Letters: As more public money is thrown away, keeping faith in RTÉ is a big ask
Media Minister Patrick O'Donovan was on RTÉ granting absolution.
'We need a functioning public service broadcaster,' he said, and expressed confidence in the current management.
Where is this need? And for whom? A total of €725m of our money has already been committed to RTÉ over three years. Then add in licence fee and advertising revenue.
This is all despite the established financial mismanagement of the recent past and the utter avoidance by the then RTÉ management to be held accountable.
And remember that the so-called top talents are still paid enormous contracts/salaries that are mostly funded by the public purse.
I have to wonder how any reasonable person can have faith in RTÉ's self-assigned public service remit of 'holding power to account'.
Larry Dunne, Rosslare Harbour, Co Wexford
World leaders must wake up and demand an end to Israel's siege of Palestine
It has now been two long, harrowing months since Israel reinstated a total siege on Gaza, blocking the entry of life-saving humanitarian aid and commercial goods into a region already devastated by war.
Desperation has reached unspeakable levels. Mothers are boiling grass to feed their families.
Children are suffering unbearable hunger, trauma, violence and abandonment.
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Gaza's hospitals, already crippled, are close to collapse, unable to function without essential medicines, vaccines and equipment.
Women, girls and other vulnerable groups face escalating risks of gender-based violence.
Stocks in aid warehouses are nearly gone. Palestinian organisations continue to seek to supply desperate communities through local markets, but they are facing eye-watering prices.
Yet it seems world leaders are distracted while the ethnic cleansing and likely genocide of Palestinians rages on. As the UN secretary general put it, Gaza is a killing field and its civilians are trapped in an endless death loop.
The weaponisation of aid, including withholding food, water, healthcare and shelter, has led to a surge in preventable deaths and threatens the dignity and survival of Palestinians in Gaza.
This is a preventable atrocity, and it does nothing to address the horror of the remaining hostages and their families.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces have intensified military operations in the occupied West Bank, severely disrupting humanitarian aid delivery there.
World leaders must demand an immediate end to the blockade.
Karol Balfe, CEO ActionAid Ireland, Dublin
Clear double standards in the media when it comes to reporting on Gaza war
A recent attack by Russia on the city of Sumy in Ukraine in which 34 people were killed was described in the western media as a massacre.
The greater numbers murdered in Gaza are described as killed or, worse still, reported as killed.
Israelis held in Gaza are referred to as hostages while thousands of Palestinians are called prisoners. Why?
The Israeli army is called a defence force. The media reports that Israel is blocking aid to Gaza, instead of saying it is starving the captive population.
Israelis who evict Palestinians from their properties in the West Bank and beat and kill them are called settlers. Is this the best description of them?
Every article appears to mention that 'the war started on October 7'. There is never a mention of the thousands of Palestinians killed before that date, including many children.
Is it really a war when only one side has planes, tanks and cruise missiles?
Michael Jordan, Dundalk, Co Louth
If you thought Trump's first 100 days were bad, you ain't seen nothing yet
The world has survived Donald Trump's first 100 days, but it has been nothing short of a car crash.
His tariffs policy has been rife with threats and bluffs, culminating in pauses, deferment and capitulation to trading partners – or rather, the bond markets.
His 'end wars strategy' by the 'art of the steal' isn't playing out as well as he thought in Gaza and Ukraine.
America is joined at the hip with the world economy, and going on solo runs doesn't work when you're so dependent on non-American resources.
What's in store for the rest of his term? Death by a thousand cuts on the shifting sands of Trumpism, or will his money friends desert him when those MAGA promises cost too much?
It might be worth the watch.
Aidan Roddy, Cabinteely, Dublin 18
We should all celebrate Protestant influence on Irish society and culture
I am at one with Chris Fitzpatrick on the positive relationship between Presbyterianism and the Irish language ('Heartening to see the Presbyterian celebration of forgotten Irish links' – Letters, April 30).
Apart from the Irish language, there are many academic achievements by members of Ireland's Protestant community in Irish literature, music and wider culture, which is a reminder of the considerable influence the community in Ireland has had on Irish culture.
Dr Douglas Hyde, the first president of Ireland, was one of the founders of the Gaelic League; painter Sarah Purser established An Túr Gloine; WB Yeats and Lady Gregory formed the Irish Literary Theatre in 1899, which then became the Abbey Players in 1904.
George Petrie and Edward Bunting are responsible for the wealth of ancient Irish music in our archives, while JM Synge, George Russell (AE) and Kathleen Lynn were all major contributors to the shaping of modern Ireland.
Tom Cooper, Templeogue, Dublin 6
Tables have turned on the Dubs, but at least it gives hope to all their rivals
The sports blurb on the cover of the Irish Independent on May 1 looked ominous for Dublin ('Dublin facing nightmare draw in group phase').
Gone are the days when a headline such as this would read '[insert any county outside the capital] facing nightmare draw against Dublin'. Ah, well.
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RTÉ News
2 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Lebanon accuses Israel of 'flagrant' ceasefire violation
Lebanese leaders have condemned Israeli attacks on Beirut overnight, labelling them as "flagrant" violations of a ceasefire between the two countries. Israel, meanwhile, warned that it will keep striking Lebanon until Hezbollah has been disarmed. At least ten strikes hit Beirut's southern suburbs, a sprawling area known as Dahiyeh, in a wave of bombing that began about 90 minutes after the Israeli military issued evacuation warnings for four sites in the area. It was the fourth time that Dahiyeh has been bombed since a US-brokered truce in November ended a year-long war between Israel and Lebanese armed movement Hezbollah. The attack came on the eve of Eid al-Adha, one of the main religious festivals of the Muslim calendar. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called the attack a "flagrant violation of an international accord... on the eve of a sacred religious festival". Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, meanwhile, said that "there will be no calm in Beirut, and no order or stability in Lebanon, without security for the State of Israel". "Agreements must be honoured and if you do not do what is required, we will continue to act, and with great force," Mr Katz said in a statement. Under the ceasefire brokered by the United States and France, Lebanon committed to disarming Hezbollah, which was once reputed to be more heavily armed than the state itself. Israel's military has continually targeted southern Lebanon and Israeli troops still occupy five hilltop positions in the south. Israel has struck Beirut's suburbs three times since the truce was agreed, mostly in response to rocket launches from Lebanon. Hezbollah denied involvement in those launches. The latest war between longtime foes Israel and Hezbollah began in October 2023, when Hezbollah launched rockets at Israeli military positions in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas. Israel escalated the following year in a heavy bombing campaign that killed thousands of people. Then-Hamas secretary general Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli attack in September last year. Israel has carried out repeated strikes on south Lebanon since the truce, but strikes targeting Beirut's southern suburbs have been rare. Lebanese leaders condemn attacks Under the truce, Hezbollah fighters were to withdraw north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometres from the Israeli border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure to its south. Israel was to withdraw all its troops from Lebanon but it has kept some in five areas it deems "strategic". The Lebanese army has been deploying in the south and removing Hezbollah infrastructure, with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam saying that it had dismantled "more than 500 military positions and arms depots" in the area. Following the strike, Lebanon's leaders accused Israel of a "flagrant" ceasefire violation by launching strikes ahead of the Eid al-Adha holiday. President Joseph Aoun voiced "firm condemnation of the Israeli aggression" and "flagrant violation of an international accord... on the eve of a sacred religious festival". The prime minister too issued a statement condemning the strikes as a violation of Lebanese sovereignty. One resident of southern Beirut described grabbing her children and fleeing her home after receiving an ominous warning before the strikes. "I got a phone call from a stranger who said he was from the Israeli army," said the woman, Violette, who declined to give her last name. Israel also issued an evacuation warning for the Lebanese village of Ain Qana, around 20 kilometres from the border. The Israeli military then launched a strike on a building there that it alleged was a Hezbollah base, according to Lebanon's official National News Agency.
The Journal
3 hours ago
- The Journal
Israel strikes Lebanon overnight, claims it will not stop until Hezbollah is disarmed
ISRAEL HAS WARNED that it will keep striking Lebanon until militant group Hezbollah has been disarmed after it struck south Beirut in what Lebanese leaders called a major violation of a November ceasefire. An Israeli military evacuation call issued ahead of Thursday's strikes sent huge numbers of residents of the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, long a bastion of Iran-backed Hezbollah, fleeing for their lives. Iran condemned Israeli 'aggression' against Lebanon after its arch foe carried out air strikes against Tehran-backed militant group Hezbollah in south Beirut. Its foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei described last night's strikes 'as a blatant act of aggression against Lebanon's territorial integrity and sovereignty.' The attack on what the Israeli military said was Hezbollah's underground drone factories came on the eve of Eid al-Adha, one of the main religious festivals of the Muslim calendar. The strikes were launched an hour after Israel's military spokesman issued an evacuation call, and sent plumes of smoke billowing over Beirut. The attack came six months after a ceasefire agreement was sealed in a bid to end hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. 'There will be no calm in Beirut, and no order or stability in Lebanon, without security for the State of Israel,' Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement. 'Agreements must be honoured and if you do not do what is required, we will continue to act, and with great force.' Under the ceasefire brokered by the United States and France, Lebanon committed to disarming Hezbollah, which was once reputed to be more heavily armed than the state itself. Hezbollah sparked months of deadly hostilities by launching cross-border attacks on northern Israel in what it described as an act of solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas following its 7 October, 2023 attack. Advertisement The war left Hezbollah massively weakened, with a string of top commanders including its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah killed and weapons caches dotted around Lebanon incinerated. Israel has carried out repeated strikes on south Lebanon since the truce, but strikes targeting Beirut's southern suburbs have been rare. 'Following Hezbollah's extensive use of UAVs as a central component of its terrorist attacks on the State of Israel, the terrorist organisation is operating to increase production of UAVs for the next war,' the military said, calling the activities 'a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon'. Ominous warning Under the truce, Hezbollah fighters were to withdraw north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Israeli border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure to its south. Israel was to withdraw all its troops from Lebanon but it has kept some in five areas it deems 'strategic'. The Lebanese army has been deploying in the south and removing Hezbollah infrastructure, with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam saying Thursday that it had dismantled 'more than 500 military positions and arms depots' in the area. Following the strike on Thursday, Lebanon's leaders accused Israel of a 'flagrant' ceasefire violation by launching strikes ahead of the Eid al-Adha holiday. President Joseph Aoun voiced 'firm condemnation of the Israeli aggression' and 'flagrant violation of an international accord… on the eve of a sacred religious festival'. The prime minister too issued a statement condemning the strikes as a violation of Lebanese sovereignty. One resident of southern Beirut described grabbing her children and fleeing her home after receiving an ominous warning before the strikes. 'I got a phone call from a stranger who said he was from the Israeli army,' said the woman, Violette, who declined to give her last name. Israel also issued an evacuation warning for the Lebanese village of Ain Qana, around 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the border. The Israeli military then launched a strike on a building there that it alleged was a Hezbollah base, according to Lebanon's official National News Agency.
Irish Independent
4 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Robert Pether 'completely unrecognisable' after four years' detention in Iraqi jail, says wife
While he has been released from prison, Mr Pether remains in Iraq as he is facing a travel ban. The Australian citizen, who had been living in Elphin, Co Roscommon, with his family, was detained in April 2021 and was found guilty of deception in a 'kangaroo court', according to his wife Desree. Speaking to RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Desree Pether said she saw her husband on video for the first time in over four years last night and that he was "completely unrecognisable", adding that it was "a shock to the system to see how far he's declined". The paperwork securing her husband's release was sorted "late last night", she said. "It's the end of the work week in Iraq and now they have Eid, so they're off for the next few days and so we don't know the exact stipulations of the travel ban but at least he's out of prison and he's in a comfortable bed, which he found very difficult last night, having so many pillows. "He actually thought about sleeping on the floor - and of course, it was very, very quiet there wasn't up to 20 odd other people in the cell with him." Ms Pether said her husband is "very sick at the moment" and the focus is currently on keeping him well and ensuring the travel ban can be resolved as soon as possible so he can come home. "I got to speak to him late last night and saw him on video for the first time in over four years and it was a shock. "It's hard, sort of, to be very happy to see him, to see the state of him, he's completely unrecognisable and it's a shock to the system to see how far he's declined," she said. "He's not well at all and he really needs to just come home so that he can get the proper medical care that he needs." ADVERTISEMENT Ms Pether said that while the conditions of the prison are not something they can "openly talk about yet", his cellmates and those who worked in the prison were all "very good to him". "He's fainted a few times in the last couple of months due to the fact he's not eating properly because he can't keep anything down. If he fainted, he had a bunch of people in the cell looking after him and giving him some tea with honey to try and help him," she said. "It was the best of a bad situation." Ms Pether said trying to secure her husband's release has been "a living nightmare every day" that is still not over. "It's one small step in the right direction." Ms Pether said she hopes "there's light at the end of the tunnel and that we can get through this next stage relatively easy, with the least amount of pressure needing to be applied". Their three children are "happy that they can speak to their dad more freely now", but Ms Pether said the family still face "another major battle ahead to get him home". "Until he's actually on a plane, out of airspace and on his way, I don' t think we'll actually breathe properly and left go of the angst." Yesterday evening, Tánaiste Simon Harris said this was the 'first step' in Mr Pether's return to Ireland. 'This evening, I have been informed of the release on bail of Robert Pether, whose imprisonment in Iraq has been a case of great concern,' Mr Harris said. 'This is very welcome news in what has been a long and distressing saga for Robert's wife, three children and his wider family and friends.' The Irish-based engineer was helping to design the Central Bank in Baghdad and was set to work on three hospitals. However, there was a contract dispute between his employer and the Central Bank of Iraq, which led to Mr Pether and his Egyptian colleague ending up in prison. Mr Pether has been in an Iraqi jail since April 2021, and his family have feared for his health. They have been lobbying the Government for help since his arrest. 'Foreign Minister [Fuad] Hussein of Iraq, whom I spoke to last month to urge Robert's release, called me this evening with the news,' Mr Harris added. 'I was informed that Robert has been released on bail and for the moment he remains in Iraq, but I welcomed this as a first step to his being allowed to return to his family in Roscommon.' Ms Pether told the Irish Independent in 2022 that the only communication she was having with her husband was when he able to ring her from the prison twice a week, with the calls ranging from three to 15 minutes in length.
