Letters to the Editor, August 19th: On killing aid workers, Connolly's presidency bid and hardy perennials

Irish Times

3 days ago

Sir, – Today on World Humanitarian Day, we honour the memory of humanitarians who have been killed while saving lives, and stand in solidarity with the millions of people whose lives hang in the balance. Last year, 2024, was the deadliest year for aid workers and this year is even worse.
Violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) are widespread and frequently met with impunity and silence.
There is nowhere this is more imperative than Gaza. As of August 14th, 2025, the United Nations reported that 61,776 people have been killed since the onset of the conflict – more than 18,000 of whom are children.
At least 520 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since this conflict began – a clear violation of the protections afforded to them under IHL.
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The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) embodies efforts by Israel to impede the delivery of aid, and blatantly disregards IHL.
It not only dismantles long-held principles of impartiality and human rights in the delivery of aid, but also reduces the legitimacy of civil society organisations on the ground who are best placed to reach those most impacted.
The result is increasingly dangerous conditions for civilians seeking life-saving assistance and for the humanitarians who risk their lives to provide it.
As a network of humanitarian organisations committed to principled and coordinated humanitarian action, we are deeply concerned that this model is not only failing the people of Gaza, but also legitimising an approach to humanitarianism that is exclusionary, politicised, and inconsistent with international humanitarian norms.
We are calling for an end to the use of aid as a weapon of war – a practice that violates the IHL principle of allowing and facilitating rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief.
World leaders must go beyond token actions and words. The militarisation of aid is deadly. World leaders must use every diplomatic tool available to them to secure an immediate and permanent ceasefire, lift the siege on Gaza, stop the killing of civilians and aid workers and release the hostages.
Those who have survived this brutal conflict are running out of time. We must act with urgency and compassion to uphold the laws and values of humanity that World Humanitarian Day represents. – Yours, etc,
JANE-ANN McKENNA,
Chief executive,
Dóchas,
(The Irish Network for Development and Humanitarian organisations,)
Dublin 8.
Sir, – Israel is pressing ahead with its assault on Gaza City. On Sunday, Israel bombed al-Ahli Hospital, killing at least seven people.
According to medics, 38 Palestinians seeking aid were killed in Israeli attacks. The World Food Programme warned that half a million people are on the brink of famine because of Israel's siege.
Such horrors once dominated headlines. Today, they are buried in news summaries – if reported at all. Israel has succeeded in normalising genocide: bombing hospitals, starving and executing people queuing for food no longer provoke outrage.
Last week, Israel killed the last remaining members of Al Jazeera's Gaza bureau. That silence that now prevails is no coincidence.
Israel has deliberately targeted journalists, killing more than 270 media workers since it launched its war on Gaza. The longer Israel's genocide continues, the clearer it becomes: our humanity lives and dies with Palestine.
This is a call on all media outlets and workers to continue the work and legacy of journalists killed by Israel since it launched its war on Gaza.
We cannot forget them. We cannot stop talking about Palestine. – Yours, etc,
CIARA BOTTOMLEY,
Schull,
Co Cork.
Connolly and the presidency
Sir, – Your headline on August 16th tells us that Catherine Connolly has said we 'cannot trust' the United States, England and France.
We are also told that during a Dáil speech last February Ms Connolly referred to Government plans to scrap the 'triple lock' on the deployment of Irish troops abroad – a proposal she opposes, arguing it threatens Ireland's neutrality.
The third part of the 'triple lock' means that Irish military activities abroad are subject to the approval of the UN Security Council.
The five permanent members of the security council are the US, China, Russia, the United Kingdom and France: three of the five are countries Ms Connolly says we cannot trust, the other two are Russia and China. Russia has made it very clear in recent years that it cannot be trusted either and China is an authoritarian dictatorship.
So why would Ms Connolly want to give them any say over the deployment of our Defence Forces? She is standing for president, an office which has no policy powers, so perhaps her views on this are immaterial, but it does demonstrate a failure to reason coherently. I submit that coherent thought is a desirable faculty in a would-be president. –Yours, etc,
CIARÁN TAYLOR,
Donard,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – The weekend report on candidate Catherine Connolly makes interesting reading.That she is a conviction politician is obvious, as is the fact that she stands by the marginalised and dispossessed. She is right on Gaza and the West Bank.
However, some ambivalences jump out. She is running to be a president who is chief of the armed forces yet she has called for the Army to be disbanded.
Rather strangely, along with Paul Murphy and Richard Boyd-Barrett, she has demanded that the Army be better paid but not equipped. This would leave them very exposed.
Whatever one's view, on a number of occasions the Army and the Garda have stood between us and dictatorial chaos.
Chairman Mao stated cynically that 'political power grows out of the barrel of a gun'; in some ways this is unfortunately true so we must always ensure that we are properly defended and that there is a democratic finger on the trigger. – Yours, etc,
TONY FEENEY,
Dublin.
Steady on, Mr SUV
Sir, – While much of Seán Mooney's letter can be taken as very much tongue in cheek, it's important to reflect on the 'advanced driver aids and safety features' he references.
These features sadly don't extend to pedestrians and cyclists. Global research shows that the higher front profiles, greater mass and height and larger blind spots all contribute to significantly higher pedestrian deaths and fatalities, even at lower speeds. – Yours, etc.
STEPHEN McGOVERN,
Donnybrook,
Dublin 4.
Sir, – I write in response to Seán Mooney's letter, 'Me and my lovely SUV', in which he declares his unconditional love for his vehicle.
A key benefit of public transport, absent in private transport, is the way it brings us into contact with people from across society.
Sharing space with strangers offers glimpses into lives and struggles we might otherwise ignore. That social perspective is too often lost when we retreat behind the dashboard.
That 'faint smell of urine and sweat' are that of another human being and the toils of life. It's empathy. – Yours, etc,
VINCENT WALL,
St Luke's,
Cork.
Data centres and policy
Sir, – Una Mullally is right to say that Ireland's electricity policy 'rewiring' should be a matter of public debate
(Opinion, August 18th
). That debate is long overdue.
Data centres now consume 22 per cent of our electricity; more than five times the European average of 4 per cent. Ireland is vastly oversubscribed to these energy-hungry facilities, yet Government policy continues to enable further expansion.
The introduction of private wires may ease pressure on the grid, but it must not become an excuse to build more data centres.
Since 2017, every unit of renewable energy added to the Irish system has been swallowed by data centre demand. As a result, our national reliance on fossil fuels has remained stubbornly unchanged.
But wasn't the whole point of renewables to reduce that reliance?
Instead, the benefits of wind and solar have been diverted to private industry, while households and small businesses continue to shoulder the costs and risks.
We are told that offshore wind projects, potentially up to 3,300 turbines, will meet demand. But at what cost?
Our coastlines risk becoming industrial zones, and renewable generation remains unreliable and volatile.
Interconnectors and battery storage offer only limited support, as recent European blackouts linked to over-reliance on solar demonstrated. Ultimately, every renewable system requires fossil fuel back-up.
The real questions are these: who decides Ireland's energy future; the Government or Big Tech? And who has decided that Ireland needs such a proliferation of data centres at all?
Beyond minimal employment, what do they contribute, while consuming so much of our resources and threatening our heritage?
At stake is not only energy security but also our national identity: will Ireland's future be shaped for the public good, or for the interests of energy companies and multinational corporations? – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL O'MEARA,
Fenor,
Co Waterford.
Gracious about Oasis
Sir, – On November 1st, 1884, when Michael Cusack and seven others came together in the billiards room of Hayes Hotel, Thurles, to create a 'Gaelic association for the cultivation and preservation of national pastimes', I would like to think that they would have been thrilled to know that over 140 years later two brothers from Manchester (both former Gaelic footballers) whose parents emigrated from Mayo and Meath would turn up on two fine summer evenings (in a world-class stadium named after GAA inaugural patron Archbishop Croke) to engage in one of the great traditional Gaelic pastimes: story telling in song: ie sean-nós – in this instance, electrified and with an audience-cum-choir of over 80,000.
Spellbinding.
History in the making.
Up there with the greatest All-Irelands. – Your s, etc,
CHRIS FITZPATRICK,
Terenure,
Dublin 6.
Discerning taste
Sir, – I have just collected my paper version of The Irish Times from my local shop. However, for some unconscious reason, I notice that I always avoid the top copy of the pile and select my copy from two or three copies underneath.
I have noticed others doing the same. I wonder if it is because I suspect some unscrupulous people lift the top copy for a free read and then replace it.
Thus, the top copy can be second-hand, or it may have been soiled in the process of delivery to the shop. Have other readers had the same experience? – Yours, etc,
TONY CORCORAN,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 14.
Army nurses and policy
Sir, – Your story about the absurd decision to allow the Army Nursing Service to be reduced to one member refers to this being the result of a 'policy decision' ('Just one staff member left in Defence Forces unit,' August 18th).
This phrase is now routinely used throughout government and administrative structures to allow an abdication of responsibility.
Can we know who made that policy decision? The Government? A Minister? The Department of Defence? Another Government department? The Defence Forces?
Accountability from our public services, in my view, has all but collapsed. Phrases such as 'this is policy' are too often used to cover lousy decisions. – Yours, etc,
DERMOT LACEY,
Dublin 4.
C'est la vie
Sir, – Maurice Manning's excellent advice in today's paper (Letters, August 18th) echoes the French nobility's guiding principle 'vie cachée, vie tranquille'. Well worth mulling over by those measuring themselves for the Áras. – Yours, etc,
DECLAN DEASY,
Castlebellingham,
Co Louth.
Those hardy perennials
Sir, – The Letters page is the first thing I read every day and I take great pleasure in seeing my occasional rant in print. However, this summer has seen the old hardy perennials dragged out a bit.
Along with the school holidays debate, the old 'is this a record' lark is starting to grate a bit.
On Saturday, the relevance of the Angelus reared its head again with one contributor even managing to have a minute of quiet reflection to the sound of Angelus bells.
The 'lovely girls' competition in Tralee this week will surely generate some more such correspondence.
If only a few hats were thrown into the presidential election ring, we could liven things up a bit. – Yours, etc
JOHN KELLY,
Bennekerry,
Carlow.
In defence of the Angelus
Sir, – A neighbour of mine loves the Angelus because it allows him to watch the news headlines on BBC1 and switch over in time for the 6.01 news on RTÉ 1. –Yours, etc
GEMMA McCROHAN,
Dublin 16.
Sir, – Regarding the Angelus debate, perhaps RTÉ Radio could ensure that it is actually hit on time at midday, without the chat between presenters in the interim?
The minute of solace should take into account the announcing of a production team, and what we will hear on the next programme.
It is only two minutes a day on RTÉ. Surely that's not a great ask? – Yours, etc,
DAITHÍ MacAODHA,
Dublin.
Is this a record?
Sir, – We wrote two letters to The Irish Times on separate subjects and on separate dates.
The first was published on Friday, August 15th, and the second on Monday August 18th.
Is this a record for a husband and wife team? – Yours, etc (in chronological order),
LINDSAY ARMSTRONG,
GILLIAN SMITH,
Ranelagh,
Dublin 6,
Sir. – I spotted an open ham sandwich on a menu in a restaurant in Co Clare last week, priced at ¤22.50.
Is this a record? – Yours, etc,
MAIRÉAD CASHMAN,
Salthill.
Co Galway.