Latest news with #SallyHayden
RTÉ News
5 days ago
- General
- RTÉ News
Behind the Story: 'Level of suffering unbelievable' amid starvation in Gaza
The deteriorating situation in Gaza has taken centre stage this week amid continued warnings of starvation in the Palestinian enclave. Irish Times International Correspondent Sally Hayden has spent the last three weeks in the West Bank and travelled close to the border with Gaza. "The devastation was so evident - destroyed buildings, there was smoke rising I think from four or five places, multiple explosions happened when I was there - and it was only a few minutes." She told Behind the Story she was shocked by what she witnessed and surprised to also see tour groups coming to see what was happening. "They were just going to have a look at what was going on. "It was very surreal because you can have these declarations of famine or starvation, but a kilometre away people have food. "At this viewing point there was a vending machine with people getting fizzy drinks and afterwards I drive by cafés and restaurants. "It's so close - you can see this devastation with your eyes from Israel". 'Starvation is unbelievable' Ms Hayden also detailed the widespread misery being experienced by people in the West Bank. "I met a lot of Palestinians [who] are not eating anymore themselves, even though they're in the West Bank and there's food there, because they can't bear that there are people who are so close who are just going without anything". She also met families who have been separated from their families in Gaza since 7 October. They were forced to go to the West Bank and now there's no way for them to get into Gaza. "They've spent almost two years separated from their families, watching their families go through this. "Two of them men were married, they have a wife and children in Gaza who call them every day. "They were saying [that] the starvation is unbelievable." For more than 21 months, Israeli bombardment and a lack of food have pushed nearly two million people of Gaza to the brink. The health ministry there has said more than 100 people have died from starvation since Israel cut off supplies to the territory in March. Over 100 aid and human rights groups warned this week that "mass starvation" was spreading in Gaza. It comes as France says it will recognise a Palestinian state in September - becoming the first G7 country to do so. It is also the only European Union member which sits on the influential United Nations Security Council. French President Emmanuel Macron said he believes "peace is possible" while also calling for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages and massive humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.
Irish Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Letters to the Editor, July 24th: On Gaza, the NDP, Repealer regret and wind farm demolition
Sir, – Your front-page picture ( Palestinian children face death , July 23rd) is horrific, and it makes me wonder why the Israeli government and its people think that it is acceptable to prevent food aid reaching Gaza. How can anyone be so heartless? You cannot defend the indefensible. Children are starving. – Yours, etc, DEE DELANY, Raheny, READ MORE Dublin 5. Sir,- The photograph on the front page (Wednesday 23rd) is beyond shocking – the skeletal limbs of little Muhammad, with a plastic bag for a nappy – and what can we do about it? We must unite in trying to find a solution – individually we are helpless. – Yours, etc, ROSARY COX, Mount Merrion, Dublin. Sir, – With every passing day more news emerges of the horrors being inflicted on the population of Gaza by the Israeli military; funded, armed and given diplomatic cover by the West. On Wednesday, Sally Hayden ('Without intervention the last reporters in Gaza will die', Page 1, July 23rd) reported that more than 100 aid organisations warned of 'mass starvation' in Gaza. With every killing of an innocent Palestinian a part of our collective humanity dies, and so does our right to call ourselves civilised people. If we are to rescue what little remains of international law and universal human rights, then our governments must work together to immediately end the suffering with concrete actions against Israel. Failure to do so will represent the greatest moral failing of our lifetimes and will cast a shadow on us all for generations to come. – Yours, etc, CALLUM SWIFT, Moycullen, Galway. Sir, – The continued conflation of Jewish identity with the actions of the Israeli state has become a dangerous and cynical distortion of the public understanding of the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people. Equating criticism of Israeli policy with anti-Semitism not only stifles legitimate debate but it places Jewish people around the world at risk by implying they are collectively responsible for the conduct of a government and state they may neither belong to nor support. That conflation is itself anti-Semitic. It reduces a diverse and global people into a single political ideology, silencing dissent and enabling prejudice under the guise of collective protection. Binyamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government, despite presenting themselves as defenders of the Jewish people, have arguably become among the most effective enablers of modern anti-Semitism. Not because they hate Jews, but because they conflate Jewish identity with the actions of a nationalist state engaged in systemic oppression and weaponise that identity to deflect criticism. The fight against anti-Semitism, as with all forms of racism and sectarianism, must not be hijacked to shield a state from accountability. It must remain rooted in the defence of human dignity and not the preservation of political power. – Yours, etc, JOHN O'NEILL, Alexandra Walk, Dublin 8. Review of the National Development Plan Sir, – The big announcement emerged on July 22nd confirming an investment plan to the value of €275 billion to be implemented over the next 10 years. We will find out the details regarding what the National Development Plan (NDP) is to deliver and, of course, it'll be presented as being for the greater good of this country – as it should be. So, can we assume that the NDP will deliver on all of its promises because lessons have been learned from the many recent and not so recent experiences that have resulted in plans or commitments coming up short or falling by the wayside due to various combinations of mishaps, mistakes, misjudgements, misunderstandings and miscalculations? Will there be low or no tolerance for delays or cost overruns? It's positive to note that consideration is being given to strengthening of legislation with a view to being able to fast-track projects of national importance or to be able to exempt the requirement for some environmental impact assessment reports in relation to certain strategically significant brownfield sites. The enormous purse being allocated to this NDP will not translate into the delivery that it promises unless it is matched and robustly supported by the kind of trenchant political will and leadership that, regretfully, we haven't been seeing for some time. – Yours, etc TOM TIERNAN, Shanaway Road, Ennis. Sir , – The Government's renewed commitment to the National Development Plan is welcome, but the core challenge remains delivery. Time and again, Ireland has struggled to turn plans into reality. A key obstacle is the low threshold for initiating judicial reviews, which frequently delay or derail vital infrastructure projects. While many in politics acknowledge this issue, few appear willing to act. Without reform, we risk further stagnation. Equally troubling is a broader lack of ambition and accountability within the Civil Service. A culture of risk aversion and process over progress has taken hold, where maintaining the status quo is often prioritised over achieving results. We must confront these structural and cultural issues directly. A failure to do so will only lead to the repetition of past failures. – Yours, etc., MEL MCCARTHY, Skerries, Co Dublin. Galway, city of the traffic Anyone who lives, or has lived, in Galway will know full well that any idea of light rail for Galway is quite simply a deluded fantasy. Murt Coleman (Letters, July 23rd) happily ignores the fact that to install light rail would mean Galway coming to a dead stop for however many years it would take to construct the system. Last year your article ' Case for 'Gluas' light rail in Galway identified by feasibility study ' (Wednesday Oct 30th, 2024) showed a map of the proposed route for this fantasy light railway. This simply mimicked the east-west bus routes. Maybe this is a covert justification for the Galway Outer-Bypass or, as it would come to be known, the Galway Outer Carpark. Yours, etc, ANTHONY MORAN, Bundoran, Co Donegal. Repealers regret? Sir, – The 10,852 abortions provided in Ireland in 2024 are not a national shame – they reflect accessible, compassionate healthcare delivered at home. These are not nameless, faceless women as imagined in Breda O'Brien's article ( Admit it, the reluctant repealers were wrong , Opinion, July 19th). They are our sisters, wives, girlfriends, colleagues and nieces – real people, with real lives and real challenges. They live in the reality that contraception isn't 100 per cent effective, that life is messy, and that control over one's body is essential to dignity. Repeal didn't introduce abortion – it ended the cruelty of exporting it. Since Repeal, women no longer have to leave the country to access legal, safe, timely care. But we are still failing women every week – those who must travel to the UK because they fall outside the narrow criteria of our legislation. These women, too, deserve care and compassion at home. When Breda O'Brien raises concerns about coercion into abortion, she forgets the intergenerational trauma of women coerced into endless pregnancies – forced to give birth against their will, trapped in poverty or abuse, shamed by families or hidden away in institutions. That, too, was coercion. That, too, was violence. The pre-Repeal system didn't protect women – it punished the poor and marginalised. Women with means could leave. Those without were left with no choice at all. Abortion will always be complex and deeply personal. But what we've built is a system that offers care instead of condemnation – a system grounded not in judgement, but in empathy (ionmhá). Repeal replaced shame with dignity, silence with support, and risk with safety. That is not a failure. That is justice – and it was long overdue. BRIAN KENNEDY, Nenagh, Co Tipperary Planning Nostalgia Sir, – Unlike Evan Campbell (Letters, 27 July), I welcome The Irish Times devoting 1,800 words to a critique of the 22-storey College Square tower, as the unavoidable presence of such an addition to the skyline deserves a cultural conversation. Whether one agrees with Frank McDonald ( Tower of Darkness , Ticket, July 19th) on issues such as the appropriateness of tall buildings (I would argue density can be achieved without height) or the protection of urban vistas (I would agree the new tower has a catastrophic impact on the historic urban landscape), surely it is appropriate to have a public discussion on topics fundamentally affecting the character of the city. Dublin has plenty of capacity for tall buildings and density in appropriate locations, but this can be achieved while maintaining the quality of the historic centre. – Yours etc., STEPHEN WALL, Rialto, Dublin 8. Sir, – I rather enjoyed your retired correspondent Frank McDonald's article about the new high-rise building adjacent to Mulligans pub in Dublin, and its impact on views from Trinity College and other parts of Dublin. This brought back a few memories. In 1984 An Bord Pleanála granted planning permission for a 40-storey tower on a site in Georges Quay in Dublin, proposed by the Irish Life Assurance Company. Dublin City Council (Dublin Corporation as it was then) planners had approved a scheme with a maximum height of 11 stories, but this was appealed by third parties for, among other grounds, being too high! Two different expert planning authorities had reached polar opposite views of what height should be permitted on that site. The late Carmencita Hederman, mayor of Dublin at the time, took legal action, on behalf of Dublin Corporation, against the An Bord Pleanála decision. Rather than wait for years for a court decision, Irish Life reapplied to Dublin Corporation for a 14-storey tower, which was granted this time. Following further appeals and delays the 'tower' (also known jokingly as Canary Dwarf, with its pyramid roofscape) was eventually constructed on the Georges Quay site beside Tara Street station in 2001, 19 years after the first application in 1982. Oh, the vagaries of the Irish planning system. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose! – Yours, etc, MICHAEL KINSELLA, Sydney, Australia. Demolishing Derrybrien Sir, – Michael McDowell ( Opinion, July 23rd ), laments the planned dismantling of the Derrybrien wind farm, portraying it as a needless loss of renewable energy and public money. But his analysis sidesteps the fundamental reason we are in this position: noncompliance with EU environmental law. The failure to conduct an environmental impact assessment (EIA) before construction began in 2003 is not a minor technicality, but a breach of well-established EU environmental safeguards. These assessments exist to prevent precisely the kind of disaster that occurred at Derrybrien: the destabilisation of peatland, a massive landslide and the destruction of a river ecosystem, including the death of an estimated 50,000 brown trout. Had proper due diligence been carried out, this damage and the ensuing legal and financial consequences might have been avoided entirely. – Yours, etc, MICHAEL O'MEARA, Fenor, Co Waterford.
Irish Times
20-06-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
Could the Israel-Iran war completely destabilise the Middle East?
Sally Hayden and Harry McGee join Jack Horgan-Jones to look back on the week in politics: Sally Hayden joins the pod on the line from Beirut where missiles flying overhead have become a fact of daily life despite the ceasefire agreement Lebanon signed with Israel last November. With Israel's attention now firmly on Iran , the rising death toll and continuing aerial attacks from both sides show no signs of abating. And is the US on the verge of joining Israel's attack on Iran? What could that mean for stability in the Middle East? Children's Health Ireland appeared before the Oireachtas Health Committee this week with politicians eager to tear strips off the embattled group responsible for running children's hospital services in Dublin . After so many controversies since its inception in 2018, can CHI be trusted to run the new national children's hospital when it opens? And how will this all be handled by Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll-MacNeill given her short time as a first-time senior Minister? Plus, the panel picks their favourite Irish Times pieces of the week: How AIB came back from the brink after the crash, and a misguided viral appeal following the death of an Irish emigrant in London.
DW
23-05-2025
- Politics
- DW
South Sudan: What if the UN lifts its arms embargo? – DW – 05/23/2025
The UN Security Council is due to vote in late May on whether to renew an arms embargo on South Sudan for another year. Amnesty International is warning that the conflict could worsen without it. Global concern is once again shifting to South Sudan, the world's youngest nation. The flare-up of a long-simmering conflict in the East African country has claimed thousands of lives. It has also displaced some 2.3 million people and pushed around 60,000 children into malnourishment . International efforts to end the conflict have included a UN embargo on arms transfers to the parties to the conflicts, expires on May 31. UN Security Council members are set to vote on a draft resolution to extend the South Sudan sanctions regime. According to Amnesty International, the lives of civilians are at risk without an extension of the arms embargo. "We urge the [UN] Security Council to renew the embargo, enforce it and protect civilian lives," Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty's Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, said. "While the UN arms embargo has not been a panacea, the human rights situation would almost certainly be worse without it," he added. Amnesty describes as an open violation of the embargo the "deployment of armed Ugandan soldiers and military equipment to South Sudan since March 11, 2025." How instability persists in South Sudan To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Violations of UN sanctions The UN Security Council's arms embargo on South Sudan dates back to 2018 and its sanctions regime on the country to 2015. On May 30, 2024, the Council extended the sanctions for a year. In addition to the arms embargo, it also encompasses asset freezes and travel bans. At the time, the UN said it was open to reviewing the arms embargo through modification, suspension or progressive lifting. In its estimation, arms shipments violated the UN resolution to end the conflict and further contributed to the instability in the country. However, a statement by International Crisis Group says that while the sanctions "appear to have made it harder for actors to deploy heavy weapons", the country's porous borders make it difficult to enforce a small arms and light weapons ban. Civilians from South Sudan and Sudan have crisscrossed the border between their countries to escape conflicts Image: Sally Hayden/SOPA Images/ZUMA Press Wire/picture alliance In a letter to the UN in early 2024, South Sudan's First Vice President, Riek Machar, accused Uganda of "grave violation" of the arms embargo following the Ugandan armed forces deployment into South Sudan. According to Amnesty, its Crisis Evidence Lab recently verified two videos featuring Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) personnel and equipment. "The first shows dozens of UPDF soldiers arriving at Juba International Airport on March 11. The second shows armored personnel carriers and military trucks," Amnesty said. Amid the reported violations, there's growing concern over whether the UN can effectively intervene and what a renewal of the arms embargo could even mean. UN Security Council pictured during a vote on protecting civilians in South Sudan and neighboring Sudan in November 2024 Image: Lev Radin/Sipa USA/picture alliance Is UN peacekeeping working? Recently, the UN Security Council extended the mandate of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) for 12 months, expressing "deep concern" over the deteriorating situation in the country. Amid these continued efforts, some citizens are questioning the impact of UN peacekeeping efforts. Can UN efforts prevent civil war in South Sudan? To play this audio please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 audio "The UN is here in Juba or in other parts of South Sudan. They are there, they are roaming around the streets, but they cannot take an action," Abraham Maliet Mamer, Secretary General of the South Sudan Investment Authority, told DW. "I don't believe their mandate is clear. You cannot say you are peacekeeping, what peace are you keeping? People are fighting every day and you're not doing anything about it." The UN, however, insists that it is doing all it can to stop the conflict. "This country has suffered two civil wars before its independence and two after its independence. There is no appetite for more suffering in the population. They have suffered a lot due to civil wars. So, we have to stop the civil war at whatever cost," Lieutenant General Mohan Subramanian, UNMISS Force Commander, told DW. Josey Mahachi and Cai Nebe contributed to this report. Edited by: Benita van Eyssen
DW
23-05-2025
- Politics
- DW
South Sudan: What if UN fails to extend its arms embargo? – DW – 05/23/2025
The UN Security Council is due to vote in late May on whether to renew an arms embargo on South Sudan for another year. Amnesty International is warning that the conflict could worsen without it. Global concern is once again shifting to South Sudan, the world's youngest nation. The flare-up of a long-simmering conflict in the East African country has claimed thousands of lives. It has also displaced some 2.3 million people and pushed around 60,000 children into malnourishment . International efforts to end the conflict have included a UN embargo on arms transfers to the parties to the conflicts, expires on May 31. UN Security Council members are set to vote on a draft resolution to extend the South Sudan sanctions regime. According to Amnesty International, the lives of civilians are at risk without an extension of the arms embargo. "We urge the [UN] Security Council to renew the embargo, enforce it and protect civilian lives," Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty's Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, said. "While the UN arms embargo has not been a panacea, the human rights situation would almost certainly be worse without it," he added. Amnesty describes as an open violation of the embargo the "deployment of armed Ugandan soldiers and military equipment to South Sudan since March 11, 2025." How instability persists in South Sudan To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Violations of UN sanctions The UN Security Council's arms embargo on South Sudan dates back to 2018 and its sanctions regime on the country to 2015. On May 30, 2024, the Council extended the sanctions for a year. In addition to the arms embargo, it also encompasses asset freezes and travel bans. At the time, the UN said it was open to reviewing the arms embargo through modification, suspension or progressive lifting. In its estimation, arms shipments violated the UN resolution to end the conflict and further contributed to the instability in the country. However, a statement by International Crisis Group says that while the sanctions "appear to have made it harder for actors to deploy heavy weapons", the country's porous borders make it difficult to enforce a small arms and light weapons ban. Civilians from South Sudan and Sudan have crisscrossed the border between their countries to escape conflicts Image: Sally Hayden/SOPA Images/ZUMA Press Wire/picture alliance In a letter to the UN in early 2024, South Sudan's First Vice President, Riek Machar, accused Uganda of "grave violation" of the arms embargo following the Ugandan armed forces deployment into South Sudan. According to Amnesty, its Crisis Evidence Lab recently verified two videos featuring Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) personnel and equipment. "The first shows dozens of UPDF soldiers arriving at Juba International Airport on March 11. The second shows armored personnel carriers and military trucks," Amnesty said. Amid the reported violations, there's growing concern over whether the UN can effectively intervene and what a renewal of the arms embargo could even mean. UN Security Council pictured during a vote on protecting civilians in South Sudan and neighboring Sudan in November 2024 Image: Lev Radin/Sipa USA/picture alliance Is UN peacekeeping working? Recently, the UN Security Council extended the mandate of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) for 12 months, expressing "deep concern" over the deteriorating situation in the country. Amid these continued efforts, some citizens are questioning the impact of UN peacekeeping efforts. Can UN efforts prevent civil war in South Sudan? To play this audio please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 audio "The UN is here in Juba or in other parts of South Sudan. They are there, they are roaming around the streets, but they cannot take an action," Abraham Maliet Mamer, Secretary General of the South Sudan Investment Authority, told DW. "I don't believe their mandate is clear. You cannot say you are peacekeeping, what peace are you keeping? People are fighting every day and you're not doing anything about it." The UN, however, insists that it is doing all it can to stop the conflict. "This country has suffered two civil wars before its independence and two after its independence. There is no appetite for more suffering in the population. They have suffered a lot due to civil wars. So, we have to stop the civil war at whatever cost," Lieutenant General Mohan Subramanian, UNMISS Force Commander, told DW. Josey Mahachi and Cai Nebe contributed to this report. Edited by: Benita van Eyssen
