Sir, – I write as a veteran from Donetsk, a Ukrainian city occupied by Russia since 2014, and on behalf of the Ukrainian National Diaspora in Ireland, uniting veterans, volunteers and families forced to flee Russia’s full-scale invasion.
In occupied Donbas civilians have suffered torture, repression, abductions, political imprisonment and killings for more than a decade. The Izolyatsia prison became a concentration camp. Russia has abducted more than 20,000 Ukrainian children and deported them to Russia for “re-education” – an internationally recognised war crime and act of genocide.
My native region remains a frontline war zone. Mariupol was destroyed, with thousands buried in mass graves; Izyum and Bucha revealed mass executions and deportations. This is the system Russia imposes wherever it is not stopped.
Our community is deeply concerned by Sinn Féin’s opposition to Ireland’s participation in the €90 billion EU loan package for Ukraine, defended by the party’s leader, Mary Lou McDonald. While respecting Sinn Féin’s commitment to Irish military neutrality, this stance must be examined in the context of an aggressor committing war crimes and genocide.
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McDonald’s arguments fall short.
First, claiming there is “no shortage” of countries funding Ukraine’s military ignores Russia’s vast war budget and support from Iran and North Korea. Every euro saves lives. The package includes humanitarian aid, reconstruction and air defence systems protecting civilians from daily missile strikes. Blocking such support only emboldens Russian president Vladimir Putin and prolongs suffering.
Second, calls for “diplomacy and peacemaking” without leverage are naive. Diplomacy failed after Crimea’s annexation in 2014 because Russia faced few consequences. Genuine peace requires Russian withdrawal, not moral equivalence between aggressor and defender. Sinn Féin’s vote risks aligning Ireland with those weakening European support for Ukraine.
Third, selective appeals to neutrality against EU “militarisation” are inconsistent. Sinn Féin often speaks strongly about international solidarity, including support for Palestinian rights. If such solidarity is meaningful, it must also apply to Ukrainians facing occupation, deportations and daily missile attacks. Neutrality cannot mean silence when civilians are targeted.
Most troublingly, similar rhetoric now targets Ukrainian refugees. Sinn Féin has called for cuts to the Accommodation Recognition Payment (ARP) scheme.
ARP primarily supports ordinary Irish families who opened their homes to Ukrainians fleeing war – not hotel owners or property developers, but citizens who chose solidarity. It allows communities to host displaced people while receiving modest tax-free recognition for their generosity.
We urge Sinn Féin to reconsider and stand unequivocally with Ukraine against occupation, genocide and ongoing war crimes. – Yours, etc,
OLEKSANDR YUROV,
Ukrainian National Diaspora in Ireland (UNDI),
Dublin.
Sir, – Ireland’s neutrality is questioned by Gerard McDermott (Letters, February 27th). Our political leaders tell us repeatedly that we are neutral, meaning not militarily aligned, but they also tell us that we are not neutral regarding Ukraine. Hence, we have supplied military equipment to Ukraine on a number of occasions. It seems that our neutrality is of the Schrödinger’s cat variety – maybe it exists but maybe it doesn’t.
At the launch of the National Maritime Security Strategy, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence Helen McEntee said “we should not be afraid to seek [military] assistance if it’s needed from other countries and from allies and partners” (“Ireland signs agreement with France for joint military training and intel sharing”, February 26th). The corollary is our willingness to provide military assistance to “allies and partners”.
Our European Union partners in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland, in particular, might be interested to know to what extent Ireland would be willing to participate in EU military assistance to them in the face of aggression. Which way would the cat jump? – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN CONWAY
New Quay,
Co Clare.
Sir, – Regarding the planned purchase of French military equipment, it’s high time we start taking our defence seriously and not as something to be left to other nations to solve.
It’s frustrating to see the Government attempt to solve this problem, only to be slowed down by Opposition parties, who continuously cite the constitutional obligation to neutrality. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that we should be permanently defenceless. – Yours, etc,
JAMES CLEAR,
Dún Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.
