Carnage in Gaza: Playing games with a real tragedy

The members of any representative political institution, elected or merely nominated, are entrusted with that body’s integrity and reputation, its sense of purpose and its sense of possibility.

How they behave, how they guard that considerable responsibility, defines that entity's place in the world and, most importantly, how it is regarded by those it represents. It defines whether it has the capacity and moral authority to lead change, bring influence to bear or whether it is taken seriously or not.

This week's recall of Seanad Éireann to discuss the ongoing atrocities in Gaza and the persistent Hamas missile attacks on Israel may well seem justified but it is - tragically - an embarrassing combination of opportunist grandstanding and utterly empty gesture. It seems an almost laughable re-enactment of the Skibbereen Eagle's brave, David-like stand when it warned Czar Alexander that it was keeping its eye on Russia.