Sir, – The inability to link a particular tonne of Aughinish alumina to a particular Russian weapon calls to mind the blank round in one of the rifles in a firing squad: each shooter can tell himself his shot was not the fatal one.
Similarly, the Irish Government now seeks to provide us with the psychological and political reassurance that “our alumina is innocent” – a Swiss auditing company will even be hired to tell us so.
But let us be under no illusion: we are being invited to focus on uncertainty about individual consignments while overlooking the vertically integrated nature of Rusal’s operations. Alumina from Aughinish is a key strategic input for Russia’s aluminium industry as a whole. That industry serves both civilian and military production.
Even if “our” alumina is directed into aluminium that is subsequently exported or used for civilian purposes, such export or civilian use has a replacement effect: it frees up “other” alumina for Russian military production. The blank round in the firing squad does not make the execution any less possible; it allows the remaining rifles to carry live ammunition and kill their victim.
READ MORE
Thus, a Russian company may be said to be using its Irish subsidiary to contribute – directly or indirectly – to Russia’s war on Ukraine.
We would do well to recall how the Allied Powers during the second World War dealt with the export of tungsten (wolfram) from Portugal to Hitler’s Germany. The Allies did not try to prove tungsten from a particular Portuguese mine had entered a particular German anti-tank shell.
They reasoned instead that any additional tungsten available to Germany increased Germany’s overall capacity to manufacture hardened tools and armaments, and thus contributed directly to Germany’s war economy. As a result, Portugal imposed a complete embargo on tungsten exports in June 1944.
Are there lessons here for our own policy regarding alumina exports from Ireland in 2026? – Yours, etc,
Conor Daly,
Bray,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – In the discussion about Aughinish, one point is worth noting: alumina is a fungible commodity. The total amount of alumina processed in Russian smelters is turned into a volume of finished aluminium, some proportion of which ends up in Russian weapons.
To debate whether “Irish” alumina does or does not end up “in weapons” is Jesuitical at best, and morally dishonest at worst. Shipping alumina to Russia helps the war effort in Ukraine. It must stop. – Yours, etc,
DAVID CLARKE,
Ranelagh,
Dublin 6.
Sir, – While the EU has recently strengthened its sanctions on Russia because of its war on Ukraine, a debate has begun on whether some of the Aughinish alumina possibly ends up in the Russian war machine.
Surely this begs the question: how much of it is also ending up in the Israeli war machine? Germany, we understand, is the second largest supplier to the Israeli army after the US. Much of Europe is complicit in the genocide and ethnic cleansing in Palestine.
Essentially, why is Ireland being asked to take sides in a war where a plucky Ukraine (with its many air-raid shelters) is capable of hitting Russian targets as far as St Petersburg?
Meanwhile, displaced Palestinians must cower in tents while being continually bombed and as their children are used as targets by the Israeli army (according to a report in June by a UN independent commission of inquiry).
As a member of this powerful bloc of countries that make up the EU, Ireland must use all its influence to call out hypocrisy, name the genocide for what it is and now use its presidency to stand for justice. It’s the least we can do. – Yours, etc,
MIKE MAC DOMHNAILL,
Caisleán Nua,
Co Luimnigh.
