Sir, – The latest unprovoked attack on Iran by the US and Israel appears to be based on the urgent need to completely destroy its nuclear capability despite the fact that US president Donald Trump has consistently boasted of having already wiped out all elements of its nuclear programme.
Israel, a nuclear armed state with a record of attacking its neighbours alongside committing genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people, never loses an opportunity to encourage the all too gullible US to act in Israeli interests without any regard for the wider or long term consequences for the region.
Having said that, I wonder if it would be too much to expect Israel and the US to attack and destroy the Iranian facilities building drones for the use of the Russians in Ukraine?
Bearing in mind that these attacks against Iran are supposedly designed to promote regime change, why does the US seem so unwilling to stand up to Russia, a regime that is as bad if not worse than that in Iran?
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Double standards, hypocrisy, selective outrage and cowardice would appear to be the prime motivator of Donald Trump and his allies. – Yours, etc,
HUGH PIERCE,
Celbridge,
Co Kildare.
Sir, – Taoiseach Micheál Martin has expressed “deep concern” about the attacks on Iran and said that “Ireland has always believed that conflict should be resolved through diplomacy and negotiation, in line with the principles of the UN Charter and international law”.
If that is the case he has a strange way of showing it and should immediately put a stop to US military use of Shannon. But I presume he has neither the inclination nor the courage to do so. – Yours etc,
ROB FAIRMICHAEL,
Editor, Nonviolent News,
Coordinator, INNATE,
Belfast.
Sir, – Since Donald Trump became president of the United States for the second time just over a year ago, the US has bombed Iran; supported and financed Israel’s genocide in Gaza; invaded Venezuela and abducted its democratically elected president; bombed Yemen and Nigeria; attacked vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific and carried out drone strikes in Syria, Iraq, and Somalia – all justified by a shifting array of excuses.
No one can credibly quantify how many tens of thousands of people have been murdered.
Throughout this ongoing campaign of violence, our own Government has confined itself to issuing endless, repetitive, weak, insipid, wishy-washy statements. These statements all share one defining characteristic: they never criticise the United States.
Shame on them all. – Yours, etc,
ENDA FANNING,
Churchtown,
Dublin 14.
White House visit and Gaza factor
Sir, – As the Taoiseach prepares for the annual presentation of shamrock at the White House, much of the discussion will understandably centre on trade, investment and diplomatic ties.
Yet many Irish people are also asking what our presence signifies at a moment of profound human suffering in Gaza.
Ireland’s historical memory is not abstract. During the famine of 1847, when our own people were starving, the Choctaw Nation – themselves dispossessed and traumatised – sent funds for relief. That act of solidarity is commemorated by the Kindred Spirits sculpture in Midleton.
It stands as a reminder that a wounded people can still choose moral generosity.
That memory has long shaped how Ireland understands itself in the world: small, historically scarred but committed to human dignity and international humanitarian law.
In recent years, voices such as Michael D Higgins articulated a vision of ethical leadership that resonated far beyond our shores.
Diplomacy matters. Economic stability matters. Engagement, even with those with whom we profoundly disagree, can matter.
But so too does moral clarity. When civilian lives are being lost on a devastating scale, symbolic gestures carry weight.
Presence can be interpreted as endorsement unless accompanied by clear and consistent articulation of humanitarian principles.
The question is not whether Ireland should engage with the United States.
It is whether our leaders can combine diplomatic ritual with unmistakable public advocacy for the protection of civilian life, adherence to international law and an immediate commitment to ending the suffering of innocents.
Our famine history and the generosity shown to us in our darkest hour, ask something of us still.
Not rhetoric but courage. Not grandstanding but conscience. – Yours, etc,
MARGARET ROCHE, MPhil
Interfaith Minister,
Terenure,
Dublin 6.
Drawing water from the Shannon
Sir, – I am intrigued by the arguments by councillors and others against a proposal to draw water from the River Shannon to boost the already much depleted supply of potable water in the Dublin region.
The suggestion is made by some that the local environment along the Shannon waterway would suffer; also tourism and recreational fishing in the region. I have yet to see any convincing evidence to back up those assertions.
On the contrary, the massive engineering works involved could contribute to averting the widespread flooding in the midwest and elsewhere that has been headlined in the media over recent years.
I should imagine that research by the Economic and Social Research Institute, in consultation with the Central Statistics Office, on demographics and population movements across all counties to Dublin since the 1901 Census, would reveal an interesting pattern.
As far as I am aware, there were never any objections to the influx of people into Dublin for economic or other reasons since that time, or suggestions that the newcomers should be penalised.
Before the campaign against the water pipeline gets under way, using defence of otters, natterjack toads, bees, water fowl, bats, lizards etc and now woodpeckers, let us be grown up and home in on the fact that the bottom line is about having a reliable water supply for the steadily increasing population in the Dublin region. The alternative would be unthinkable.
Is ar scáth a chéile a mharamid. We will survive by looking after one another. – Yours, etc,
PATRICK JUDGE,
Dublin.
Housing and flooding
Sir, – Minister for Housing James Browne suggests that the State might buy out houses that are subject to repeated flooding events.
The State has agreed to purchase the houses backing onto Charlemont MetroLink station because of residents’ concerns about noise and disruption. The pyrite and mica restitution scheme will cost at least ¤2.2 billion and recently even homes in Dublin have been included.
Apartments built with defects during the Celtic Tiger era will cost the State at least €2.5 billion.
Karl Marx in his wildest dreams could not have imagined a state that would act as the backstop guarantor for the difficulties of private property owners. When will someone in the Civil Service shout “stop”? When the State coffers are empty? – Yours, etc,
DAVID LOUGHLIN,
Dublin 6.
A pronounced problem
Sir, – Frank McNally (Getting Our Oar In, Irishman’s Diary February 27th) reminded me of an interview I conducted many years ago with a Free State Army veteran for an RTÉ television programme about the Civil War entitled Madness from Within.
The gentleman had been a young recruit during the war, serving in Cork city where he witnessed an ambush by the anti-Treaty IRA on a National Army patrol.
He described comforting one of the unfortunate young victims of the attack as he lay dying on the street. In his final moments the injured soldier, he said, had called out for his “mother” before he expired.
One newspaper television critic, taken with this vivid account of one of many dreadful episodes of the war, remarked on how the young solder had cried “murder” as he passed from this world to the next. Following McNally’s illuminating column, I am now wondering was the TV critic correct. – Yours, etc,
BRYAN DOBSON,
Dublin 8.
Sir, – Your letter writer Ted O’Keeffe (February 28th) recalls the Kerry pronunciation of “sixpence” sounding like “suckspence”.
I remember well as a young employee of Guinness Brewery with eyes on winning the Rose of Tralee competition, I asked a work colleague, a Kerryman, what does it take to win this esteemed competition – good looks, good job or an interesting pastime?
His answer was prompt and assertive: you need “good pies of course” he explained, “good shtanding”.
Of course, he meant “good poise”. I have become aware of my posture ever since then, in spite of not winning that now world famous competition. – Yours, etc,
BRENDA MORGAN,
Dublin.
Football and flares
Sir, – As a Dundalk season ticket holder, it was sad to see the damage to the new pitch jointly funded by the Government and the Dundalk Supporters Trust.
Drogheda FC didn’t cause the damage, a small number of their fans did. They have been fined €15,000, a sum I’m sure they can ill afford.
In addition their fans are barred from attending their next four away fixtures as well as any fixtures at Oriel Park for the remainder of the season. As a consequence Sligo Rovers, St Patrick’s Athletic, Derry City, Waterford and Dundalk FC will suffer financially for the actions of a few.
Every League of Ireland club has to go to the cost of installing CCTV and have “enhanced detection measures” such as sniffer dogs to detect fireworks. Again this is a case of all having to pay for the actions of a few.
If the League of Ireland want to punish Drogheda, would it not have been a better solution to make them play a number of home games behind closed doors and not penalise the other five clubs? That would be a lesson to fans of all clubs to behave at games.
The response by the Minister for Sport and the League of Ireland following the damage to the new pitch at Oriel Park is disappointing and a knee jerk reaction.
I believe their words and actions are as effective as reviewing flares on CCTV. – Yours, etc,
DICK BOURKE.
Carrickmacross,
Co Monaghan.
Wood Quay revisited
Sir, – Should Dublin City Council’s proposed move and redevelopment of the Wood Quay site go ahead, it will be yet another lost opportunity for this site, compounding the sins of the previous demolitions to create the civic offices.
Whilst the aims are laudable (limiting carbon release whilst adding much needed housing stock) the full scale of the site is not being utilised for what could be achieved here.
Due to the poor site design of the current scheme, the site acts as a “full stop” to the Temple Bar West area and limits permeability between there and the Winetavern and Cook Street areas – areas that could certainly use pedestrians. Added to this, the raised plinth nature of the frontage to Wood Quay itself negates interaction at street level (turning the quay into possibly the deadest in the area. And as anyone who has been in the Sam Stephenson designed section will attest, the low ceiling heights would be claustrophobic to live in.
Furthermore, the windswept, steeply sloping north facing park that makes up the west side of the site is not an appropriate use of this site. Streets such as Winetavern street are expected to have buildings on both sides, not one. Whilst there is a pleasant view of Christchurch currently afforded by this park, medieval cathedrals such as this were not built to stand in isolation, rather it is more appropriate that they are surrounded by buildings and originally cloisters.
Finally, as any urban planner knows, single use blocks are detrimental to cities. City blocks should be multi-use and not monopolised by single use areas that provide no variety.
One need only look back at photographs of what used to stand on this site, businesses, houses, pubs, shops with people living over them and more. Should the council proceed with this scheme as currently proposed, we will once again rue yet another opportunity missed.
Some major thought should be put into a generational opportunity to do the right thing by this pivotal site in the city. – Yours ,etc,.
RORY J WHELAN,
Co Meath.
Humanities and science forum
Sir, – We note the announcement by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless, of the appointment of 12 members to the new National Science Advice Forum.
Prof Aoife McLysaght’s appointment as Government science advisor in January 2025 was followed with a call to establish a National Science Advice Forum to assist in providing advice and in developing science advice capacity across Government.
The Irish Humanities Alliance (IHA) welcomed the call for expressions last September which notably included expressions of interest from humanities academics and practitioners. While we welcome the scope within this significant forum for valuable expertise in the social sciences, we note with disappointment the absence of any provision for membership by experts from the Humanities whose knowledge, insight, and participation are crucial.
In the IHA’s view, the forum would be greatly enhanced by Humanities involvement. There are no areas of major scientific challenge (from pandemic preparedness to AI and technological innovation) where the work of the forum would not benefit from Humanities input.
The IHA calls on the Minister and the Government science advisor to recognise the value of the Arts and Humanities, in dialogue and partnership with scientific and technological research. – Yours, etc,
SONJA TIERNAN,
Irish Humanities Alliance,
Royal Irish Academy,
Dublin 2.
Horse sense
Sir, – How interesting that in the 18th century the Dublin Paving Board had the initiative to sell the horse manure.
On a tour of the Botanic Gardens, we were shown elephant dung compost, supplied by Dublin Zoo. If the OPW can organise such excellent use of animal dung, surely Dublin City Council can collect horse manure for our parks? – Yours, etc,
GABRIELLE HYLAND,
Dublin.
