Neutrality in a changing world
Sir, – Since when did the veto powers of the United Nations security council members become a plausible argument against the triple lock? An argument, indeed, that is rarely challenged. The veto has been operational since the UN was founded in 1946, and the same countries still make up the permanent members. This was all in situ when Ireland joined the UN in 1955 and when our policy of adhering to UN rules and regulations was developed. It was always accepted by Ireland – and, indeed, most countries – that the UN is not perfect but is the best we have got.
The veto was a necessary tool to ensure that no single power could end up dictating UN policy, which would, ultimately, destroy the UN. The triple lock was introduced at the time of the Nice Treaty to reassure the electorate here that our existing policy would remain as it was.
So what has changed? It is us, of course. We have realigned ourselves more and more with the US/European alliance as our economic and political relationships have deepened. We are, in the process, jettisoning all our non-aligned “baggage” which has, up to now, given us some moral weight in international affairs. – Yours, etc,
MARK O’HANLON,
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Greystones,
Co. Wicklow.
Sir, – I suggest that Kieran McNulty (Letters, February 26th) is seriously misreading the situation when he suggests that the ultimate aim of Government and mass media is to join Nato. On the contrary, the realisation has finally dawned on many that the senior member of that alliance is no longer to be relied upon as a guarantor of European security. The current “persistent campaign” is simply a long-overdue debate as to how Europe generally, and Ireland in particular, should respond to the new geopolitical realities. The votes cast by the US in the recent UN Security Council and General Assembly votes on the invasion of Ukraine highlight the urgency of the situation.
Your correspondent quotes James Connolly. Within six months of his Tralee speech, he was one of seven signatories to the 1916 Proclamation, which explicitly referenced the support given by “gallant allies in Europe” to the Rising. Needs must. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL O’DWYER,
Clogheen,
Cork.
Sir, – Kieran McNulty invokes James Connolly and a speech he gave in Tralee in 1915 as a reason to enshrine our neutrality in the Constitution.
Contrary to popular belief, Ireland is not neutral. We are aligned with Europe as part of the EU.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s recent call for a European army to counter Russia’s aggression following Donald Trump’s about-face on supporting Ukraine was immediately shot down by Micheál Martin. Many brave men have fought for and on behalf of this country. We do them an injustice by our continued refusal to acknowledge that freedom is never a given and can be taken away from us at any time through the actions of tyrants and dictators far from Irish shores.
Young men in particular are drawn to the macho posturing of Trump and Andrew Tate. Wouldn’t it be a lot more useful and productive if instead we armed our young people with the technology and skills to defend our hard-won freedoms. If that involves taking up arms as part of a Europe-wide military alliance, then so be it.
The pacifist ideals of Gandhi have little relevance in the dangerous geopolitical world we live in today. – Yours, etc,
TOM McELLIGOTT,
Listowel,
Co Kerry.
Sir, – If I agree on some points with Nick Armstrong’s letter (Letters, April 25th) and its belief that a Russian threat to Europe is exaggerated in a relatively near future, I find it very shortsighted on the long term.
One thing the present US government is showing without any ambiguity is that the time has come for Europe to stop relying on its present and future support in times of conflict. EU countries need to increase their defence forces and armament and, while its leaders will naturally look after their countries’ interests, a united front should be among their goals and given an importance which is not always obvious. This isn’t an arms race, it is all about strength which is, as Nato has proven over several decades, the best deterrent to possess and, with growing powers in the world, essential to Europe’s future survival.
With a population similar to that of Ireland and a history of conflicts with the Soviet Union, Finland has built an enviable defence force and yet enjoys the number one spot over several years as the world’s happiest country. If Ireland asked, Finland may agree to share its secret! – Yours, etc,
ELISABETH WOGAN,
Station Road,
Portmarnock,
Co Dublin.
AI in Irish education
Sir, – The recent article on AI in Irish education (“Irish schools struggling without guidance on safe AI use in the classroom”, Education, February 4th) rightly highlights the challenges teachers face in navigating artificial intelligence without clear ethical frameworks or guidance. However, while regulatory compliance under the EU AI Act is essential, we must look beyond merely meeting legal requirements. Ireland has an opportunity – indeed, an obligation – to become a leader in human-centric AI adoption in education rather than lagging behind in reactive policymaking.
AI is not simply another digital tool; it is a paradigm shift that will redefine how knowledge is acquired, assessed and applied. The real challenge is not just regulatory literacy among educators but a fundamental shift in curriculum design, teacher training, and student competency development. The EU AI Act classifies education-based AI as high risk, yet without proactive investment in teacher and student AI literacy, we risk stifling innovation while failing to protect students from AI-driven misinformation, bias and unethical data use.
Rather than focusing solely on risk assessment and compliance, why are we not developing a national AI roadmap for education? Other countries, such as Singapore, Estonia and Finland, have already embedded AI literacy as a core competency from primary school onward.
Ireland should be leading in designing AI-powered, adaptive learning environments, ensuring AI tools are both approved for safe use and leveraged effectively to enhance teaching. AI has the potential to reduce administrative burdens on teachers, personalise student learning experiences, and equip young people with the critical thinking skills necessary to navigate an AI-driven world.
The current lack of structured AI training for teachers is not just a compliance issue, it is an educational emergency. Schools need nationally approved AI tools, a professional development framework for AI literacy, and clear integration strategies aligned with learning outcomes. We must move beyond reactionary discussions of risk and towards a vision where AI is an asset, not an adversary, in education.
Ireland has the talent and resources to be at the forefront of AI in education. But we need urgency, foresight and leadership. We cannot afford to passively let AI shape education. We must actively shape how AI is used to benefit students and teachers alike. – Yours, etc,
ANGELA CURRAN,
Guidance Counsellor & Immersive Technologies ICT Team
Belvedere College SJ,
Dublin.
The National Gallery’s scanner
Sir, – Does an ill-judged purchase of a specialist X-ray machine for €129,000 really merit a top place as an item on RTÉ’s nine o’clock news?
Are we seriously comparing the purchase of an X-ray machine in the National Gallery with the waste of €7 million on an IT system in the Arts council?
We still own the machine; we will never own the Arts Council’s IT system. And it’s a fraction of the cost. One suspects this Minister is trying to make a name for himself.
Neither do I empathise with the outrage of the Tánaiste.
Relax lads – find a real windmill to tilt at. – Yours, etc,
ART V McGANN,
Hollybrook Road,
Clontarf.
Sir, – The outrage of the various Government representatives over an X-ray machine that has not been used since purchase eight years ago by the National Gallery is laughable. Where is the similar level of outrage and calls for urgent review and reform regarding the multimillion medical scanners that are sitting underused, and in some cases unused, in our public hospitals due to lack of resources and arcane work practices in the health service?
The Minister for Arts is doing a wonderful distraction job for his Government colleagues – perhaps his talents could be rewarded by an Arts Council grant for a conjuror? – Yours, etc,
DAVID LOUGHLIN,
Rathmines,
Dublin 6.
Knowing the signs of ageing
Sir, – I read that planning permission has been granted for a nursing home to be built on the site of the former Warwick Hotel in Salthill, Galway (“Well-known Galway music venue set to become nursing home”, Business, February 13th). Just in time for us who danced the night away there in the 1960s to make a reservation. – Yours, etc,
MAUREEN BOURKE,
Drogheda,
Co Louth.
Trump’s America
Sir, – Daniel Geary paints a sobering picture of the US’s political inertia in the face of Donald Trump’s increasingly authoritarian rule (“US is suffering from an epidemic of mass cowardice”, February 26th). The lack of large-scale resistance, especially when compared to the Women’s March of 2017, is striking. But if history teaches us anything, it is that political apathy is never a lasting condition.
It may seem now that Americans have chosen emotional and exhausted self-preservation over collective action, but the weight of Trump’s actions will not go unnoticed forever. The moment he overreaches – whether by attempting to suspend elections, curtail press freedoms even further or, heaven forbid, commission his own face on Mount Rushmore – public passivity will give way to mass outrage. A resistance movement, when it finally comes, may arrive late but will likely be all the more ferocious for its delay. – Yours, etc,
ENDA CULLEN,
Armagh.
Sir, – Apparently president Trump, a teetotaller, likes his minerals. – Yours, etc,
AIDAN FEIGHERY,
Dún Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – Michael McDowell (“So far the grotesque reality of Trump’s ambitions has exceeded all the worst predictions” Opinion, February 26th) raises a concern that Donald Trump may try to subvert the US constitutional prohibition on an American president running for a third term.
He suggests that he could try to do this by running as vice-presidential candidate to JD Vance in the next presidential election. This would be with the intention of staying in the White House as de facto president.
The US constitution, however, gives some hope to those of us who support the rule of law. The 12th amendment, which mainly deals with the constitutional procedure for electing a president, also contains an important qualifying provision. The amendment’s final sentence reads: “But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of president shall be eligible to that of vice-president of the United States.”
This suggests that Trump, having served two terms as president, would be constitutionally ineligible to stand as vice-president in the absence of a constitutional amendment. The US constitution’s framers intended amendments to be rare and reserved for matters of unique national importance. The constitution has been amended only 27 times since it was drafted in 1787, and an amendment can only be achieved by securing a majority of two-thirds in a vote in both houses of Congress and ratification by at least three-quarters of the states. Both seem improbable.
Of-course, the US constitution is subject to interpretation, ultimately, by the US supreme court, and its current majority is conservative and has been amenable to legal arguments in favour of the sitting president. Whether it would be as sympathetic to a blatant attempt to subvert the rules on presidential terms, which reflect a convention first established by the US’s first president, George Washington, is another question. – Yours, etc,
PAUL COOPER,
Liverpool,
UK.
Airport tannoys
Sir, – Your correspondent Eamonn Kennan (Letters, February 26th) blames age-related hearing loss for a struggle to understand airport tannoy announcements.
I would like to assure him that many of these announcements are equally unintelligible to the rest of us.
In recent years many airports have begun to eliminate most if not all tannoy announcements in favour of display screens – often described as a “quiet airport” policy. I hold out some hope that this improvement will find its way to Irish airports eventually. Yours, etc,
Richard Bannister,
Cunnaberry Hill,
Kildare.
