Sir, – I refer to the article “Best wishes letter from President Higgins to Iran draws fire from Israel” (News, August 1st).
After reading the article, one could be forgiven for thinking that objections to the tone and content of the President’s letter congratulating newly elected Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian were confined to the Israeli embassy in Ireland.
You fail to consider, or even acknowledge, how the many Irish people who have assisted Syrian and Ukrainian refugees might feel about the President sending such warm greetings to a regime actively involved in supplying the weapons that have devastated their homelands.
While formal congratulations are of course an integral part of diplomacy, the final lines of President Higgins letter read more like the warm greetings of an ally: “With my very best wishes for your endeavours, your hopes and all the challenges at this difficult time when we struggle for peace.”
Do these “endeavours” include running a repressive theocracy infamous for its persecution of ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ people and women; having one of the world’s highest judicial execution rates; helping the “struggle for peace” by sponsoring terror groups like Hamas and Hizbullah; and supplying weapons to brutal autocrats like Bashar al-Assad and Vladimir Putin?
If the Áras does respond to your request for a comment, perhaps you could ask the President to clarify his comments with regard to the issues raised above and say if he thinks his letter reflects the views of our Government or the Irish people. – Yours, etc,
NIALL McCULLAGH,
Enfield,
Co Meath.
Sir, – President Higgins is the supreme commander of the Defence Forces and he should be well aware of the alleged involvement of Hizbullah members in the death of Pte Sean Rooney in Lebanon on December 14th, 2022. Perhaps his letter should have highlighted the difficulties with obtaining justice for Pte Sean Rooney in the long-delayed judicial process in Lebanon, and asked for Iranian assistance to expedite matters. That is the “dialogue and co-operation” I and many others would like to see. – Yours, etc,
CONOR HOGARTY,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.