Pride is more important than ever as LGBT+ community comes under attack from far-right
'We feel that more than ever Pride is an important event due to the rise of the far-right,' says Bernadine Quinn of Dundalk Outcomers as Dundalk Pride takes place this week.
"The visibility of the LGBT+ community and of the local community who support us is very important because of what's happening around the world and in Ireland with the rise of the far-right and anti-LGBT rhetoric.'
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Margaret Roddy
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Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Irish Examiner
John O'Brien: EU capitulation to US in trade deal shows weakness of the bloc
The EU has agreed a trade deal with the US that forces us to trade on worse terms than before. Increased tariffs on exports will make European products less competitive in the US market with a corresponding drop in sales, profits and jobs. This is expected to reduce GDP by 0.5% over the medium term. Financial markets reacted by selling the euro, signalling not only that it is a bad for economic growth but worse than expected. The nature of the negotiation is as damaging as the result. The EU commission, and Ursula von der Leyen in particular, capitulated to US demands, making significant concessions getting nothing in return. The negotiations did not need to go this way. The EU, the world's third largest economy and the US's largest export market, had the ability to hurt the US. Member states had given the commission powerful negotiating team tools. They agreed a targeted package of counter-tariffs on €93 billion of US exports to the bloc. The Anti-Coercion Instrument provides a legal framework for massive and wide-ranging counter measures, in particular against services, where the US has a significant surplus with the EU. The optimal outcome to retaliation would be a US retreat, either immediately or after negative market reaction, the infamous TACO trade ("Trump always chickens out"). Small concessions could be sold as a major victory to the domestic audience. This approach comes with a big risk, if the US does not back down, with escalating tariffs leading a full-blown trade war. This would cause significant economic harm to both sides, sufficient for the EU to enter a recession. The end game in this scenario is a fairer deal, following significant pain on both sides. The commission has chosen the low risk accepting a bad deal in return for stability, in the context of annual growth expectations of between 1-1.5%, a loss of 0.5% will not cause a recession. However, it is difficult to see the long-term plan from the EU. The trade commissioner, Maros Šefčovič, suggested that is the start of a process leading to a broader, more equal agreement in future, possible after a change of administration. Future administrations will have little incentive to renegotiate a deal tilted so much in their favour once a treaty is signed. The commission may be playing for time, recognising that Europe is in a poor position to deal with economic recession while contributing to the defence of Ukraine. In this scenario, we can expect extended negotiations to delay signing a treaty and locking in the new tariffs. The key selling point is a stable business environment, but this may be more mirage than reality. Even describing the agreement as a trade deal is misleading. It is little more than a memorandum of understanding between politicians; the commission refers to it as a framework for negotiation. Outside the tariffs, many points remain vague, such as the aspiration to reduce non-tariff barriers. It will not become a trade deal until the treaty is signed, and much can go wrong between now and then. Any business planning on the basis of 15% and done could be getting a nasty surprise before the end of the year. A formal trade agreement needs to be ratified by member states in the EU and congress in the US. The French prime minister has strongly condemned the deal, while Germany has been lukewarm at best. Ratification remains likely but not certain. No congress, whatever its composition, is likely to reject a deal so favourable to the US. The US may increase demands having seen the EU weakness. The administration has made clear its desire to bring the pharmaceutical industry home and is currently reviewing its options. Any effort to strip the industry from the deal will likely result in counter measures. Trump has been vocal about getting access to international markets for American beef, demands for access will cross a European red line on food safety and could escalate quickly. EU weakness The worse effects will be long-term, not directly from the deal, but the manner of negotiation. The deference to the US and capitulation to its demands will cost the EU prestige and credibility in international relations. It has projected weakness in surrendering to economic threats and accepting a one-sided deal and this will be noted globally. It has shown unwillingness to accept short term pain for long-term benefit, China and Russia will be particularly interested in this. Special pleading on areas of national interest such as wine (France), cars (Germany) or IT Services (Ireland) has shown it is possible to follow a divide and conquer strategy in negotiations with the EU. Collective bargaining on trade is presented as one of the key benefits of the EU and the poor outcome has boosted Eurosceptic groups. Populist and far-right parties have been quick to criticise the commission. Victor Orban has focused on the commission's weakness while both National Rally (France) and AfD (Germany) have been vocal critics. The inability of the commission to match the UK's 10% tariff gives ammunition to these groups. The America First disengagement from global affairs has created a leadership vacuum, and an opportunity for the EU. It could have taken a leadership position with a principled rejection of the bullying US demands. Instead, it submitted, making it harder for smaller countries to negotiate fair trade. The impact on Ireland Ireland's economy will suffer along with Europe as exports become less competitive in the US. However, we have more reason than most to be thankful that the commission has chosen the safe route. The Irish economic model has created an economy dependent on foreign direct investment – primarily from the US and centred on pharmaceuticals and technology. These sectors are now as important to the economy as the construction industry at the peak of the property bubble. Ireland would see a significant recession in the event of a trade war. The economy will face a double hit as high US tariffs significantly reduce pharmaceutical and other exports, while European counter measures on US technology companies would hit employment in and corporate tax from the many companies headquartered in Ireland. It is no surprise the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and a collection of ministers have been lining up to support the agreement. This is not a new vulnerability and should not be dismissed as the consequence of a uniquely erratic US administration. John O'Brien: 'The commission may be playing for time, recognising that Europe is in a poor position to deal with economic recession while contributing to the defence of Ukraine.' Repatriation of Irish-based US companies' profits has been an issue for administrations on both sides of the political divide, since at least the presidency of Barack Obama. The biggest gain for Ireland is if the near miss, so far, on a damaging trade war jolts our politicians out of complacency and into action to rebalancing the economy. In the shorter term, the government and business must prepare for a break down in the agreement. The situation around pharmaceuticals is not stable, agriculture exports are vulnerable to fall-out from moves to open Europe to US agricultural products. Businesses operating across the island of Ireland will be disrupted by different tariff rates between north and south, with unpredictable results. Ireland, like most EU governments, seem happy to accept a one-sided deal that brings an appearance of stability and avoids a damaging trade war in the short-term. Unfortunately, this comes with a long-term cost of a loss of prestige and influence and a missed opportunity to take a greater role in global leadership. John O'Brien is lecturer in the department of accounting and finance, Cork University Business School
Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Irish Examiner
Irish Examiner view: Ireland must take action on this escalation in racist attacks
The recent spate of attacks on members of the Indian community in Ireland has rightly shocked Irish people unused to experiencing the naked hatred illustrated by such behaviour. On Monday, Tánaiste and foreign affairs minister Simon Harris met members of the 80,000-strong Indian community in Ireland to express his horror and disgust at recent attacks but the unease within that community at the outbreaks of violence against them is palpable and growing. While he tried to assure them that as the attacks are racially motivated, they will not be allowed to continue, his words may not stem the reputational damage being caused to Ireland. The attacks have left a data scientist, a taxi driver, and a sous chef with, respectively, a broken cheekbone, 12 stitches, and in need of hospital treatment. That was bad enough, but when a soon-to-be tech worker was beaten, stabbed, robbed, and partially stripped in Tallaght, newly anti Indian sentiments took on a more sinister tone. And when a six-year-old Irish Indian girl was attacked by a group of boys twice her age in Waterford last week, the matter became even more grave. The reaction in India itself has been swift and sharp. Rarely does Ireland feature much in the Indian media, but these attacks have attracted much press attention and, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs, caused 'damage' to the State's reputation there. What we have witnessed in recent weeks is an alarming escalation in the frequency and brutality of attacks on Indian people and it must not be tolerated. That Indians, or any other race for that matter, in Ireland have become fearful for their safety is not acceptable. Irish authorities must act decisively, rapidly, and visibly to prevent any normalisation of hate crimes such as those we have witnessed, otherwise our reputation as a safe and hospitable society risks losing credibility. Another new low for Israel Much as the horror of what has been unfolding in Gaza in recent weeks, where it has become normal for crowds of starving Palestinians to be routinely shot at and killed by members of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), the deliberate targeting of journalists was another new low. The killing of Al Jazeera news anchor Anas Al-Sharif and four members of his team brought the number of Palestinian journalists killed in the conflict to 186, of whom 178 were Palestinian reporters killed by Israel. Award-winning journalist Anas al-Sharif was one of five Al Jazeera staff killed by an Israeli drone strike on their tent in Gaza on Sunday. Picture: Al Jazeera/AP Although these figures are piffling by comparison with the horrifying numbers of civilian deaths, reporting on the conflict has, over the course of the 22-month Israeli onslaught on the 2.3m people in Gaza, become a deadly business. With no foreign journalists allowed to enter the territory by Israel to report independently, coverage has been left to Palestinian journalists who are under the same threat of personal targeting and must endure the same conditions as other civilians. Anas Al-Sharif was the recipient of Amnesty International Australia's Human Rights Defender Award in 2024 for his 'resilience, bravery, and commitment to press freedom while working in the most dangerous conditions'. It was not just dangerous for him. His father was killed, his house bombed, he was under continual threat of being targeted by the IDF. Those Palestinian journalists who have braved the Israeli onslaught have to endure aerial bombing, drone attacks, shootings, and forcible relocation. They face the same daily scramble for food and water supplies — not to mention accommodation — as everyone else in the territory. National Union of Journalists Dublin broadcasting branch chairwoman Emma O'Kelly, centre, with NUJ members including general secretary Seamus Dooley, right, at a rally on Dublin's O'Connell St protesting Israel's killing of journalists in Palestine. Picture: Niall Carson/PA The accusation from Israel that Mr Al-Sharif was a Hamas operative can be considered as little other than another cheap shot from an administration in Tel Aviv trying desperately to justify its increasingly genocidal intentions. In his last post from Gaza, Mr Al-Sharif decried the world's failure to stop the 'massacre'. Sadly, he is now just another number in the litany of the dead. What's your view on this issue? You can tell us here Ukraine should not be left out of talks Donald Trump's shadowy diplomacy is once more in danger of leaving Ukraine on the outside looking in, when he meets with Vladimir Putin in Alaska next Friday to discuss ending a war the Russian president started. Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy cannot be left outside the proposed Alaska talks between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. File picture: Heinz-Peter Bader/AP What is widely understood, at this point of the conflict, is that ending it is fully in the US president's hands, but his unwillingness to impose the necessary sanctions on Moscow up until now suggests the Alaska talks will end up being a diplomatic coup for the Kremlin. Already, Trump's shift from frustration with Putin's intransigence on stopping deadly air raids on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, to wanting to sit down and talk through conditions for ending the conflict, appear to have dealt the winning cards to Putin. The softened White House rhetoric on sanctioning Russia to a punitive degree has not eased Moscow's increasingly vituperative stance on Ukraine being included in the Alaska summit. What Russia wants is a deal on its terms — agreed to by Washington and Moscow, and imposed on Ukraine. That the significance of a trilateral meeting is being actively downplayed by Moscow underscored the importance both warring factions attach to meeting Trump first, and the perceived benefits such a situation would confer. Russia has, since Trump's election, pressed for a US-Russia deal to end the war on their terms and deliberately cold-shouldering both Ukraine and the rest of Europe. The worry now is that, for all his talk of 'disgusting' air raids on Ukraine and his description of Putin as 'crazy', Trump has yet to put any pressure at all on Russia. Damage after a Russian strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on Wednesday. Picture: Ukrainian Emergency Service/AP The fear is that Ukraine will be sidelined from the Alaska summit and Putin, yet again, will walk away with an agreement which will not deliver any kind of just, sustainable, or lasting peace. The Trump administration cannot allow that to happen. If Putin manages to keep Trump on the negotiating merry-go-round, it will not be in America's best national interests, nor those of Kyiv.
The Irish Sun
4 days ago
- The Irish Sun
Nazi lies, Vlad's propaganda & troops on border… chilling signs Putin will invade ANOTHER European nation after Ukraine
VLADIMIR Putin's propaganda machine is branding its neighbours "Nazi states" - fuelling mounting fears that the tyrant is ready to invade another country. While nearby Lithuania has continued to ramp up its border reinforcements, experts have pointed to chilling signs the NATO nation could be next on Putin's bucket list after Ukraine. 12 Swathes of anti-Lithuanian propaganda from the Kremlin are prompting neighbouring countries to prepare for an attack Credit: Getty 12 The Russian tyrant hopes he can rebuild the Soviet Union, experts told The Sun Credit: Getty 12 NATO have been preparing to defend the Baltic country Credit: Alamy 12 Lithuania is already drawing up war plans for a possible invasion from Russia The bloodthirsty tyrant's appetite to expand Russia has been growing for years, analysts have warned, noting "very clear" examples of Putin "waging operations" in preparation for an attack on the Baltic state. The tiny nation of just two million people doesn't have a direct border with mainland Russia - but it does share an almost 700km one with mad Vlad's allies in Belarus. It is also nestled up to Russia's heavily militarised outpost Kaliningrad, leaving them vulnerable to Russian interference - and right in Putin's crosshairs. Security expert Anthony Glees told The Sun how a buildup of troops and weaponry on the border with Lithuania would be "the first stage of a more general war in Europe". The outrageous claim that Lithuania was riddled with "Nazism" was repeated in an alarming book bankrolled by the Kremlin with an introduction by Russia's very own Foreign Minister. Penned by top Putin mouthpiece Sergei Lavrov, the forward claimed that "falsified historical narratives" had "incited anti-Russian and Russophobe sentiments" throughout Lithuania. Executive Director of the Henry Jackson think tank Alan Mendoza told The Sun claims like these were straight from "the Hitler playbook" - fabricated narratives of persecuted minorities used to justify territorial ambitions. The multi-authored book, titled The History of Lithuania, questions the existence of the NATO member Baltic country, accuses it of glorifying Nazi Germany and claims it was never occupied. The 400-page book has drawn chilling comparisons to Putin's 2021 war manifesto, where he branded Ukraine 'artificial' and claimed Ukrainians were really Russians - just months before launching his brutal invasion. Lithuania's Foreign Office told The Sun that Putin planned to use the book as a weapon to "justify Russia's imperialism and aggression against its neighbours". Everything you need to know about a Trump, Putin, Zelensky showdown summit – and who has the upper hand They said: "We take it as it is – as one of the examples of Russia's hostile propaganda against us: to question our statehood, history, values, symbols, our very identity." Brit Army commander Hamish de Bretton-Gordon told The Sun that publishing books packed with disinformation were a tool to "psychologically prepare the mental landscape" of the country for European aggression. And Lithuanian political expert Nerijus Maliukevičius told The Sun that Russian disinformation was designed to help Putin "cherry-pick" from a range of made-up stories in order to justify any future attacks. One of the new book's nine authors is Maxim Grigoriev, a so-called political scientist who has fought against Ukrainians as part of Putin's war and chairs a "Public Tribunal for the Crimes of Ukrainian neo-Nazis". The propaganda piece was published by Russia's top foreign policy institute which is funded by the Kremlin. Lithuania's foreign office also said that the release of the so-called "history" book had to be met with "due caution". "Everything – from the foreword by Lavrov, an internationally wanted person complicit in the crime of aggression and multiple war crimes, to funding provided by a Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry-related structure, not to mention its notorious authors, gives us plenty of evidence that this is all about propaganda, not history," they explained. Russia analyst Maliukevičius said the book was littered with "Russian propaganda clichés". And he warned that books like this are not the first and definitely won't be the last. He said: "They constantly regularly publicise such kind of, you know books about Latvia, about Estonia, about Lithuania, and and so on." 12 A new book forwarded by Putin crony and Russian minister Sergei Lavrov (L) claims Lithuania is an artificial Nazi state Credit: Getty 12 NATO drills in Lithuania have ramped up Credit: Alamy The analyst explained that Putin's tactics involve flooding the academic space with falsified narratives. Whenever Putin launches his next attack, he will be able pick and choose from a library of Russian propaganda to misinform the public, Maliukevičius said. He added that such books were being published on a "regular basis" as part of a "constant effort being pursued by the Kremlin". These propaganda tools take a range of different forms, including "para-historic narratives" like the new publication, or false claims of Russian speakers being persecuted in the Baltic States. Maliukevičius highlighted that Lavrov's forward proved the fact that the contents of the book were part of the Kremlin's own foreign policy. "I think we are living in a situation where there will be constantly different propaganda attacks that we will face," he warned. "The most important thing is not to show a weakness and a lack of will on NATO's side." Highlighting the important of his country's response to propaganda threats like these, the analyst said that Lithuania needs to "constantly be prepared". "You should turn your anxiety into practical, positive action", he explained. "This is how you know those constant drills that we are doing, our preparation drills, are just making us stronger and discouraging any military adventure." He added: "As Ukraine showed, if you show your resolve, if you show your readiness, then this is the way to actually discourage any potential aggression and military action." Meet Lithuania's 'Iron Wolf' troops "WE are ready to fight Russia until the last man," a Lithuanian soldier from the Iron Wolf infantry battalion tells The Sun. Vladimir Putin's war has a long shadow over the Baltic states - and many people fear if Russia isn't stopped in Ukraine, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia could be next for Vlad. Lithuanian troops and armoured vehicles were on exercise in the bone-chilling cold of the frozen forests of the Pabrade training area. Our reporter was embedded with them as they carried out the war games drills just 10 miles from Belarus - Russia's closest ally and a nation that is essentially a puppet state for Vlad. There is a danger of feeling removed from the war in the UK, but for the people of the Baltics the conflict is essentially knocking at their front door. Troops hunkered down in foxholes and crawled along the snow-covered ground as they prepared for the possibility they could one day have to fight to defend their homes. Read more about the drills here. Colonel de Bretton-Gordon explained how the new book was part of Russia's massive propaganda effort to "psychologically prepare the mental landscape" of the country for any of Putin's aggressive endeavours. "The Russians try and get people to understand why actually places like Lithuania should be part of Russia, are not independent democratic states which those people have voted for," de Bretton-Gordon explained. He also said that Putin swarms the public information space with propaganda as part of "Maskarova", which describes Russian military deception. "Russian propaganda and disinformation is legion and a lot of people - without knowing it - are actually swamped with it virtually every day," he added. The Colonel said the telltale signs that Putin could be planning to invade neighbouring countries like Lithuania could be seen by considering "what Putin has said in the past". He emphasised that the tyrant is hellbent reviving the Soviet Union. "Putin really wants to recreate the old Soviet Union, the USSR, which included countries, like Ukraine, like Lithuania, Latvia, Romania," he said. 12 NATO drills in Lithuania prepare for a potential invasion by Putin Credit: EPA 12 Despite having less than 15,000 active troops, Lithuania's army are confident they can repel a Russian attack "And I know there is a great concern by Lithuanians that they are sort of next in line." The military expert said that a massive exercise planned by Russia and Belarus next month would include 120,000 soldiers. And he compared this prospect to the buildup of Putin's soldiers gathering on the border of Ukraine months before his bloody invasion three years ago. "Let's turn the clock back to November 2021, when the last combined Belarusian and Russian excises took place," he explained. "It was then in February, that Russia invaded Ukraine from the north, from Belarus. "So with the buildup happening at the moment... planning for this big exercise in November, then absolutely... there could be a move north out of Belarus towards Lithuania." He added: "That is something that hopefully the West, having been caught on the hop last time, will not get caught on the hop now. 12 Military preparation hopes to act as a deterrent against an invasion Credit: Getty 12 Lithuanian Army soldiers take part military exercise near the Polish border Think tank director Mendoza said that any invasion would need to be propped up by a "sense that the Russian community in Lithuania was being discriminated against or endangered", in the same way this narrative was conjured up for Ukraine. He said: "This dates back to the Hitler playbook of the 1930s, when he was obviously trying to extract concessions for German minorities in other countries like Czechoslovakia, like Poland. "And Putin played that playbook well in Ukraine from his perspective." The director stopped short of predicting an upcoming invasion of Lithuania, calling the prospect of it "far-fetched". But if an invasion were to take place, "the telltale signs would be if there was an increase in civil unrest in Lithuania, if there were purported outrages against the Russian community". He added: "But I stress that is a very unlikely outcome." Will there be peace in Ukraine? THE prospect of peace in Ukraine remains uncertain as the Russia-Ukraine war continues into its fourth year. While Trump's diplomatic efforts and the planned meeting signal continued U.S. engagement, the gap between Russia's demands and Ukraine's conditions remains wide. Putin's history of stalling and Zelensky's insistence on a full ceasefire and security guarantees suggest that a lasting peace agreement is unlikely in the immediate term without significant concessions from either side. Next week's meeting may produce a framework or memorandum for future talks, as Putin has indicated, but a concrete peace deal appears distant based on current dynamics. Recent US-brokered talks, including direct negotiations in Istanbul on May 16 and June 2, 2025, have yielded no breakthroughs, though agreements on prisoner exchanges signal some dialogue. US President Donald Trump has pushed for a ceasefire, shortening a 50-day deadline for Russia to negotiate or face sanctions, but tensions persist with Russian advances in eastern Ukraine and intensified drone and missile strikes on cities like Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested territorial swaps, while Russia shows little willingness to compromise. With ongoing military escalation and divergent American and European approaches, a lasting peace deal appears distant. Security expert Glees said that the first major indication of Putin going for Lithuania would be a communications attack. He added: "Above all, we would look very carefully at what is happening to the communications between the Baltic states, each other internally and also to NATO headquarters in Brussels. "Any interference of communications would be the first sign that something serious is happening." He explained that any "movement of troops, rockets and weaponry close to the border would be another indication that it would be very, very serious". "It would be the first stage of a more general war in Europe," he warned. Lithuania, with a population roughly 70 times smaller than Russia's, is already drawing up war plans for a possible invasion. The NATO member has recruited a secret army and drawn up plans for a forest barricade and miles of anti-tank dragon teeth to help keep Russia's bloodthirsty tyrant at arm's length. The government has also managed to make a deal with Germany to secure 5,000 additional troops to be ready to fight on behalf of Lithuania. The Baltic country is also pushing for the creation of a blockade with Belarus - in case Putin launches a cross-border invasion. 12 Meanwhile, Russia continues to pummel Ukraine with drone strikes
