Letters to the Editor: Three key questions Leo Varadkar should ask Joe Biden
Leo Varadkar's St Patrick's Day trip to the US continued yesterday with his visit to the White House. Action Aid is urging the Taoiseach to engage in 'straight talking' with US president Joe Biden. Picture: Niall Carson/PA
The scale of suffering and violence in Gaza is horrific. In just five months, 31,000 people, 70% women and children, have been brutally killed. Around 80% of Gaza’s 2.3m people have been driven from their homes. Children are now dying from starvation due to lack of aid, and famine is imminent.
The reality is that all of this is man-made and entirely avoidable. The role the US has played is unconscionable, as the current administration has not only expressed unconditional support for Israel, but is also sending weapons and requesting additional funding to finance and sustain the siege in Gaza.
No civilian, Israeli or Palestinian, deserves to live in fear for their lives. The often cited ‘right to self-defence’ is not a legal pass that frees Israel from its obligations under international humanitarian law.
The disproportionate response by the Israeli government to the brutal events of October 7 should not amount to the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.
The senseless and inhumane killings and cycle of violence must stop.
This week, the annual St Patrick’s Day “greening” of Washington is overshadowed by the senseless violence, death, and starvation in Gaza. This is a week when Ireland has unique access to the US administration. While there will be the traditional handing over of the shamrock, receptions, and parties, straight talking also needs to be happen. Lives depend on it.
As a country that knows the horror of famine from its own history, the war on Gaza must be firmly put on the table when Taoiseach Leo Varadkar meets with US president Joe Biden.
There are three fundamental questions that the Taoiseach must ask Mr Biden:
. The US proposal for a temporary ceasefire ‘as soon as practical’ is insufficient to addressing this crisis that worsens by the minute. Will Mr Biden push Israel to agree to an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza?
. Talk of temporary ports and food aid air drops into Gaza are merely elaborate distractions that skirt around the inevitable. Will Mr Biden put pressure on Israel to allow unfettered, unimpeded, full-scale humanitarian aid into Gaza as a matter of urgency?
. The US military is supporting Israel’s reign of terror on Gaza. Will Mr Biden stop sending military support to prop up Israel’s campaign in Gaza?
The people of Gaza have endured enough horror.
The Taoiseach and the plethora of senior Irish Government members and officials in America for the annual St Patrick’s Day celebrations must raise these questions at the multiple official and unofficial meetings that will be taking place.
We are not surprised that the electorate voted down the referenda. This is not a vote to return to the Ireland of the past but the rejection of a government that denies its responsibilities to carers and people with disabilities.
The Government arrogantly discarded the recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly and imposed wording that was vague and contentious.
It refused to listen to criticism from opposition parties, independents, grassroots organisations, and human rights groups.
It rushed the vote through rather than wait for a Supreme Court case to be heard in April.
Brought by the mother of a disabled son — her carer’s allowance was reduced based on her partner’s earnings — it will test whether the current wording of Article 41.2 is enforceable for family carers.
The Government denied the State’s responsibility to carers in the home and outside, the majority of whom are women, and to people with disabilities who demand rights not dependence.
We were disappointed that most of the opposition parties, including Sinn Féin, as well as many NGOs and unions, who initially objected to the Government’s wording, then decided to back their yes/yes campaign.
Sinn Féin initially promised that, if elected to government, they will re-run the referenda on the basis of the Citizens’ Assembly recommendations. They now seem to be retracting.
Why?
Isn’t money and other support for mothers and other carers and people with disabilities crucial to tackling poverty and discrimination?
It has been striking that, in the care referendum, these sectors came together in opposition to the State’s abdication of its responsibility towards us.
We intend to build on that newfound unity to continue to hold politicians to account.
It is an unfortunate human condition that our reaction to and perception of mistakes will always be magnified such as to regularly overshadow hard, forward-thinking work which results in appropriate and necessary outcomes.
There was always a rudimentary incompatibility and an incongruous perception of our National Symphony Orchestra, established by RTÉ in 1948, remaining under the auspices of the national broadcaster, while the National Concert Hall, established in 1981, did not have an orchestra at its core in order to stimulate learning and participation in music and to facilitate innovation in musical performance.
Eventually, after over 40 years, in 2022, it was given stewardship of the National Symphony Orchestra.
This was quietly and effectively brought about by Culture Minister Catherine Martin and her department, who are currently under fire in the mire of the RTÉ debacle.
At the time of this transition, National Concert Hall chairwoman Maura McGrath spoke of ensuring that the orchestra would be sustained, strengthened, and developed to a world-class standard.
Anyone who was present in the concert hall last Friday night — when Elina Garanča, one of the world’s leading mezzosopranos, and our National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Karel Mark Chichon (her husband) performed in concert to celebrate International Women’s Day — would have commended Catherine Martin for her accomplishment and Maura McGrath for following through on her visionary words.
Another devastating week in Gaza has also been a shameful week in Ireland. Politicians heading to Washington for the annual St Patrick’s Day pat on the head by an American president has always been a nauseating sight.
But this year, with America backing Israel’s genocide in Gaza, it’s worse than shameful: It’s contemptible, revolting, and disgraceful.
Leo Varadkar has admitted that he won’t be “ticking off” US president Joe Biden (‘Varadkar won’t use St Patrick’s Day visit to ‘tick’ Biden off over Gaza’ — Irish Examiner, March 13).
“I’m here to talk to him to understand the American position and see if we can influence it in a positive way,” Mr Varadkar said.
These are weasel words.
Biden is a war criminal. America is arming and financing a state engaged in genocide. That’s the “American position”.
The Taoiseach and all European governments could indeed “influence it in a positive way”, but not with displays of fawning supplication. They could cut off all economic ties with Israel and take decisive action against the United States.
So far they haven’t done that because Israel is a member of the Western alliance. Israel’s allies are troubled by its actions but are very reluctant to do anything about them.
Ireland is integrating itself ever deeper into the Western alliance and is now closely aligned with American foreign policy. The current Government makes no attempt to hide this.
That’s the lay of the land right now. But it’s not acceptable to people in Ireland opposed to the genocide in Gaza, nor to billions of people around the world of like mind.
Something has to change. But, as Martin Luther King said, “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.”
Donal Lenihan is disparaging of those who interrupt his enjoyment of stadium rugby by to-ing and fro-ing to the bar. He says he would ‘hardly contain’ himself in that situation.
Same here. I would just have to follow suit.
