Sir, – Any EU instinct to retaliate against President Trump’s tariffs would be understandable but disastrously wrong-headed. Instead of indulging in tit-for-tat economic nationalism, Europe should do something far braver: eliminate its own tariffs and challenge the United States to join a genuine transatlantic free trade pact.
This is not weakness; it is strength of a kind that confounds the cynics. For Ireland – a country whose prosperity depends not on protectionism but on open, rules-based trade – such a move would speak not only to economic self-interest, but to principle. Our farmers, our pharmaceutical firms, and our tech exporters all stand to lose from spiralling retaliation.
We must stop behaving like resentful shopkeepers and start thinking like statesmen. The West should trade more with itself, not less. And if the US administration won’t lead that effort, then let Europe do what is increasingly rare: lead by example. – Yours, etc,
DAVID ARMSTRONG,
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Dún Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – Like a thief in the night, the Trump administration has implemented 20 per cent tariffs on EU imports, along with varying tariffs for other countries around the world. It is notable that the UK was “rewarded” for its Brexit stance with a reduced 10 per cent tariff which may be an endeavour to sow seeds of discontent among EU members, but in reality it should do the opposite.
This is a time for a coherent and unified response to financial intimidation and bullying.
Donald Trump’s actions will continue to isolate and hurt the US economy and, with stock markets plunging, the damage has already begun.
I am optimistic that voices of reason will emerge in due course, with many of our American friends asking themselves the question in time, “How did we let this happen?” – Yours, etc,
GEOFF SCARGILL,
Bray,
Co Wicklow.
A chara, – Trying to work out the impact of Donald Trump’s tariffs on Ireland is as complex as working out what happens when a high-impact black swan event meets the goose that lays golden eggs. – Is mise,
DERMOT O’ROURKE,
Lucan,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – The Trump administration tariff tirade contains more holes than a sieve. The strong advice would be to go back to the drawing board. If there was any indication that there was a drawing board. – Yours, etc,
PETER DECLAN O’HALLORAN,
Belturbet,
Co Cavan.
Sir, – Lies, damn lies and now Trump tariffs. It has that look of sensationalism and when the dust settles down it will be nothing more than what the Wizard of Oz offered – an illusion. Liberation Day, my arse! – Yours, etc,
AIDAN RODDY,
Cabinteely,
Dublin 18.
Sir, – We have become used to the slogan “Make America Great Again” and more recently we hear “Make America Wealthy Again”.
How about “Make America Loved Again”? Now that might be a game-changer. – Yours, etc,
TONY BRADY,
Dublin 3.
Sir, – While the EU takes time to consider its response to the tariffs announced yesterday, might I suggest that it immediately implements a measure requiring all goods having their origin in the United States to prominently display a Maga sticker replete with the Stars and Stripes. This would help consumers make an informed decision as to whether they wished to buy the item or not. – Yours, etc,
JULIAN GAISFORD-ST LAWRENCE,
Sallins,
Co Kildare.
Sir, – Donald Trump’s tariffs could have been so much worse for Ireland.I was worried that Ireland would be separated or singled out in some way from Europe and hit with enormous tariffs.
Mr Trump had talked a lot about pharma in recent weeks, and so if we had been handpicked for extra punitive tariffs, I believe that it would have put us at odds with the rest of Europe. Thankfully we are in the EU, and we are in a bloc.
One of the things that the EU is good at is trade negotiations. It’s a massive market and the EU is well capable of throwing its weight around.
Let’s hope that the US and the EU can come to the table like rational people and hammer out a deal that’s mutually beneficial to both parties.
We live in hope that a deal might still be realised. – Yours, etc,
JOHN O’BRIEN,
Clonmel,
Co Tipperary.
Sir, – President Trump’s proposed 20 per cent tariff on all imports is not merely an economic measure; it is a symbolic gesture – the reassertion of a politics defined by scarcity, competition, and retreat. It draws on a worldview in which the global economy is a zero-sum battlefield, where the prosperity of one nation must come at the expense of another.
For Ireland, this poses more than a trade risk.
It confronts us with the uncomfortable truth that the economic model we have relied on for decades – grounded in global flows of capital, corporate tax arbitrage, and policy deference to foreign direct investment – is no longer sustainable in a world where cooperation is eroding and volatility is the norm.
The neoliberal compact promised open markets, inward investment and fiscal discipline in exchange for stability and prosperity. But it has left us acutely vulnerable. Despite our headline success, we struggle to provide housing, deliver healthcare, or build the infrastructural backbone of a functioning society.
This is not the resilience of a sovereign economy. It is dependence by design.
Mr Trump’s tariffs should serve as a wake-up call. The global order that underpinned Ireland’s economic success is fragmenting. To navigate what comes next, we must shift from a model of extractive openness to one of strategic self-determination – investing in domestic capacity, public goods, and democratic control over the fundamentals of economic life.
We cannot insulate ourselves from global change, but we can choose how prepared we are to face it. That choice must begin now. – Yours, etc,
GAVIN REDDIN,
Swords,
Co Dublin.
Rethinking the local property tax
Sir, – Your editorial (“The Irish Times view on the local property tax changes: a missed opportunity”, April 3rd) is welcome in that it raises the possibility of a debate at all on the issue of the local property tax. However, this needs to be broadened to a wider debate on how we fund our local government system.
Funding is currently a mixture of a bit from here and a bit from there, a failed input from the Department of Housing and Local Government and a bewilderment at citizen level as to where the local property tax money goes and how their local council is funded.
I have previously called for a national forum on the funding of local government to devise an agreed, transparent and democratic system of funding. I do so again. – Yours, etc,
DERMOT LACEY,
Donnybrook,
Dublin 4.
Gaza protest at Leinster House
Sir, – I was taken aback when I heard that several people, mostly women, had been arrested on Monday morning outside the Dáil from a peaceful protest about the genocide in Gaza which I had attended briefly on Mother’s Day. However, I was horrified to hear the allegation, raised by Richard Boyd Barrett TD in the Dáil, that some of them had been strip-searched (“Gardaí defend treatment of Gaza protestors”, News, April 3rd) . This would be a sinister and intimidating development in the treatment of peaceful activists and solidarity campaigners. I hope that this will be immediately investigated and condemned by the relevant authorities and by politicians of all backgrounds who have recently exercised their own right to protest vociferously. –Yours, etc,
ANNE McCLUSKEY,
Dublin 24.
Dublin Airport passenger cap
Sir, – It is terrifying to read that the Dublin Airport passenger cap has been temporarily suspended pending further judicial review (“Court suspends Dublin Airport passenger cap beyond summer”, News, April 2nd). Whatever the original reasoning for the cap, what we are seeing now is a perfect example of perceived short-term profit being prioritised over human and planetary health.
We live on a finite planet. Eternal economic growth and ever-increasing emissions simply aren’t compatible with human health and wellbeing. The climate and biodiversity crisis is the biggest health challenge of the 21st century. It’s time we started acting like it. – Yours, etc,
Dr OLA LØKKEN NORDRUM,
Irish Doctors for the Environment,
Dublin 4.
Family reunification
Sir, – Rhetoric, debate and protests are no substitute for practical action to relieve suffering and secure people’s safety. When minister for justice during the early stages of Syria’s civil war, I put in place a family reunification scheme to enable family members of Syrian nationals lawfully resident in Ireland affected by the conflict to join their families in Ireland. Family reunification of those impacted by conflict through no fault of their own is a value government should promote.
The government-approved scheme of last September to provide medical care for up to 30 sick children from Gaza while both belated and limited was a welcome initiative, as reported Sorcha Pollak (“We are begging-begging- for help to bring our children to Ireland”, News April 3rd). Seven of the eight children who have travelled up to now to be treated under the scheme came to Ireland accompanied by their mother, one by an older sister, and also permitted to travel were some younger siblings. This well-intended scheme in its conception was minimalistic and clearly little thought was given to the importance of keeping families together, to the impact on the families of spousal separation, to the attachment of seriously ill children to their father and to the circumstances of children left behind in Gaza.
Tragically the dreadful Israel/ Gaza war continues, hostages are still held captive by Hamas in Gaza which is intent on restoring its brutal rule and no end to the conflict is in sight. Additional children in need of medical care could avail of this scheme and it is unclear why so far only eight have arrived. In the meantime, the Government should urgently apply a whole of family perspective and agree to the pleas of those here by facilitating their being joined by children still in Gaza and their husbands, subject to any necessary security clearances. – Yours, etc,
ALAN SHATTER,
Dublin 16.
Remembering Mick O’Dwyer
Sir, – It is all too easy, being from a county like Kilkenny, to take All-Ireland final day and the build up of excitement it bestows on a community for granted (“Kerry football legend Mick O’Dwyer dies at the age of 88”, Sport, April 3rd).
My working life brought me to Kildare, a county with as dedicated and enthusiastic community of supporters as there is but with an All-Ireland experience the polar opposite to that of my native county.
And then Mick O’Dwyer came along in the 1990s, bringing Kildare that “All-Ireland magic” and a lesson for me on the hubris of complacency. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL GANNON,
Kilkenny.
The Irish Times – 1001 uses
Sir, – Recent correspondence on this topic (April 1st, 2nd) prompts me to write from a relaxed retirement.
While my daily delivered copy serves me well each morning, not least by publishing my occasional Letter to the Editor, it really comes into its own by early afternoon, by providing a tunnel over my face, as I adopt a more recumbent posture for my afternoon nap.
This usefulness actually increases as the week progresses, as the more lightweight editions of the earlier weekdays are outdone by their weightier successors towards the weekend.
Highly recommended! – Yours, etc,
DESMOND SWAN,
Stillorgan,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – I remember my mother showing me how to wrap apples in newspaper and carefully stow them in long wooden drawers for the winter months. There was nothing like munching on a crispy Beauty of Bath in the middle of November. – Yours, etc,
MARY WILKINSON,
Barna,
Galway.
Sir, – My parents would stuff of copies of The Irish Times into the soaking wet football boots of myself and my brother on Saturdays to dry them out. It’s a trick that I still use and means that I am sure to have bone-dry footwear the next day.
It’s the little things. – Yours, etc,
TOM KINGSTON,
Kilmacud,
Dublin 14.
Guarding Molly Malone
Sir, – I am not worried about poor Molly Malone’s dignity and her need for minding by Dublin City Council (“Patrols to protect Molly Malone statue from groping”, News, April 1st).
How about protecting the living human beings on the streets of Dublin, please? – Yours, etc,
CATHERINE O’FLYNN,
Dublin 7.
Sir, – Regarding statues being being touched for good luck, I would add Botero’s magnificent statue of the naked Adam in New York. No prizes for guessing which part is touched! – Yours, etc,
ROSEMARY GRAHAM,
Malahide,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – A deterrent to stop tourists from groping the Molly Malone statue might be to paint bird droppings on Molly’s décolletage. That should do the trick. – Yours, etc,
DAVID CURRAN,
Knocknacarra,
Galway.
Sir, – My heart goes out to poor Molly Malone. She must be so disappointed that only a limited part of her anatomy is kept polished and gleaming by the public. When her auld pal Anna Livia was resident in O’Connell Street, she was regularly treated to a complete bubble bath to keep her spick and span. – Yours, etc,
NOEL SHANAGHY,
Faithlegg,
Co Waterford.
