Letters to the Editor, July 31st: On Israel's reputation, reviewing Rosie O'Donnell, and the beautiful game

Irish Times

3 days ago

Sir, – It is difficult to see how Israel's reputation will recover from its conduct in flouting the international humanitarian laws of warfare of the Geneva Convention in Gaza over the last few years, leading up to the current appalling scenes of death, dehumanisation and starvation of the civilian population of Gaza.
The global response to October 7th, 2023, was appropriately one of horror at the massacre by Hamas of 1,200 Israelis, most of them likewise innocent civilians. If the war had ended sooner, the terrible fate of the hostages would have been more hopeful.
It became apparent to many of us within weeks that Israel's hard-right administration would wreak extreme vengeance on Gaza.
And so that is what unfolded and the Palestinians of Gaza and the West Bank were virtually abandoned to their devastating fate by the US and most of the first world, with a few exceptions, including Ireland.
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Now that horrific images of skeletal children are being beamed around the world it seems that the formerly morally confused(Germany) or tardy nations (France and Britain) are now scrambling to distance themselves from the possibility of reputational damage and complicity in the now even more obvious war crimes of Binyamin Netanyahu's regime.
This is a process that could have been started two years ago when tens of thousands of lives could have been saved.
Do we really need the lengthy process of the International Court of Justice to recognise war crimes when we see them, or have we totally lost our collective moral compass?
We know that what Hamas did on October 7th were war crimes, just as we know that what Netanyahu has done are war crimes on a massive scale.
Bob Geldof, also unfortunately late to the game of condemnation of Israel, made a nonetheless welcome and impassioned statement last week pleading with ordinary Israelis to keep their humanity regarding what is being done in their name in Gaza, and he accused Netanyahu and the Israel Defense Forces of constantly lying about their modus operandi.
Netanyahu has the dreadful distinction of having ruined the reputation of Israel for many decades to come. What a terrible legacy. – Yours, etc,
CYNTHIA CARROLL,
Newport,
Co Tipperary.
Not so hot on housing ideas
Sir , – Why are we having a consultation about cabins in gardens when it is self-evidently a terrible idea? ('H
ousing target to be raised from 33,000 to 83,000 units,'
July 29th). It is, though, of a piece with the Government's other recent terrible ideas for housing – functionality without aesthetics and cupboard-sized apartments. Is the plan to make Dublin the ugliest and unhealthiest capital in Europe? Is there a plan at all?
What about some imagination around new housing, recognising the importance of liveable spaces, and gardens as spaces for growing things instead of sprouting portacabins? – Yours, etc,
TRICIA CUSACK,
Greystones,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – I'm all in favour of building modular homes in back gardens, but at the risk of being branded a Nimby, not in my back yard, where, unfortunately, there's hardly room to construct a Wendy house.
Still, any initiative – no matter how problematic – that can alleviate our chronic shortage of homes is to be welcomed. – Yours, etc,
PAUL DELANEY,
Dalkey,
Dublin.
Bargaining with cycle lanes
Sir, – Barry Walsh, in criticising the Clontarf to city centre roadworks, somehow missed the major other works involved, including a badly needed upgrade to the water mains, improved walking facilities, major upgrades to junctions, new planting and improved seating.
Also included is a much improved bus lane. If we want to get people out of cars we don't have many other options. – Yours, etc,
SHEA CARROLL,
Emmet Rd,
Dublin 8.
Review of Rosie O'Donnell
Sir, – All comedy is subjective, and, at its heart, it's also storytelling, so I was genuinely flabbergasted to read the review of Rosie O'Donnell's Olympia show, 'Common Knowledge,' about her move to Ireland mere months ago and her relationship with her 12-year-old child, who was diagnosed with autism ('R
osie O'Donnell's Dublin world premiere review
,' July 29th).
Rosie is right about Ireland. If you want community and human connection, live here. She rejoiced in the human connection and hospitality from her local lollipop lady, pharmacist, neighbour and child's teachers, which the reviewer in this newspaper appeared to interpret as presenting a distorted, hall-of-mirrors version of Ireland by asking: 'Has she read the news?'
I wondered if that was a joke, given that Rosie left the US for Ireland because of the news. The personal is political. Her move here is proof of that.
Whataboutery is a classic go-to when questioning one's lived experience. Full disclosure: I met Rosie after she workshopped her show recently; the idea for her show was born from loss and a search for a new place in the world.
Does Rosie live in a 'bubble', as the reviewer suggested, because she is rich and famous? On the contrary, she burst that bubble when she moved here, or long before.
She burst it when she created her own family: five children, four of whom are adopted.
If that bubble does represent freedom and wealth then, like the Good Witch Glinda, it helped to bring her here.
Personally, I loved Rosie's show Common Knowledge. It was funny and truthful and moving and vulnerable and sad.
But she is in an impossible position: as an Irish-American new to these shores, you know how people would react if she stood on that stage in the Olympia and, say, complained about Irish begrudgery and the weather. Only we are allowed to do that. – Yours, etc,
QUENTIN FOTTRELL,
Glasthule,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – I read today with shock and a certain sadness with regard to what Ruby Eastwood describes in her review of Rosie O'Donnell's show Common Knowledge.
Miss Eastwood writes: 'O'Donnell eventually moves the emotional core: her loathing of Donald Trump.'
And 'a slide features paintings of the US president, his face rendered demon red, words such as 'TRAITOR' and 'HYPOCRITE' etched across them. There are now hundreds of these paintings.'
It is baffling and sad that any person would spend hours, years, and energy creating vitriol, and, dare I say, hate.
Few deny that President Trump has engaged in acts that are both criminal and annoying, and to extremes. As a fellow New Yorker, I enjoy his candour.
His vocabulary is often childish, using words such as 'horrible' and exaggerations: 'The worst [or the best] this country has ever seen.'
As a citizen of the US, I find the deportations that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) foments sad and unjust.
It seems it is fashionable these days to subject the president to this type of demonisation.
Donald Trump is many things, many of them objectionable: he is not evil!
Of course, this 'loathing' of O'Donnell's, expressed in words and otherwise, makes her a tidy income, and has for years.
I will end with one of my favourite quotes: 'Always be a little kinder than is necessary,' – JM Barrie, Peter Pan. – Yours, etc,
PADDY FITZPATRICK,
Cork.
Wise words and women
Sir, – I was pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of two wise women's words in The Irish Times in the past week.
The first wise words were by Joanna Lumley (Ticket, July 26th) when she referred to the statue of Molly Malone in her very low-cut dress as wrong and not reflective of a pretty girl who was a fishmonger.
She asked that we 'make a proper Molly Malone statue'.
Dublin City Council, please remove the current statue and forget about appointing a minder or planting flower beds around it.
The second wise words were by Olga Barry (Letters, July 28th) calling out the National Transport Authority for apparently allocating ¤45 million for a 6km cycle lane from Dundrum to Dún Laoghaire without a cost-benefit analysis. The net effect of the proposed works is to actually reduce the amount of space available for cyclists, pedestrians and traffic on the current roads.
The DLR County Council plan includes a lot of tree, shrub and flower planting on the route, in an area that already has wonderful parks, gardens and green spaces safely fenced off.
If I may add a few possible wise women's words of my own, it needs to be all shoulders – and funds – to the wheel to tackle our priority housing crisis – 'Housing target raised from 33,000 to 83,000 units,' July 29th. Please stop earmarking public funds and staff for non-priority works until such time as we have made significant progress on housing supply. – Yours, etc,
MARY TULLY,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.
GAA cheap shots and football
Sir, – Maurice O'Callaghan (Letters, July 29th) doesn't attempt to conceal his prejudice against the most popular team sport in the world, namely association football, or 'soccer', as he would have it.
For my part, having participated in and /or supported the beautiful game for more than 60 years, may I make some points in reply?
In all the many games I have been involved in throughout the years (playing or watching) some of the most exciting have been scoreless draws.
This is because the game of 'soccer' is based on tactical skills, guile and creativity in pursuit of the ultimate objective – goals.
Not for us the instant gratification of easily attained 'scores'.
In conclusion, may I say it has long been a source of curiosity and a little irritation why some GAA fans can't enjoy their preferred sport without taking cheap shots at 'soccer'. – Yours, etc,
THOMAS NAGHTEN,
Maynooth,
Co Kildare.
The look of looking busy
Sir, – With regard to looking busy at work, I find that a pen or pencil behind the ear adds to the illusion of urgency and gravitas of the business at hand. – Yours, etc,
CANICE COONEY,
Kellystown,
Co Sligo.
Sir, – Mike Moran (Letters, July 29th) suggests walking the office corridors with a file under your arm is the best way to look busy in an office.
The modern day equivalent is carrying an open laptop in front of you, with the obligatory coffee cup in the other hand of course. – Yours, etc,
ROB O'MAHONY,
Kilmainham,
Dublin 8.
Sir, – Finbar Kearns (Letters, July 30th) judged positively the members of his team who walked quickly down a corridor.
Did it matter if they were walking towards him or in the other direction? – Yours, etc,
JOHN THREADGOLD,
Pollerton Little,
Carlow.
Declaring war on germs
Sir, – Dr Muiris Houston is a doctor who appears to have forgotten about the immune system in the normal healthy individual ('
Germs: The dirtiest items are ones we might least expect but there are ways to protect yourself
,' July 29th).
He treats us to an alarming array of objects and activities that threaten our health if we travel, or indeed when we are at home – I suspect the home remote control and the local supermarket keypad for paying are as dirty as those in foreign hotels or airport pharmacies.
We are prone apparently to contracting the germs of the common cold, E-coli, coronavirus, and several more.
I am 79 years old, my husband is 73 years old. We travel and also use public transport. While we are moderately careful about keeping our hands and our home clean, we are by no means over-fastidious. We have certainly never considered taking precautions against touching the trays in the security areas of airports, or hotel remote controls, or keypads used for paying bills.
We haven't had colds in years. The only bout of food poisoning I have ever had anywhere was indeed abroad, but was the result of eating shellfish.
There are certainly people with compromised immune systems who must be vigilant and careful about what they touch and how clean they keep their hands and their surroundings.
Most of us have robust protections built into us and developed from a young age, and do not require to be needlessly frightened, on what is becoming a regular basis, about the dangers of the activities of daily life. – Yours, etc,
NORMA JESSOP,
Churchtown,
Dublin 14.
Help is at hand
Sir, – Ita McCormack should not fret (Letters, July 30th). Instead she should invest in an internet radio and (attached to her WiFi), she'll have all the BBC programmes she desires. – Yours, etc,
MARION WALSH,
Donnybrook,
Dublin 4.
Remembering Tony O'Reilly
Sir, – Regarding Ray Burke's Irishman's Diary on Tony O'Reilly, July 30th: The annual Irish Management Institute (IMI) conference was held in Killarney for a number of years in the 1990s and early 2000s.
On one occasion at least, the late Tony O'Reilly was the guest speaker. On the afternoon preceding the conference banquet the delegates were free to sightsee, play golf or relax.
As they indulged their leisure time interests, Tony O' Reilly walked to the podium in the empty banqueting hall and, word for word, jokes and asides included, delivered his speech in full, even pausing for anticipated applause.
Little wonder that he achieved so much for so long, on and off the field. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL GLEESON,
Killarney,
Co Kerry.
Sir, – In 1958, Tony O'Reilly was selected as the Caltex sportsman of the year for rugby. However, as the trophy contained a centrepiece of gold worth £25, the Irish Rugby Football Union deemed that this would not be in accordance with his amateur status, so he could not accept it.
The presentations went ahead without rugby! –Yours, etc,
TONY WALL,
Raheny,
Dublin.