Irish Examiner view: Who dares to say ‘no’ to the bully?
President Donald Trump fiery 45-minute call with Frederiksen, in which she insisted Greenland was not for sale, has sent a dark message to world leaders. Picture: Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Described as “aggressive and confrontational”, Trump’s fiery 45-minute call with Frederiksen, in which she insisted Greenland was not for sale, despite his belligerent entreaties, has sent a dark message — if it was really needed — to leaders across the world about the US president’s intent and his modus operandi.
On Sunday, the US and Colombia spent the day in a tense stand-off after the South American nation turned away two flights containing deported immigrants only to be met with a barrage of trade and tariff threats from the Oval Office.
The Colombians eventually relented and accepted the flights, but not before they had been joined by Mexico and Brazil in expressing outrage at the “flagrant disregard for the fundamental rights” and the “degrading treatment” of their citizens by US immigration officials.
Over the weekend, we also saw Trump disgracefully suggest the answer to the problem of post-war Gaza was to “clean out” the enclave and distribute its 2m Palestinian inhabitants between important US allies, Egypt and Jordan — a suggestion flatly rejected by both.
Recent presidents have consistently supported the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, but with him back in the White House, who knows where this could end.
In Europe — Denmark aside, of course — German chancellor Olaf Schultz and French president Emmanuel Macron met in Paris last week to discuss how they, and the EU in general, will face down the threats presented by Trump’s tariffs.
Schulz promised that “Europe would not stand and hide”, while Macron insisted on the need for a “united, strong, and sovereign Europe”. Well-intentioned words, indeed, but Europe now has to work out if it is simply facing a Trump administration or one run by Trump and Elon Musk.
Musk is already on Europe’s case over its regulation of social media and his X platform, as well as taking court action over tariffs on his Chinese-built Tesla cars. His influence on the Oval Office cannot be underestimated.
Despite the confrontational, scattergun approach to global affairs seen in his first week in office, it is apparent that Trump’s bullying tactics are not going to work on everyone and his "be afraid, be very afraid" dictum will not cut it the way he would like.
Why is it that after every storm or distressing climatic event, Ireland is left reeling by the after-effects?
It is precisely because, due to the obvious effects of climate change and global warming, it is impossible to predict the levels of damage and disruption that will be inflicted. But it is possible to have plans in place to somehow ameliorate the difficulties faced by homes and businesses in the event of storms such as Éowyn.
The establishment of community hubs to help people left without water, electricity, and internet connection is worthwhile, but knee-jerk. That over 100,000 homes and businesses are still without water and it will be next week before electricity is restored right across the country, suggests that an infrastructure overhaul might improve matters.
Ireland’s electricity grid is primarily serviced by an overhead network — we have four times the overhead network per capita than the rest of Europe or Britain — and this needs to be looked at. Look up to the sky in most of our urban streets and you’ll see a mish-mash of cables, many of which are redundant and all of which are exposed to storms.
We know that there is going to be more and more extreme weather events coming our way in the coming months and years, and structured and well-planned responses are going to be needed to cope.
Detailed focus needs to be trained by Government, local government, utility providers, and emergency services on what individual and community needs will be in such situations. After all, it’s not going to get much better in the long term.
Ireland recorded 1,250 domestic violence incidents every week last year.
This data illustrates a growing and unacceptable rise in both domestic and sexual abuse which is affecting far too many families and communities across our nation, and needs the Government’s immediate attention.
Certainly, the programme for Government has stressed the need to grapple with this “epidemic” and that tackling it is a major priority, and will involve the full implementation of national "zero tolerance" policies.
But these are issues which have become more of an imperative as time has gone on — as the appalling figures, which are growing annually, clearly illustrate.
Education at school level on domestic and sexual violence is going to be necessary going forward, as well as the investment necessary to implement it. So too a thorough review of the laws — and punishment — regarding court orders on aggression in the home, whatever shape it comes in.
Alarming increases in both physical violence (up 74% in 2023 by comparison with 2022) and economic abuse (up 87% in the same period), mean that investment in the area cannot be ignored.
Certainly, there are initiatives in terms of the creation of more refuge places and in education programmes.
There are also much-needed co-operative ventures between government departments and the gardaí to ensure people in intimate relationships can be informed of the risk to them if a new partner has a history of domestic violence.
The surge in these types of often "hidden" crimes cannot and must not be overlooked, and the battle to increase momentum against this societal scourge which ruins so many lives must continue on every front possible.
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