Letters to the Editor, May 30th: On Gaza and Israel, sharing the footpaths, pay and PHD students

Irish Times

a day ago

Sir, – I hope the profoundly moving and politically inspiring opinion piece by Oliver Sears is taken up by news media outlets around the word and goes viral on social media, including in Israel. (
'Seeing Israel use hunger as a weapon of war is monstrous to me as someone with a Holocaust legacy,' May 28th).
Argued incisively by Sears, isn't this what all decent people should want?: food and medicines in sufficient quantities to be be brought into Gaza immediately; Israelis to depose their own government; Hamas to release the remaining hostages, disarm, and leave Gaza; Iran and Qatar to stop funding terrorist proxies; and, finally, the liberation of Palestinians and Israelis (Iranians too) from the grip of 'malignant regimes.'
Sears also shows us how this can be done: mass protests, a general strike, galvanisation of the opposition in Israel; pressure piled on Israel by its allies; international pressure on Iran and Qatar.
As well as doing what we can in Ireland to end the carnage in Gaza and to support a just, political settlement between Palestinians and Israelis, we must also repair 'the wreckage' that has been done to Jewish community relations in this country – and have a zero-tolerance to all forms of anti-semitism.
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As a 'son of a Holocaust survivor,' and the founder of Holocaust Awareness Ireland, Sears has a moral authority to speak; he deserves to be listened to – widely. – Yours, etc,
CHRIS FITZPATRICK,
Terenure,
Dublin 6.
Sir, – It is good to see Oliver Sears acknowledge that Israel's actions against the Palestinian people are horrifying, inhumane and depressingly reminiscent of the horrors inflicted by the Nazis upon the Jewish people.
It is however hard to fathom how only starvation seems to cross his red line – not the forced expulsion of a population, the shooting dead of civilians (including children) at close range, the massacres of ambulance workers , journalists, doctors and the carpet bombing of heavily populated areas. – Yours, etc,
MURA TIERNEY,
Dublin 8.
Sir, – Oliver Sears expresses the horror of Jews around the world at the continuing slaughter in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing on the West Bank. Anyone who reads the quality liberal and truth-telling Israeli daily newspaper, Haaretz, will recognise his analysis of Israel's current regime as wholly accurate.
Netanyahu, in his frenzied efforts to avoid an election and almost certain imprisonment on multiple corruption charges, is maintaining his coalition by appeasing its racist-fanatical wing, thus continuing a war that long ago lost any military significance.
Indifferent to the lives not only of Gazan civilians, Israeli hostages and Israeli soldiers, I fear he is also putting at risk his country's very survival as a legitimate state.
What a disaster for all concerned! - Yours, etc,
LOUIS MARCUS,
Dublin 16.
Foxed
Sir, – Yesterday in the Dáil, the Bill to ban fox hunting (proposed by Ruth Coppinger People Before Profit) passed through to the next stage by 113 votes to 49. It is somewhat ironic that Sinn Féin, the party for 'Irish Unity' voted overwhelmingly with Independent Ireland and Aontú to oppose a ban on fox hunting.
The practice of chasing a fox with packs of dogs was the realm of the aristocracy and rural gentry in the UK since the 16th century. It is a relic of our colonial past and one which is opposed by the majority of Irish people.
Instead of 'tiocfaidh ar lá' perhaps 'tally ho' might be a more fitting call to action for Sinn Féin going forward?
JOAN BURGESS,
Friars Walk,
Cork.
What's in a (married) name?
Sir, – Áine Kenny reports that 84 per cent of women changed their names on marriage with 14 per cent retaining their own names. For the married men the numbers were 92 per cent retaining and 5 per cent changing. (
'Yet another good name lost to the Mrs Machine,' May 28th
).
I can only conclude that 3 per cent of men and 2 per cent of women don't know themselves after getting married... – Yours, etc,
PAUL NOLAN,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.
Parallel
planets
Sir, – The Environmental Protection Agency reports that Ireland has regressed rather than progressed in achieving its mandated climate change targets. (
'Ireland falls further behind on emissions targets,' May 28th)
.
Am I alone in neither being surprised or shocked by this?
We are a tiny jurisdiction in global terms. We have large infrastructural deficits, as recently outlined bluntly by Uisce Éireann. And of course, we need to construct at least 300,000 new dwellings across the next five years. Which is linked to the infrastructural deficit.
Construction of reservoirs, wastewater treatment plants and new dwellings unavoidably means using materials which we need to quarry/harvest from the ground; there simply is no other way.
The manufacture of vehicle electric batteries is of itself a dubious environmental process. And, in any case, the rest of the vehicle is made of materials which have been used for 125 years.
What parallel planet does the environmental lobby inhabit? Doubtless, if we reverted to all fours, dwelt in caves and fished from the rivers, our carbon footprint would be invisible to even Sherlock Holmes.
But, the lifestyle we actually live has evolved from millennia of adapting our environment to ensure survival and continuance as a species. Agriculture, shelter, employment, invention, fuel, medicine; all came from the human capacity to harness what was around us. And all involved inevitable emissions.
And the recently enacted – yet to be commenced – Planning and Development Act 2024 restates the existing legislative ban on nuclear power.
Yet, here we find ourselves again: being preached at by an environmental lobby whose only rationale when really pushed on compliance with emission targets is to respond that we will be financially penalised if we fail.
The same rationale used in the television payment campaign; it's the law!
Time to get real. – Yours, etc,
LARRY DUNNE,
Rosslare,
Co Wexford.
Moved to tears
Sir, – Whereas I am usually rolling in the aisles laughing at Miriam Lord's 'Dáil Sketch', I was crying to-day with sorrow (
A mother who refused to take no for an answer – for 13 years, 9 months and 20 days
) at what Lucia O'Farrell has come through in her fight for justice for her son Shane.
Well, Lucia, it's a bit late, but you got justice yesterday in Dáil Éireann. – Yours, etc,
URSULA HOUGH-GORMLEY,
Dublin 4.
Defence Forces and the pay issue
Sir, – Every commission into our Defence Forces has recommended that money is an issue for service and retention. Apart from getting the national pay increases on the tailcoat of unions there has been no independent pay increase for our soldiers, sailors or naval personnel.
May I suggest two quick fixes, while other Defence Forces issues are addressed. One is to quadruple the Military Service allowance (MSA) that is paid to all personnel in lieu of overtime and the second is to also increase the Military Overseas allowance.
Neither of these will have a knock-on effect on other unionised groups. Military personnel enjoy overseas service and we must not have to resort to ordering personnel to leave their families for long periods with inadequate recompense for families.
It helped years ago but for a long time the amount has needed adjustment upwards. A simple ¤50 per diem extra, a lot less than overtime payments should be sufficient.
Government take action now and pay these two adjustments from January this year and end this continuous national embarrassment. – Yours,etc,
JOHN MURRAY.
Carrigaline,
Co Cork
Pay and PHD students
Sir, – As an ex-PhD student currently touring the west coast of Ireland (Tulane university, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA), I find the woes of the Postgraduate Workers' Organisation painfully familiar (
'As PHD researchers this is our advice: avoid Ireland
,' May 29th).
I graduated in 2019 and was involved in similar discussions back then. The root cause seemed to be the legal loophole of deeming us 'students' and paying us a figure below the federal minimum wage.
The reality of a PhD is that most of the time you are actively working. Only a minuscule portion of the time are you learning in a classroom. We were bona fide employees, not students.
Enter the employment model, correctly identified by your contributors. If Ireland wants the best PhD 'students,' they should offer state-of-the- art work packages. If universities are 'increasingly run like businesses,' they should pay their 'students' (aka employees) accordingly. – Yours, etc,
DANNY OSEID,
Minneapolis,
Minnesota,
USA
Policing cyclists and motorists
Sir – I am a regular cyclist as well as a regular car driver. I have a split personality: as a car driver I dislike cyclists; as a cyclist I dislike car drivers even more.
Regarding cyclists,
Laura O'Mara's letter (May 28th)
is spot on. Some cyclists rarely stop for red lights, they ride on pavements, they travel with earphones, they don't hand signal, they don't wear helmets and they cycle too quickly. Stand on Baggot Street Bridge in Dublin any day if you need proof.
As a cyclist it really annoys me that these irresponsible individuals give the cyclists who do follow the rules a bad reputation as well as creating understandable frustration among car drivers ( and pedestrians ).
Regarding motorists: often times they don't pass cyclists at a safe distance. On enquiry I was told by the authorities that a law governing safe distances might not be legally enforceable – why not , when this is standard practice throughout the EU? In any event who is going to challenge such a law ? No excuse.
Some motorists ( including delivery trucks ) like to park in cycle lanes. Also they find them handy at traffic lights for extra road space. Plus they hug the kerb in traffic so cyclists can't pass on the inside.
It takes two to tango. Both cyclists and motorists have justifiable grievances. But we need to seriously address the issue of bike/car road safety.
One effective solution is more intensive education for both cyclists and motorists. It should start in the classroom from junior school onwards and should also form part of continuous public service messaging in the media. Another solution is more rigorous enforcement of existing traffic laws, starting perhaps with a Garda presence for a day on Baggot Street Bridge. – Yours, etc,
TOM ROCHE,
Lower Baggot Street
Dublin 2
Sir, – Whether we're talking about walkers, runners, people on bikes, people in cars, we really need to have some empathy and manners.
As I see it, if you're running or travelling on a bike, you have a duty of care towards walkers and anyone moving more slowly than you are. When passing, you need to do so slowly and give lots of space. It's up to you to expect the unexpected.
The same goes for drivers. Drivers are operating potentially lethal vehicles. They have an urgent duty of care towards walkers and people on bikes. Everyone makes mistakes but the mistakes of drivers have far greater consequences when it comes to the safety of others.
Why can't we just have some empathy and understanding instead of this constant blame and finger pointing?
The feeling a walker gets when a person on a bike whizzes past more or less identical to the feeling a person on a bike gets if a car comes too close or too fast. It's frightening and upsetting. It can ruin your day.
The driver or the cyclist probably thinks they're just nipping past, oblivious to the distress caused. I suppose maybe people just don't understand how dangerous it feels if they don't cycle or if they don't feel vulnerable on a footpath?
Maybe it's time to think about that. Some empathy and care on our roads and footpaths from all parties would go a lot further than anger and finger pointing if we're serious about improving safety. – Yours, etc,
GRÁINNE FALLER,
Salthill,
Co Galway.
Sir, – A letter writer castigates people out running on our pavements. As a regular (and I would like to think respectful) pavement runner I would like to rail against those perambulating pedestrians who stick their heads in their phones and march on, oblivious to any other path-users – running or otherwise.
And then there are the cars, delivery vans, and other assorted vehicles that park on footpaths and cycle lanes with an attitude that parking anywhere is sound as long as you're not blocking the road. And don't get me started on the state of our city pavements.
City running is fast becoming an extreme sport. – Yours,etc,
HUGH Mc DONNELL,
Dublin 9.
Education or indoctrination?
Sir, – I would like to disagree respectfully with Alan Haynes regarding his article: (
'Catholic education is not about indoctrination – it is about preparing pupils to contribute to the common good
,' May 27th).
I believe Catholic Education is indoctrination. According to The World Book dictionary, 'indoctrinate: to teach a doctrine, belief or principle to.'
And according to Google 'indoctrinate – to teach a person or group to accept a set of beliefs uncritically'. – Yours, etc,
ANNA B McCABE,
Co Longford.