Letters: Gaza war has become a litmus test for Irish politicians' moral standing

Irish Independent

27-07-2025

The fractious Oireachtas hearings on the Occupied ­Territories Bill have shown how quickly a debate about Gaza can become a ­litmus test for moral standing at home.
The fallout from Shatter's intervention points to a deeper trend. In an age of polarised media and globalised outrage, moderate voices — like that of Maurice Cohen — risk being drowned out, not by organised hostility, but by the irresistible pull of political theatre.
Once a debate is framed in absolute terms of genocide versus antisemitism, there's little space left for reasoned dialogue. As Yeats wrote: 'The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.'
We are entering an era when Irish electoral contests may pivot on global conflicts and their moral symbolism, with Gaza the first, but hardly the last, example. ­Expect ­future candidates to be judged less on national policy and more on their alignment with the prevailing international cause of the moment.
Ireland, long a country of nuanced diplomacy, may find itself boxed into louder, starker positions by the global echo chamber we have invited into our politics. If everyone is forced to pick a side, we may forget about standing for sense.
Enda Cullen, Tullysaran, Co Armagh
Michael D Higgins pays no heed to limitations of office
Madam — The media are in overdrive, salivating about a largely unimportant and ­powerless political office. Just to indicate its relative lack of importance, I read one lengthy article that suggested ­holding a national lottery to pick our next president.
In the meantime, I have read nothing but praise for Michael D Higgins. He is celebrated for speaking out eloquently on ­issues at home and abroad and for his articulation of the ­national consciousness.
However, may I strike a ­discordant note? I believe him to be the worst president we have had. He knows the constitutional limitations of the office and ignores them. His function is not to put pressure on the Government or to pass comment on international issues.
Indeed, in doing so he is ­taking upon himself the duties of an opposition TD or minister for foreign affairs.
It does not appear he has done any damage, but his ­addresses to the nation (without government approval) have created a precedent for the next incumbent, which could give rise to a constitutional crisis.
We should hope for a ­politically neutral, inactive ­president who knows and ­accepts the limitations of the office.
Anthony Hanrahan, Salruck, Renvyle, Co Galway
Hillery understood role of presidency
Madam — Amid the current debate, one thinks of former presidents of Ireland — for example, Patrick Hillery, who respected the non-political nature of the role even under immense pressure from taoiseach CJ Haughey.
Contrast that with the present incumbent, Michael D Higgins consistently using the office as a soapbox to express his own ideological views. A 'thundering disgrace' or what?
Ena Keye, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14
Job promises much and delivers so little
Madam — I find it strange that so few VIPs are interested in the prospect of becoming our next president. It's a great job with very little stress. It's well paid and you get to live in a beautiful house, with plenty of free travel and staff to take care of all of your needs.
Here's a mad idea: I'll take the job if nobody else wants it. I'd promise to make Ireland great again. In fact, I could promise anything, but I wouldn't have the power to deliver anything.
Jim Walsh, Templeogue, Dublin 6W
Innate inactivity of Áras is such a bore
Madam — After a period of reflection and self-analysis, I have decided not to seek a nomination for the presidential election. The Government has all the executive powers, so I'd be spending my days hosting garden parties and walking the dogs.
I'd be bored to tears in the opulent 95-room mansion. I'd have servants and military aides-de-camp fussing all over me and a chauffeur-driven 1947 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith and Mercedes-Benz S-Class saloon to transport me to ceremonial events. I'd have to do very little for the outlandish ­salary other than play solitaire or watch daytime television.
I couldn't go for a drink or to a match without a posse of security personnel for com­pany. OK, I'd get in free, but I'd probably have to throw in the ­muddy ball or shake hands with colossal rugby types, whose grip would crush my fingers.
I'm far too busy and active to retire to the Áras. I'd be very lonesome in the big smoke and I'd miss the good life in Kerry. No — like the late Garrett ­FitzGerald, my temperament isn't suited to seven years of ­innate inactivity.
Billy Ryle, Spa, Tralee, Co Kerry
Calls for a Jewish voice hard to hear
Madam — I am bemused by Shane Ross's comments (Opinion, July 20) that we need a Jewish voice in the ­Oireachtas for the fewer than 3,000 Jews in Ireland, given that there are far more Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists in Ireland than Jews.
Where are the calls to represent those constituencies?
Mark O'Hagan, Midleton, Co Cork
Madam — I admire Shane Ross's compassion for Alan Shatter about growing antisemitism, but I am not sure that specifically Jewish repre­sentation in the Oireachtas is the answer. In the past, Ben ­Briscoe and Mervyn Taylor were elected on merit, not ­because of their membership of the Jewish community.
I disagree with the notion that somebody should be made a senator on the basis of ­representing a minority. Status is achieved, not ­ascribed.
Thomas Garvey, Claremorris, Co Mayo
Quinn's blinkers obscure hypocrisy
Madam — David Quinn rightfully portrays Catherine ­Connolly as having ideological blinkers driven by her anti-­imperialist outlook ­('Connolly shouldn't give up the day job', July 20). Maybe he should ­reflect on his own ideological blinkers regarding Israel driven by his right-wing outlook.
Ben Wrafter, Dooneen, Co Limerick
UN has no business in Ireland's affairs
Madam — So the UN wants another vote on women in the home? Why is the Government continuing to fund the National Women's Council, which ­certainly does not represent the views of most women in Ireland.
This was demonstrated by the huge vote against the proposal to ­remove from the Constitution language about mothers in the home as it 'no longer ­reflects the realities of women's lives'.
Who gave this council the right to try to overturn support for women who choose to stay at home and rear their children, where it is possible?
I agree with David Quinn's recommendation ('Fancy ­another vote on women in the home? The UN does', July 13) that the next time we appear before a UN or EU body and it makes a similar recommendation, the message from the government in power must be: hands off our Constitution.
Mary Stewart, Donegal
Fair city has gone too far over Molly
Madam — The statue of ­Molly Malone is back in the news this week with speculation that she, and her bust in particular, is to be shielded by a cordon of ­flowers, previous methods having failed to stop her bosom from getting shinier.
All a bit over the top, especially in the context of a similar statue of a naked Camino ­pilgrim taking a rest on a bench in the plaza of Santa Maria Cathedral in Burgos, Spain. He too has some very burnished parts, but city authorities have shown no Dublin-style ­interest in keeping tourists at bay.
Perhaps this is due to the fact his manhood is regularly concealed by folks sitting on his lap.
Michael Gannon, Co Kilkenny
Curragh proposal was a hard cell
Madam — I see plans to ­reopen the old military prison at the Curragh ('Curragh jail plan rejected by Prison Service', July 20) have been shelved. ­Obviously the idea was a non-runner.
Noel Kelly, Doonbeg, Co Clare
Church shows sense in removing Casey's remains
Madam — Thanks be to God the Catholic Church has seen sense and moved Bishop Eam­onn Casey's remains from the crypt in Galway Cathedral to anywhere but there.
Yes, he was a very charismatic man when I met him some years ago in the RDS. I told him I was pleased to meet him and he said 'Yerra girl, I'm pleased to meet you too' in his thick accent as he shook the hands off me. If I met him ­today, I'd kick him where the sun don't shine.
Little did I know of what was to emerge. Never would I have denounced him for having a son, as this was a normal enough thing to do — even if he ran away from his responsibility with this too, preferring the good life instead.
It was the sexual abuse of his niece Patricia Donovan that shocked me. It was so difficult for her to prove everything. So difficult for her to live with it knowing he was being treated like a pompous king. A man of the cloth hiding behind the cross of Jesus Christ. Shame on him.
My heart goes out to his family too and the grief they had to endure finding out what he was up to. May the Lord bless and keep Patricia and all the victims.
Terry Healy Riordan, Kill Village, Co Kildare
Stark contrast of burials hits home
Madam — As I read last week's report by Anne ­Sheridan and Joe Little ('Casey family left to decide burial site for bishop', July 20), I found myself reflecting on two very different disinterments.
One is reminded of how ­Bishop Eamonn Casey was ­buried with pomp and ceremony in Galway Cathedral.
When one juxtaposes this with all the innocent babies stacked up on top of each other anonymously in the ground at Tuam, one is left with the feeling that this is a metaphor for something.
Maybe it was society's warped idea of who or what was important at one stage.
John O'Brien, Clonmel, Co Tipperary
Tuam babies should be left to rest in peace
Madam — I am writing as I am deeply disturbed by the planned exhumation of the remains of up to 800 babies in Tuam, the last of whom was buried in 1961, over 60 years ago. Some of these children were buried a century ago, their remains now commingled with many others in the earth.
The circumstances of their burial, and the failure to properly record their deaths, were undoubtedly wrong. However, I find it difficult to reconcile the pursuit of identifying what I believe will be only a small ­percentage of these children with the moral duty to let the remainder rest where they have lain for manydecades.
Today's society is outraged by what happened to them, and rightly so; but I must question what a modern society stands to gain from the large-scale ­disturbance and movement of their remains in pursuit of DNA identification of a few. Regardless of the failings of adults long past, these children bear no blame. They died in innocence, and I firmly believe they should be allowed to remain where they were laid on the day of their death, however inappropriate.
What does it say about us if we disturb their rest not out of necessity, but to satisfy a sense of moral outrage many decades after the fact? These children cannot speak for themselves. They have no voice, no advocate at the table where these decisions are being made.
As a moral people, we have a duty to pause, to reflect, and to consider what respect for the dead truly demands. I believe their right to peace deserves a full and open hearing from all society.
Jonathan Roth, Derrynanaff, Co Mayo
Hurling formula all about chaos theory
Madam — Hurling games have a habit of taking on a life of their own. If the same teams were to play a week later, there is no guarantee the result would be even similar. Meanwhile, we have pundits and commentators talking mouthfuls and writing reams telling us before a game about who is ­going to win and why.
When their predictions are wide of the mark, the same folk then promulgate ­various ­theories as to why one team won and another lost, as though there were some great pre-planned tactics at play.
Hurling is wild and doesn't conform to game theory — more to chaos theory.
Joseph Mackey, Athlone, Co Westmeath
Rebel hurlers lack divine inspiration
Madam — The phenomenon of moving statues was a popu­lar occurrence 40 years ago this month. The trusting and willing would stand for hours staring, hoping to see some form of ­motion or activity from the standing sculptures.
Because the optic nerve can trick the brain, dusky and poor lighting conditions add an ­unpredictability to what we think we are seeing. If you look at something long enough, it will move — even Cork hurlers.
Vincent O'Connell, New Ross, Co Wexford
It's Dáil over bar the shouting for Cork
Madam — I was shocked when it appeared that Michael Lowry had made an obscene two-fingered gesture in the Dáil some months ago.
I was relieved when this matter was clarified following the Tipperary v Cork match. It is now clear that he was merely predicting the number of points Cork would score in the second half if they came up against Tipperary in the All-Ireland final.
John F Jordan, Glenageary, Co Dublin
Joanna brings us a breath of fresh air
Madam — It's encouraging to read Joanna Donnelly's ­columns that are infused with the cheerfulness we became ­accustomed to in her TV appearances.
Here's looking forward to many more in the future. Maith thú Joanna.