Sir, – Capt HA McGowan’s letter is a welcome perspective on the issues facing the Naval Service (Letters, December 16th). He is correct that Ireland has qualified and experienced merchant mariners. So the key question is why are these mariners not enticed to the Irish Navy at present? Why do Irish mariners work contracts at sea, away from Ireland for extended periods? There can only be one answer: the remuneration received in the merchant navy would appear to be more enticing. This is the financial remuneration and the remuneration for hours worked. The implementation of the working time directive for the Naval Service and the wider Defence Forces would be a positive from a retention perspective and could potentially entice Irish mariners that Capt McGowan states are readily available. However, one must be cognisant of the fact that the offshore renewable energy market will increase dramatically over the next decade and this will become a draw for experienced Irish mariners and a further draw on naval personnel. Capt McGowan is correct about the workforce but it would appear that the remuneration model offered by the Naval Service does not currently match what is available in the merchant navy. A lesson there for for our Minister for Defence Micheál Martin, the secretary general of the Department of Defence, and of course the flag officer commanding the Naval Service.
I would have to disagree with Capt McGowan in respect of his opinion on weapons on Irish warships. The Naval Service has not been afraid to use their weapon systems against gun-running fishing vessels. Main armaments on Naval Service ships have also been used to sink derelict vessels. Such main weapons also act as a deterrent when the Naval Service has conducted maritime interdiction boardings in Irish waters or on missions overseas in the Mediterranean.
Capt McGowan makes extremely valid points about the utility of the Spanish navy vessel that visited Ireland earlier this year. The tug Carnota is classed by the Spanish navy as a salvage tug and, as such, brings great utility to support a whole host of maritime safety tasks. This Spanish navy vessel is part of a balanced fleet that the Spanish navy use to carry out a whole range of maritime safety and security tasks.
Capt McGowan is indeed correct that the Naval Service needs a balanced fleet to conduct a range of naval tasks. The service is what is referred to as a constabulary role navy, tasked with a whole series of maritime security roles, such as providing protection for our gas pipelines, energy interconnectors and subsea fibreoptic cables, vital to keep our economy running.
Megan Nolan: A conversation with a man in his late 30s made clear the realities of this new era in my dating life
Changing career midlife: ‘At 45 I thought I was finished... But it didn’t even occur to me that I could do anything else’
Restaurant of the year, best value and Michelin predictions: Our reviewer’s top picks of 2024
Women are far more likely to re-gift unwanted presents than men
Capt McGowan believes that if we don’t change our operating methods, we may end up with no naval ships at sea. His is correct, but it is the operating method of the government department and the military command that needs to change, to get our eight vessels back to sea to protect Ireland’s economy. The Naval Service personnel must be rewarded for being at sea to a similar extent as their merchant colleagues. The Naval Service must be able to recruit large numbers to grow the force and, considering it is losing highly skilled technicians, such as ordnance artificers, there must be some retention package implemented as a matter of urgency. – Yours, etc,
CONOR HOGARTY,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.
Rethinking Irish Rail
Sir, – A reader’s account of the shambles that is Irish Rail is no surprise (Letters, December 14th). Yes, underinvestment over many years (training staff, maintaining signalling, rolling stock, stations, bridges, railway crossings) but the essential issue here, like so much of the country’s institutions and infrastructure, is that it is down to what we’re bad at – understanding and recognising who the customer is and what they want. If you understand the idea of service and its delivery, you’ll do your damndest to see the customer is okay. Yes, you need capital to provide a seamless and super service but if you don’t have lots of money you can at least still provide for stations to be open, officials to be in post answering the public’s queries day in and day out. Before you plough money in, you can still provide a service. It’s bloody difficult, let’s be honest. But officials, poorly paid, often demoralised and usually in no mind to readily to assist a passenger waiting for their train or enquiring about times, departures, etc, still need to get to grips with what their jobs entail; too many punters, all with different questions on a wintry platform. Far easier to go and hide away or just absent yourself then no one can hassle you!
The next thing to say is that there’s little merit in unions defending the status quo; they may not be able to provide the cash but they can at least make sure their people turn up on time and do the best they can.
On the investment front, railways, like our already disregarded infrastructure, flood defences, planning, transport, just needs to be addressed. How long do we wish to recognise there’s a problem yet do nothing? While politicians are interested in burnishing their own careers and knowing they will be off and away shortly, they just don’t care and will not, and probably cannot, plan for the future adequately. But it just has to start somewhere. Why doesn’t the incoming government sit down after Christmas, look at the state of this half-built nation and simply say, the public has suffered enough. We will now identify every one of those key infrastructure issues that remain incomplete and allocate the extraordinary monies from capital receipts in our coffers to sort it out. Plan it, finance it, and before delivering it get everyone in a service industry in the public sector properly trained and made aware of the fact their role, their only role, is to help that customer first time and on time. If you can’t do it on your own, get help from the private sector; they’ll come running if they know this long-standing issue is now being seriously and rigorously addressed.
We’ve been waiting long enough. – Yours, etc,
ALASTAIR CONAN,
Coulsdon,
London.
Hoping for peace in Syria
Sir, – In 2009, my self and my late husband decided to visit Syria. We chose it as we wanted to visit a historic place, not too touristy and safe.
We noticed there a quiet air of menace, and apart from our small group, there were few tourists in the country.
To witness the splendour of amphitheatres, superbly preserved by time and sand, was truly memorable.
To wander among the ruins of the great city Palmyra, one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world, was breath-taking. To walk almost a kilometre beneath the Great Colonnade was to be transported back in time to Rome’s great majestic past.
To be dwarfed by the colossal medieval fortress Krak des Chevaliers was humbling and awe inspiring.
Sadly many of the great Roman edifices, such as the Temple of Ba’al, Nebu, etc, have been destroyed by Isis in 2015. I often wonder what became of the young student who approached me in the Souk in Damascus and pulled from his coat pocket a copy of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and asked what I thought of his accent and English grammar. Or our guide, a retired professor of archeology who fed a white camel in the desert with sweets. Or the trader, who galloped off on his white steed over the hill to procure the pale blue table cloth I requested.
I hope now that with the fall of the Assad regime and the dawn of a new era for Syria, life for the Syrians will be much better and tourists can visit this great country, the cradle of our civilisation. – Yours, etc,
BEATRICE AIRD O’HANLON,
Delgany,
Co Wicklow.
Anti-Semitism, Israel and Gaza
Sir, – John Rawls, esteemed political philosopher, in a 1995 paper, wrote: “In the conduct of war, a democratic society must carefully distinguish three groups: the state’s leaders and officials, its soldiers, and its civilian population.”
Thinking of Israel, if Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu engages in sustained wrongdoing (which I believe he does) against the civilians of Gaza, it does not follow that the civilian population of Israel are also doing so. Equally, if one criticises the Israeli state for the unwarranted killing a lot of innocent people, such a charge is not laid against the civilian population of Israel.
The charge of being anti-Semitic when speaking out against sustained wrongdoing by a state really rings hollow when that speaking out is not levelled at the civilian population of Israel. It doesn’t make sense and is a coercive piece of sophistry which, sadly, twists truth. – Yours, etc,
Dr JAMES FINNEGAN,
Letterkenny,
Co Donegal.
Nursing homes and care sector
Sir, – I refer to article “Care services for most vulnerable not good enough, says Simon Harris” (News, December 21st). Nursing Homes Ireland is pleased to see the express commitment of Taoiseach Simon Harris to recognising the urgent need to improve care services for older people, carers, and vulnerable members of our society. The acknowledgment of these challenges and prioritisation of this issue in the programme for government is both timely and essential.
I note statement of the Taoiseach: “Whether it is care for an older person, whether it is care for a vulnerable child, or whether it is care for a person with a disability, in terms of disability services our systems are not where they need to be. There will be a resourcing and funding issues the next government will have to address, we’re up for that.”
The sustainability of nursing home care remains under severe strain, with over 70 nursing homes having closed since 2018. Decisive action is required to safeguard the future of care for Ireland’s older population. Immediate measures, including reform of the Fair Deal pricing mechanism, are critical to ensuring nursing home care remains accessible, sustainable, and capable of delivering the dignity and respect our older population deserves.
The demographic challenges facing Ireland are well-documented. The over-65 population has grown by 35 per cent over the past decade and is expected to double in the next 20 years, with the most significant proportional increase among those aged 85 and older. These trends underscore the need for a coordinated response to provide appropriate care for our ageing population.
Nursing Homes Ireland remains committed to working collaboratively with the Government to address immediate challenges, including funding shortfalls, workforce pressures, and access to primary care services for nursing home residents. Alongside these urgent priorities, we are committed to developing long-term policy to ensure that nursing home care remains a vital part of the continuum of care.
This approach, aligned with the principles of Sláintecare, will enable the provision of the right care, in the right place, for communities across the country.
We remain committed to working collaboratively with government as we celebrate our ageing population with an ambitious fully resourced plan. We look forward to seeing these commitments explicit in the forthcoming programme for government. – Yours, etc,
TADHG DALY,
Chief Executive Officer,
Nursing Homes Ireland,
Dublin 24.
Remembering Tom Hyland
Sir, – Tom Hyland (“Death announced of East Timor peace campaigner Tom Hyland (72)”, News, December 26th) was not only the founder and guiding light of the East Timor Ireland Solidarity Campaign, but also the crucial founder of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign. The IPSC was founded in the autumn of 2001 by a small group of activists, academics and journalists, of which I was one. But Mr Hyland was unquestionably the central driving force behind the whole initiative, and without his experience, energy and courage it would not have taken place. In great measure, the enormous groundswell of sympathy for Palestine we see in Ireland today was partly facilitated by Tom Hyland’s prodigious original work.
Tom’s death is a great loss to Palestine activism as well as to Timor activism. Indeed, in recent times, Tom was active in setting up a Palestine solidarity movement in East Timor. What Tom would have made of the current horrors perpetrated by Israel and connived at by the leading states of the “rules-based international order”, one can only imagine. – Yours, etc,
CONOR McCARTHY,
Monkstown,
Co Dublin.
Martyn Turner’s calendar
Sir, – I’ve just finished “cheating” and absorbing all of the cartoons and messages in Martyn Turner’s calendar for every month of 2025. It left a broad wry smile on my face. Martyn Turner is one of our national treasures! – Yours, etc,
ROBERT P GOGAN,
Kilbeggan,
Co Westmeath.
Delivering the goods
Sir, – Once again, thank you to all your delivery crews who never failed throughout the year. Every morning my copy of the newspaper was waiting for me – hail, rain or snow! – Yours, etc,
LAURA O’MARA,
Stillorgan,
Co Dublin.
International aid obligations
Sir, – The parties and groupings that shape the next government bear a significant responsibility, with the programme for government charting Ireland’s course for the next five years. While domestic priorities are pressing and urgent, it is crucial that we also fulfil our international obligations.
Ireland has earned a proud reputation as a champion of human rights and peace, and it must continue to speak out for the people of Palestine and prioritise the urgent passage of the Occupied Territories Bill. Crucially, despite the pressure it now faces, it must not dilute the impact of this proposed legislation.
Equally pressing is the climate crisis, which demands radical and ambitious action. The next government must place climate justice at the core of its agenda, recognising the disproportionate burden climate change places on the world’s poorest and most vulnerable communities. With 2024 on track to be the hottest year on record, and global temperatures surpassing the critical threshold of 1.5 Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the need for decisive action has never been more urgent.
Ireland must remain steadfast in promoting women’s rights and combating violence against women. Addressing this at home and abroad require sustained focus.
Over the last year, the international community has spectacularly failed to stop what some believe to be a genocide in Gaza, to take the necessary climate action and to compensate the Global South for rich countries’ excesses.
Ireland can chart a different course.
As part of a shared humanity, our actions – or inaction – have profound effects beyond our borders.
The proof will be in the pudding. The programme for government must realise Ireland’s commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of gross national income (GNI) on overseas development assistance by 2030 and publish a clear spending pathway to achieve this. It must provide transformational climate finance that meets our fair share. And it must fight to protect women’s rights. – Yours, etc,
KAROL BALFE,
CEO,
ActionAid Ireland,
Dublin 1.