before you know it ‘twill be Christmas!
And then the Government won’t have to give those extra payments either to those who need them but by then the fiscal policy should be well settled, and Michael Lowry and his friends will be nice and cosy in the Dáil and have plenty of time to talk from both sides of their mouths. – Yours, etc,
JOHN GAFFNEY,
Carrick on Shannon,
Co Leitrim.
Dog day afternoon
Sir, – I recently had a most enjoyable chat with a civil servant who promised to ring me back straight away as soon as she got her pen back from her dog. I do hope she was working from home. – Yours, etc,
DAVID CURRAN,
Knocknacarra,
Galway.
