Letters: After a bit of a panic and an Uber trip, I discovered there are still good people
I had to get there, and that was where Jimmy came in. A staunch Dublin GAA man who was now aware of my problem, he rang an Uber for me and paid for it from his own account. I refunded him with what cash I had, but it didn't meet the full cost of the taxi. That was the least of his worries – he just wanted to help.
So, a trip to Tallaght and a meeting with the lovely Antoinette, who waited at home until I got there, even though she was heading out for the night, and I was reunited with my phone. The relief was tremendous – there is just so much dependence on phones now, not least for the tickets for the two games on Sunday.
We hear so much bad news, so I just want to share that there are still a lot of decent people around and I had the pleasure of meeting two of the very best on Saturday night.
So, thank you Antoinette and thank you Jimmy. Up the Dubs, Donegal for Sam, and Antoinette and Jimmy, I owe you a few drinks if you want to join me for the celebrations in Tír Chonaill.
Jimmy Kavanagh, Letterkenny, Co Donegal
EU needs to follow Ireland and ban Jewish settlement goods across the union
The continuing scenes of Jewish settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank while their brethren in Gaza are being starved, shot and killed needs a worldwide response from all countries that believe in the sanctity of human life and the right to peaceful existence.
Last July, the International Court of Justice proffered an advisory opinion that declared Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem were illegal.
While it advised all nations to take 'effective measures' that included refraining from any financial, military, technological and economic aid to the state of Israel, it seems the world, or those countries that signed up to the UN Convention on Human Rights, ignored that opinion and wilfully looked the other way.
That is, until an Irish senator, Frances Black, upped the ante by introducing the Occupied Territories Bill that would ban Jewish goods and services being sold to the Irish market.
Thanks to her crusade, the Government has published the general scheme of the Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Imported Goods) Bill, which hopefully will make its way through the Dáil and Senate without too much opposition. But it needs to be in compliance with EU law. The EU, of which Ireland is a member, must now grab this thorny issue and stop obfuscating.
It needs to bring forth comprehensive legislation that will ban Jewish settlement goods from entering the EU while sanctioning and restricting members of the Knesset or members of the Israeli armed forces involved in acts similar to what has been done with Putin and his Russian acolytes.
Christy Galligan, Letterkenny, Co Donegal
All the blame is on Israel, but it takes two parties to bring peace to the table
In reference to your editorial ('Netanyahu must be stopped, and only the US has the power to do it', July 1), all the blame for the war in Gaza seems to be on Israel.
Hamas started this terrible campaign by killing over 1,200 innocent Israelis, including over 300 young people at the Nova Music Festival. They still hold 50 hostages, of whom less than half are believed to be alive.
The war could be ended tomorrow if Hamas released the hostages and let the Palestinian people rebuild their lives.
Peace needs two sides to want it to work, not one calling for destruction and promising to repeat October 7.
Anthony Costello, Galway
Why is definition of hate speech determined by the US, UK and Israel?
I note a strange discomfort in 'official' Ireland, as if when we speak of people like Kneecap or our Northern brothers it's as 'the other'.
Keir Starmer has bent over backwards to salve Israeli outrage over certain words uttered by Kneecap.
Should Johnny Cash's song about shooting a man in Reno just to watch him die be banned?
Or is outrage confined to the Jewish community alone?
Recently at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow a large banner was unfurled with a picture of a shotgun seeking the death of Irish people.
Outrage and charged with hate crime? No.
Interestingly, Taoiseach Micheál Martin commented on Kneecap, but is silent on the Ibrox banner.
This month, we will have marching bands extolling the deaths, knee-deep in blood, of Fenians. In other words, us Irish.
Has Mr Starmer, or indeed Mr Martin, a view on this? Hate speech, incitement to hatred, or is all hate confined towards what the UK, US and Israel term hate?
John Cuffe, Co Meath
If J1 students don't like the 'bad food' in America, it's not Donald Trump's fault
I refer to the headline on an online article on Monday ('It's just bad food. Meat is completely different. Dairy too. I miss the butter': the reality of life as a J1 student in Trump's America).
First, if the poor things think the food in Trump's America is bad, they should get on the next plane home so that their mammy can butter their toast and tuck them in at bedtime.
Second, your paper's bias and Trump derangement syndrome (TDS) is disgusting as you tie one person's whingeing to all of America, specifically Trump's America.
You couldn't resist taking a poke at the guy, as if since the day he took office the recipes have all changed, no matter that some of the foodstuffs were probably harvested and packaged during the Joe Biden era, like butter.
I don't expect you to publish this as it goes against your editorial TDS bias. If a foreign student made the same complaint about the food in Micheál Martin's Ireland after consuming a greasy burger and chips on the way home from a night in the pub, you'd be up in arms.
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Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Irish Times
Letters to the Editor, July 3rd: On enticing developers, bedsits, Ukraine and Kneecap
Sir, – Lorcan Sirr's article (' If long-term renting is such a good solution, why don't more politicians do it ?', July 1st) invites challenge across a number of key elements. Sirr claims that 14 per cent of higher income Irish renters spend more than 30 per cent of their income on rent, versus 3 per cent elsewhere – but offers no source. These percentages depend heavily on which countries are included: Ireland's higher living costs skew the average. A more apples to apples comparison – say among the EU 15 – shows Irish rent-to-income ratios are above average, but not significantly so. Sirr's framing exaggerates the disparity. He goes on to characterise Government strategy as 'let rents rise to attract investors, then build supply to bring rents down'. This is a caricature. READ MORE Government policy includes major subsidies for cost rental, increased public capital for social and affordable homes and targeted institutional investment to fund supply. Institutional investment hasn't been a driver of rent inflation – it has responded to demand and under-supply, not caused it. A critical omission in the writer's piece is any mention of institutional investors' role in the for-sale market. Across Europe and in Ireland, these investors back the delivery of homes for purchase, funding large-scale apartment and housing developments that are then sold to individuals, first-time buyers and owner-occupiers. This model reduces developer risk and brings forward supply. Ignoring this makes his argument against 'the investment model' incomplete, selective and unfair. He cites inspection failure rates without acknowledging that increased inspections naturally uncover more issues, or that enforcement and funding have improved in recent years. Again, it's a one-sided narrative. Suggesting housing policy lacks legitimacy unless politicians themselves rent long-term is more rhetorical than serious. Housing policy should be judged on outcomes and delivery, not on whether TDs rent or own. Sirr's critique taps into valid public frustration but misleads by leaving out key context, cherry-picking data, and ignoring the evolving and broader role of private capital in housing delivery. – Yours, etc, PAT FARRELL, CEO, Irish Institutional Property, Dublin. Sir, – Lorcan Sirr calls for more regulation of the Irish rental market, despite the dramatic reduction in the number of rental properties and landlords since the introduction of rent controls and heavy rental market regulations in 2016. Landlords have lost significant control over their properties in an ever-changing regulatory environment, but the left is seldom satisfied no matter how draconian or how restrictive the regulations are from the perspective of the property owner. In late 2016 rent controls were introduced for the private rental market in Ireland. At that time the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) said there were 319,822 private rented tenancies. By the end of 2024, the RTB said the number remaining was down to 240,964. Stringent rent regulations have driven capital investment out of Ireland in search of more reasonable investment markets elsewhere, logically. Smaller landlords have sold up in their droves. Economists and investors warned of significant negative investment consequences at the time of the introduction of rent controls. Investors have now been regulated into submission – and they have gone away, you know. What was predicted has ensued. There is no doubt now that rent controls discourage private investors from funding the construction of new homes and they drive current investors and landlords out of the market, thereby reducing the supply of housing required to provide accommodation in an era of strong population growth with long term inward migration flows. Many people want to come to Ireland to share in our prosperity and they want homes built to rent or to buy so that they can settle here for the long term. To grow this country's housing stock at the level required over the next 5-10 years will require in the range of ¤20-25 billion per year of new investment. State funding and Lorcan Sirr's proposed Irish savers housing fund will not be nearly sufficient to deliver the housing investment needed for the medium to long term. The taxpayer and the Irish saver, together with severe regulations, will not solve the housing crisis. The private sector is the key to unlocking mass housing supply. Approximately ¤10-15 billion of private sector investment is likely required in this country every year to build the homes we need. More rental market regulation will not help – overburdensome regulations, high taxation on small landlords and ritual anti-landlord sentiment have truly come home to roost in Ireland. – Yours, etc, MARK MOHAN, Dublin 15. Sir, – Michael McDowell (' Folly of abolishing bedsits ,' July 1st) reminds us again of the folly of getting rid of bedsits. Many people, this writer included, remember happy days lived in places deemed to be unsuitable by today's standards. I recall to this day visiting a house set in bedsits in Rathmines with a judge who wanted to help one of the residents I knew. We were sitting in cramped accommodation, having a mug of tea and discussing the topics of the day, when a man from another nearby bedsit dropped in. The man we were visiting nodded to his friend and said: 'Sure, judge we are as happy as Larry here aren't we, what more do we want'? The 'cure is worse than the disease' comes to mind when decisions are made at times, without looking at the wider picture. Getting rid of bedsits clearly is a good example. – Yours, etc, ALICE LEAHY, Director of Services, Alice Leahy Trust, Dublin 8. Cutting off Kneecap Sir, – Long seen as one of the free world's great independent broadcasters, it was disappointing to see the BBC bowing to political pressure from UK prime minister Keir Starmer and others with their decision not to livestream Kneecap from the Glastonbury festival at the weekend. It was somewhat ironic that, in their zeal to cut Kneecap off, Bob Vylan, a performer I had never heard of, managed to sneak in under the radar, much now to the embarrassment of BBC director-general Tim Davie. – Yours, etc, JOHN GLENNON, Co Wicklow. Sir, – Instead of pursuing Kneecap and Bob Vylan for possible hate crime, surely it is time that the British government and, for that matter, the Trump administration, call out the Israel Defense Forces. The Israeli army persists in supporting marauding Israeli settlers in the West Bank who are illegally terrorising Palestinian residents. Then there are their daily amoral attacks in Gaza, where it appears they are using the residents, civilians they insist on calling suspects, for target practice. This has to be called out for what it is . The British government should spend less time worrying about rock stars and their stage shows and more time using what influence they have to stop what more and more countries are now acknowledging to be a genocide. – Yours, etc, HUGH DALY, Dún Laoghaire, Dublin. Voting rights and the diaspora Sir, – I wholly disagree with Ciarán Scally's view on Irish citizens voting from abroad ( Letters, July 2nd). I am an Irish citizen, born in Ireland, who then moved abroad during childhood to Canada, as many did during the late 1980s. We came 'home' every summer and I returned myself to go to college and stayed in Ireland. We became naturalised citizens and hold dual citizenship. I go to Canada every summer and have family still living there. While I enjoy my summer visits, and I have a right to vote in elections, I have never done so. I don't feel that I have a right to exercise my preference when I really don't suffer the consequences of it, even in the very recent tight federal election, where of course I had an opinion, but I did not vote. There are more Irish citizens abroad than at home and this could have a huge impact on current politics, but the ones abroad don't live with the consequences. Do they really understand the full nuances of current day to day living in Ireland? Maybe, but more likely not. If we look at current US politics, as an example, where many many Irish citizens live, would we want to risk a far right vote which, though there is now an element of in society, we haven't really seen in voting? Is their a perception of Ireland and Northern Ireland, for example, an 'Irish one' or an 'Irish American one' which really are two distinctly separate cultures? Those who leave Ireland are also paying no tax to Ireland, unlike requirements in other jurisdictions such as the US, which offer ex-pat voting – and that then is possibly a different issue. When you move abroad, there are changes to life and in deciding to leave Ireland not being able to vote is one of them, and rightly so – you can't have your cake and eat it. – Yours, etc, NIAMH BYRNE, Fairview, Dublin 3, Sir, – Once again the issue of voting rights for those living in Northern Ireland and the 'diaspora' is being raised. There is a key principle here and we should stick with it. There are many people who do not live in the State but are part of the nation. I respect absolutely their Irishness and their right to so identify. However, the laws and jurisdiction of the Republic only apply in this State. Therefore, a vote on our government structures should be held and exercised by those living in the State or who are external to it for short periods. The president is the third House of the Oireachtas and should be respected as such. Indeed, many of those who support such a proposal have never respected the very existence of this State. Extending the right to vote to all those aged over 18, irrespective of nationality, living in the State for a reasonably defined period of time, is the truly democratic thing to do and not the proposals regarding the presidential elections. Indeed, in my view it demeans the office of president by implying that it is a vote of lesser consequence. – Yours, etc, DERMOT LACEY, Donnybrook, Dublin 4. Perspectives on Ukraine Sir, – Oskana Voronina's letter (June 30th), demonstrates that there is hope for Ukrainians fleeing their war-torn country. The material and psychological damage to Ukraine is inestimable, but we in this country can do more. Senator Michael McDowell is one member of the Oireachtas speaking out on the tragedy that is the existential Russian invasion of Ukraine. Yes, what is happening in Gaza is genocide, but its scale and impact on world peace is regional and local in comparison to the eventual outcome in Ukraine. The suggestion that Russia has kompromat on the US president Donald Trump looks more plausible every day. There is rarely a word of censure on Putin's invasion from the White House. To date, there has been hundreds of thousands of casualties on both sides, inestimable infrastructural destruction, millions driven from their homes, probably hundreds of billions of euro of property damaged and the eventual outcome is still in the balance. The Skibbereen Eagle needs to be resurrected, as currently Mr McDowell is fighting this battle on his own. – Yours, etc, VINCENT CARROLL, Rathfarnham, Dublin. Some spoiler alerts Sir, – As a regular gig-goer I read Máirín O'Keeffe's letter (June 30th) with interest. Unfortunately, I was unable to get to Malahide Castle to see Neil Young myself, but read the positive reviews with regret. Máirín requests 'more of the songs we've been listening to all our lives'. I checked Neil's setlist and 10 of the 14 were what I call bona fide classics spanning most of his career. As for Van Morrison, he has a reputation for being contrary so nothing new there, but I noted that he did finish off with a great version of Gloria. To paraphrase Neil Young, let's all keep rocking in the free world. – Yours, etc FERGUS MADDEN, Goatstown, Dublin. Architecturally reassured Sir, – Adding to today's timely editorial (' Good design is not a luxury, ' July 1st ), I feel reassured that the commitment made by the Government, through the published Government Policy on Architecture, will ensure that physical investment in buildings and places in the public domain will always be on the basis of good quality design. –– Yours, etc, KLAUS UNGER, Killiney, Co Dublin. Glenveagh Castle and that curse Sir, Marc McMenamin says Arthur Kingsley Porter bought Glenveagh Castle from the much-despised landlord John George Adair in 1929, but Adair died in 1885. (Irishman's Diary, July 2nd). Adair's American wife, Cornelia, inherited the estate and was quite well liked – at least according to the accounts of local people and their descendants (of whom I am one) – before she died in 1921. McMenamin notes that the State eventually acquired Glenveagh but oddly makes no mention that for nearly 40 years when it was owned by another American, Henry McIlhenny, life there was famously gay –and untouched by what McMenamin calls 'Adair's curse'. – Yours, etc, FRANK GAVIN, Toronto, Canada. Below the belt Sir, – I can answer MJ Tomlin on 'where do we go from here?' (Letters, June 28th). The answer is in Simplex six down today: sperm. Back to the beginning. – Yours , etc, DAVID McMENAMIN, Killiney, Dublin.
Irish Examiner
3 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Letters to the Editor: Gross carnage by Israel justifies widespread public protests
Ever since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, public concern appears to be declining. Clearly the violence and bloodshed of war is not impacting the global population as much as before. In fact, in our own personal lives, many of us are now deliberately shutting out watching or listening to content that shows or highlights horrendous genocide and bloodshed. This suggests that we have, to some extent at least, become oblivious to violence in other parts of the world — including Gaza and Ukraine. Those of us who live in a free world, without the threat of genocide and bloodshed, should at least appreciate just how privileged we are, and should ideally do anything we can to highlight the plight of our deprived brethren in other parts of the world where violence is widespread. Irish people, in particular, have a long history of resisting suppression and highlighting injustice, which may be a legacy from centuries of campaigning for our independence. In addition, more than 41 years ago (in July 1984), one of the most iconic strikes in history took place in Dunnes Stores in Henry St in Dublin, when 10 young Dunnes Stores workers refused to handle goods from apartheid South Africa because of how the all-white government there treated black people. This courageous and selfless act led to a strike lasting two years and nine months. In hail, rain, and snow, the workers maintained their pickets without pay for millions of oppressed people they had never met. The strikers were abused by picket breakers and victimised without pay by their employer. Yet, they held their ground and eventually forced the Irish Government to ban the import of all South African produce. For their actions, these workers were lauded by Nelson Mandela, who said that the strikers demonstrated to South Africans that 'ordinary people far away from the crucible of apartheid cared for our freedom' and also helped him keep going when he was in prison. This proves how effective people power was in 1984, which helped to bring apartheid to an end by 1990. Sadly, over 40 years on, the geopolitical situation has drastically changed for the worst, with Kneecap rap group being criticised in Britain for rightfully stating that Israel are war criminals. Also, the approach of the EU Commission is highly disturbing. This especially includes the role of president Ursula von der Leyen, who has failed to directly condemn Israel for war crimes in Gaza, involving the slaughter of innocent civilians including women and children and babies dying of malnutrition. This gross carnage justifies widespread public protests, not only in Ireland but throughout Europe and the Western world, which might help to isolate Israel and force them to stop the killing of people. Diarmuid Cohalan Ballinhassig, Co Cork Corporate elitism in an amateur sport The choice of language used by the Mayo County Board in sacking its management team was disgusting. Exactly what might be expected of the owners of an English Premier League club when sacking a manager and, indeed, even then not always so. Gaelic football is an amateur sport. An amateur sport that is now garnished with the worst aspects of corporate professionalism and elitism. Major fixtures behind pay walls; highly paid officials; corporate boxes; exorbitant ticket prices — all totally based on the efforts of unpaid amateur players. Jarlath Burns needs to have a chat with his full-time permanent officials. Pundits speak of managers losing the dressing room. If GAA HQ is not careful, it may well lose a lot more than that. Mayo are a proud GAA county. An apology should be issued from HQ with an assurance that county management teams will be treated with respect in future. An opening phrase that a manager 'has been relieved of his duties with immediate effect' undermines whatever weasel words may follow. Larry Dunne Rosslare Harbour, Co Wexford Modern society lacks respectability LP Hartley wrote: 'The past is another country; they do things differently there.' When we look at the past through the eyes of the present, we end up taking the moral high ground from society's abandonment of unmarried pregnant women, to mother and baby homes, to the tough lives of women tied to the kitchen sink rearing large families. Then, if past generations were to judge the present, they could equally take the moral high ground. They would be shocked at society's lack of care for the elderly; at the lack of urgency of governments in insuring young couples wanting to start a family could find a home, and at the abandonment of the practice of religion in favour of pursuit other lifestyle choices. Each generation judges past generation from the comforts and morals of the present, but the past is a different country indeed. Up to the 1970, Ireland was a rural society with the majority of the population living in towns and villages, where the good name of the family was sacrosanct. What's your view on this issue? You can tell us here Rural societies were built on respectability; without this, a family had no standing in the community. But 'respectability' means little to the modern man or woman, having third-level qualifications, the big job, and living in the right address is everything. Care of the very vulnerable young and the elderly, though costly, is left to those on the lowest rate of pay. We live in a generation where money talks and talks loudest for those who have it. So have we created a better society? Time will tell, and the future generations will be judge. Nuala Nolan Bowling Green, Galway Praise for TD who helped elderly lady It is rare to see a politician coming to the assistance of someone in need or in real trouble and succeed in making a positive difference to their life. That's why I'd like to praise the exemplary support the TD for Cork South-West, Michael Collins, recently showed to help someone in a very vulnerable situation. He said he played a small part in ensuring a lady in her late 80s would be able to find another home to rent, but I have no doubts he did more than his best to assist her. The person was very vulnerable as their landlord had decided to sell the house they had been renting for some years, and it would be hard to find another place to rent in the small town she was living in. She understandably wanted to stay in the community she was used to. Mr Collins stepped in as soon as he heard of the situation and, with others, led the way in finding a place for her to rent in or near the town. He deserves a big shout out for helping a human being in serious need. It highlights the vulnerable position of renters in their 70s and 80s in ensuring long-term and safe accommodation to rent. Mary Sullivan College Rd, Cork US pulls out of funding vaccines Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, is an international organisation that helps vaccinate more than half the children in the world. Ireland is committing €21.6m to Gavi for the period 2026-2030, but the loss of US funding — which is around $300m a year — will have a big impact. In the last 20 to 25 years, Gavi has taken responsibility in vaccinating children in lower-income countries because the ministries of health in these nations can't afford to buy vaccines. These countries are not organised enough to buy vaccines, and vaccine manufacturers don't see a market for these nations. Therefore, Gavi has stepped in and organised the financing and the logistics to vaccinate millions of children in the last 20 to 25 years, which even with the simplest vaccines — such as the DTP (which provides protection against tetanus, diphtheria, and polio) — which in turn has reduced child mortality by 50%. So, on multiple levels, Gavi has ensured that there's a constant flow of vaccines and children are being saved as a result. I really don't know whether logic is the right word, but what logic is being advanced by the US health and human services secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr for the US pulling its funding from Gavi? I believe that there is no logic to the decision. Its my contention that it fits with the whole current US Agency for International Development (USAid) in pulling of all health resources where they are most needed in the world. I find this is extremely worrying for the future, where we have no global health security which means people are going to be sicker thus people cannot prosper. John O'Brien Clonmel, Co Tipperary
RTÉ News
4 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Tánaiste to meet Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan for annual forum
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris will meet with Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan in Swansea this morning for the annual Ireland-Wales Forum. It is expected that a new statement of co-operation between both governments, covering the next five years, will be agreed today. The forum was established in 2021, in the aftermath of Brexit, to help strengthen ties between both countries. It aimed to build on an Irish-Welsh regional cooperation agreement that operated when the UK was part of the EU, but which lapsed when the UK left the bloc. The first co-operation agreement was signed in Cardiff in 2021 between former Tánaiste Simon Coveney and former First Minister Mark Drakeford. Previous achievements from the forum include the Greenlink interconnector between Wexford and Pembrokeshire. The new 2030 Statement will establish a new framework for bilateral co-operation until the end of the decade. Speaking ahead of the forum, Tánaiste Simon Harris said that the new shared statement "underlines the breadth of connection between us, across trade, research, energy, culture and language". Ms Morgan described the new statement as a "step forward" in the relationship between both countries. As part of today's forum, both Mr Harris and Ms Morgan will meet with researchers at Swansea University, who are working with research colleagues in Cork and Limerick. They will also meet with the energy company MaresConnect, which is building an interconnector between Wales and Ireland.
