Israel’s plans to seize Gaza
Sir, – The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris has accurately described the onslaught in Gaza as “despicable and unconscionable” and condemned Israel’s plans to “conquer” the Palestinian territory (“Israeli plans to seize Gaza ‘alarming’, says Tánaiste”, News, May 6th).
While Mr Harris is correct, he should direct some of his outrage at US president Donald Trump, who months ago urged Binyamin Netanyahu to expel Palestinians from Gaza, and at the EU, which despite repeated and blatant breaches of international humanitarian law has steadfastly refused to implement any sanctions against the Israeli state. What is planned by Israel is undoubtedly monstrous, but it has been well-flagged and is hardly a surprise. The impunity enjoyed by Israel has emboldened it to do as it pleases.
The deliberate starvation of a civilian population is a war crime and the weaponisation of aid is utterly abhorrent. Regardless of the illegality, there are ministers in Israel’s government who are shameless about this policy.
While words of condemnation are necessary, they fall far short of what is required. Mr Harris’s statement would carry considerably more weight, for instance, if the Government wasn’t delaying and watering down the Occupied Territories Bill. There have been many such reproachful words uttered since this catastrophe began, but they have been ignored because Israel is still treated by the US and most EU countries as a “friend” and ally, and not as the murderous rogue state that it is. – Yours, etc,
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FINTAN LANE,
Lucan,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – Commenting on reports from the World Food Programme that “children are being left starving, and even dying” due to Israel’s refusal to let aid into the Gaza Strip, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris says: “We cannot and will not stand idly by and let this happen” (“Irish support for human rights and international law will never be compromised, says Tánaiste, Politics, May 6th).
The Israeli state’s depredations – the bombing of hospitals, the strafing of ambulances, or the callous blocking of aid convoys – are part funded by global sales of “Israel bonds”, with sales throughout the EU authorised by our own Central Bank.
Mr Harris’s colleague, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe, has dismissed the prospect of legislating to end this facilitation of Israeli atrocities, despite the advice of the Oireachtas’s Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisors (OPLA), who said: “A Private Members’ Bill (PMB) can provide for restricted access to its financial services on the basis of public policy grounds that are rooted in the Ireland’s fundamental interest in pursuing its international law obligations.”
If our Tánaiste is “deeply appalled and sickened” at Israel’s continuing blockade of humanitarian aid entering Gaza, how much more appalling and sickening is it to think that under the Government’s watch, an Irish State institution is complicit in the Israeli state’s war crimes?
The Government must end this appalling practice immediately. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN Ó ÉIGEARTAIGH,
Donnybrook,
Dublin 4.
Normalisation of apartment living
Sir, – By any international reckoning, Ireland has a housing problem. This is at least partially due to the national attachment to house ownership, where renting or apartment-living tend to be viewed as lesser options. By contrast, throughout mainland Europe’s cities, house living is so out of the ordinary that it is almost a complete outlier: virtually everyone lives in apartments, often rented – by choice – for decades and generations.
Without making too little of the apparently unique difficulties associated with securing planning permission for high-density residential developments in Irish urban centres, one obvious solution to our housing problem, especially in our cities, would be to pursue the normalisation of apartment living. This could be achieved by making apartment living plentiful, high quality, family-friendly, well-located and in well-serviced areas.
To paraphrase the oft-quoted definition, a developed city is not a place where the poor live in houses; it’s where the rich live in apartments. But for that to happen – if that is what we actually want – we first need the enabling political, legislative and policy levers to be in place. – Yours, etc,
CONOR MOONEY,
Paris,
France.
Academics speaking out
Sir – Colette Colfer and John Armstrong assert that “many women [at Irish universities] simply do not dare to speak” when their views do not align with those of Advance HE, the organisation that the Higher Education Authority has hired to advance gender equality at Irish universities (“Why do we have a charter for thought control in Irish universities?”, Opinion, May 4th).
While I and many of my colleagues believe that Advance HE’s tool, Athena Swan, is less than perfect, I strongly doubt that the mean-spirited critique offered here is widely shared. In nearly 20 years in Irish academia not once have I heard anyone voice any concern about the presence of trans people on our campuses or about the way that their as yet statistically insignificant representation is counted in this or any other context.
Moreover, academic staff are routinely outspoken on a wide tropics including the increasingly poor mental health of our students and precarity of our colleagues to the limited access we have to research funding, and the very real challenges to academic freedom that are indeed limiting discourse in other countries. It is difficult for me to believe that this is the one issue on which my colleagues have strong feelings but remain silent. – Yours, etc,
KATHLEEN JAMES-CHAKRABORTY,
Professor of art history, UCD,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – The article criticising the Athena Swan Ireland Charter as a “charter for thought control” is overblown and narrowly focused. Universities are places of open debate but they are not value-neutral voids. They are grounded in principles of inclusion, equality and progress.
Policies promoting gender self-identification and intersectionality are not authoritarian impositions; they help foster respectful environments where all – especially the historically underrepresented – can thrive.
The article overstates claims about legal risks, misrepresents nuances around pronoun use and overreacts to the use of external policy templates, which each university must thoughtfully adapt.
Moreover, pointing to a fine levied on a UK university under English law as if it predicts legal risks here is misplaced
While academic freedom must be protected, rejecting institutional commitments to equity under the banner of free speech overlooks universities’ duty to represent and support all members of the academic community. Progressive values are not censorship; they are how we ensure freedom to learn, teach and debate for everyone. – Yours, etc,
JOSEPH O’SHEA,
Cork.
‘Faux outrage’ over Kneecap
Sir, – The Israeli security cabinet has voted to expand military operations in Gaza, thereby accelerating what many have described as a genocide (“Israel to scale up military operations in Gaza following security cabinet decision”, World, April 5th).
This is all the more galling when reflecting on the faux outrage and news time being taken up with Kneecap and their recent performances. Where is the outrage at what is going on in Gaza?
Instead, we get prevarication on the Occupied Territories Bill in this country, censorship of Israeli criticism in Germany and illegal deportations of those protesting in the US about Israeli brutality.
Despite overwhelming evidence of constant human rights outrages and countless violations of international law by Israel, those standing up and calling it out are more vulnerable to prosecution than the perpetrators themselves.
Kneecap are correct to highlight the gross hypocrisy at play here. We cannot remain silent while innocent children are slaughtered on a daily basis. History will show that the West stood by and allowed Israel and its defence forces to slaughter thousands of innocent civilians, and break all tenets of international law with impunity.
Kneecap has done us a service by highlighting their detractors’ lack of moral backbone. – Yours, etc,
BARRY WALSH,
Blackrock,
Cork.
Achievable renewable targets
A chara, – I increasingly find the Government’s inactivity when it comes to renewable energy targets akin to Homer Simpson. Many readers will be familiar with the “SMART goal” framework, where targets should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
This middle word, achievable, appears to be missing from all Government targets, not least the 5GW offshore wind target for 2030. As Edel Corrigan pointed out last December, it was “fairly clear”, that this target will not be met (“Poor outlook for meeting offshore wind targets”, Special Reports, December 4th, 2024).
Last month these ambitions suffered a further blow when one of the intended projects, Sceirde Rocks, was withdrawn, as reported by Kevin O’Sullivan. One would be forgiven for believing this would cause a rethink of these already lofty objectives.
However, the Department of Environment, Climate, and Communications has recently reiterated their commitment to achieving this now impossible feat, in their launch of the National Offshore Renewable Energy Designated Maritime Area Plan, which will set out where projects can be built by the end of 2027 (the average length of time to build said projects could be up to 10 years following this).
This ostrich-like head burying is preventing meaningful discussion of the reallocation of decarbonisation activity to other sectors, allowing Ireland to meet, or at least come closer to, our overall EU targets, and mitigate the ¤26 billion in penalties for not doing so.
As Homer Simpson victory-dances, ironically claiming he “is so smart”, only to spell it “SMRT”, I believe it’s fair to say the Government has joined him. – Yours, etc,
CONOR TOTTERDELL
Glenageary,
Co Dublin.
Judges training their peers
Sir, – A recent report by your legal affairs correspondent Mary Carolan into the “judges who train peers on sentencing” was illuminating and instructive (“Judiciary ‘will not be influenced by public reaction’, says judge, amid criticism of lenient sentences”, Courts, May 3rd).
Members of the public who are victims of serious crimes often may not understand the reasoning behind a judge’s sentencing. Often we regard judges, from lower courts to the higher courts, as removed from the realities of everyday life, but that is not the case. They are people like you and me, but who have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the law and its application, and must be seen as independent and objective when faced with the unenviable task of adjudicating in high-profile contentious criminal or civil cases.
Judges are aware that their every word is scrutinised, not just by the media or the public, but by the Judicial Council of Ireland, which was placed on statutory footing in 2019.
While offenders may enter an early plea to an offence, or offences, to get a reduced sentence, judges must take into consideration that early plea and whether or not the offender has previous convictions.
While we hear and read of recidivists with multiple convictions getting reduced sentences, judges are not there to enact revenge on our behalf but to administer the laws and explain their decisions. We also know that if victims of serious crimes are not happy with the sentences meted out to offenders, the Director of Public Prosecutions can, on their behalf, appeal for a longer sentence.
Sentencing someone to prison doesn’t fix the problem of criminality; it is not merely a punishment but should be seen as a form of rehabilitation. Sadly, however, that is not the case. Unless we put proper structures in place and invest in training and rehabilitation, including counselling that shows the impact of an offender’s crime on the general public, then those who are sentenced will have learned nothing from their incarceration.
While we can’t blame judges for someone’s criminal behaviour, we should hold them to account if their sentencing formula puts the public at risk, and that’s why proper ongoing sentencing training is key to the proper administration of justice. – Yours, etc,
CHRISTY GALLIGAN,
Letterkenny,
Co Donegal.
Rising temperatures
Sir, – The Paris Agreement adopted in 2015 set a goal of limiting global warming to below 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels, while aiming to limit it to 1.5 degrees.
Worryingly, based on temperature records published by Met Eireann, over the last three months Ireland has fallen short of this goal over a much shorter time frame than pre-industrial levels. The average temperatures recorded in April 2025 was 2.5 degrees higher than the long-term average temperature in 1961-1990. In February and March 2025 average temperatures were 1.89 degrees and 2.09 degrees respectively warmer than the 1961-1990 long-term monthly averages. There is no acknowledgement of this trend by the Irish Government. There is also no sense of urgency that climate action is needed to reduce the risk of climate chaos that rising temperatures will cause. It feels like Ireland has a climate action plan without enough action, ambition and urgency. – Yours, etc,
MARK FOX,
Dublin 18.
Ballyboggan’s origins
Sir, – I agree that the description of Ballyboggan as “an unlovely working title ...[named] after a local road” is rather unfair, however the suggestion by your letter writer that the name derives from another Ballyboggan outside Dublin seems overly complicated (Letters, May 6th).
Ballyboggan Road runs through the townland of Ballyboggan south, as can be seen on the Ordnance Survey maps as far back as 1829, and Broome Bridge is also in that townland. Ballyboggan north is, appropriately, to the north of Ballyboggan Road. It would appear that the “unlovely working title” is in fact the “real” name of the area, happily resurrected from apparent obscurity. Its authenticity presumably prevents it from being unlovely. – Yours, etc,
CHRIS McAULEY,
Dooradoyle,
Limerick.
