Sabina’s letter ‘a blow for Ukraine’
President urged to state support for Ukraine amid row over wife’s comments
A CONTROVERSIAL letter about the Ukraine conflict written by the President’s wife has been described as a ‘slap in the face’ for the thousands of Ukrainian refugees here.
President Michael D Higgins has faced calls to state his support for the Ukrainian cause and oppose Russian aggression amid the furore created by his wife Sabina’s letter.
Mrs Higgins wrote to the Irish Times last week criticising an editorials on the conflict. In the letter, she said the fighting would go on until the world ‘persuades President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire and negotiations’.
Critics have suggested Mrs Higgins was drawing an equivalence between the actions of Ukraine and Russia.
Scrutiny of the letter intensified after it was reportedly published briefly on the President’s official website. It appears to have been since removed.
Mr and Mrs Higgins attended the opening of Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann yesterday in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath. The President did not address the controversy in his speech at the event, but he extended a ‘special’ welcome to those who have come to Ireland ‘to share shelter with us and to seek safety with us’.
Fine Gael Senator John McGahon called on Mr Higgins to clarify whether he was aware of the letter before it was published or had any role in drafting it.
‘She is a private citizen. She is entitled to promote whatever type of view she wants, but she is married to the President of this country. She does live in Áras an Uachtaráin and she does officiate at official events that are run by the State,’ Mr McGahon told RTÉ
‘Her views are open to criticism’
Radio One’s This Week programme.
‘And because of the high-profile nature of her position I believe her views on the Ukrainian invasion are open to criticism.’
Mr McGahon claimed the letter made a ‘moral equivalence’ between Russia and Ukraine.
‘If you were to read that letter you’d think this is a dispute between two countries over a contested piece of land,’ he said. ‘It is Russian tanks that have rolled into Ukraine. It is Russian missiles that have flattened Ukrainian cities. It is Russian soldiers that have murdered women and children in the streets of Ukraine.
‘And I think the comments that she has made are a slap in the face to the 47,000 Ukrainian refugees who have come to this island of Ireland to seek safety and seek sanctuary.’
Yesterday, MEP Clare Daly told the Irish Times that she ‘salutes’ Mrs Higgins for the letter, saying it ‘echoed’ arguments made by her and fellow MEP Mick Wallace that ‘only a negotiated peace can end the war, and this is what the international community should be working for’.
She said: ‘A negotiated peace is not defeat, it is an agreement reached between parties. If the terms are not acceptable to either side, it cannot be agreed. Without trying, the slaughter continues, while the arms manufacturers laugh all the way to the bank.
‘The audacity of warmongering Fianna Fáil senators implying that calling for peace is anti-Ukrainian is truly sickening,’ she said.
She was referring to comments by Fianna Fáil Senator Malcolm Byrne in which he called on the President to state his ‘opposition to the brutality of Vladimir Putin’ and to show that Ireland ‘holds Russia responsible for the war and ongoing barbarism’.
Mr Byrne said: ‘Mrs Higgins is entitled to her personal opinion and to express it, although I believe that she is totally wrong to try to see an equivalence in the positions of Ukraine and Russia. However, the decision to publish the letter on the President’s website raises serious questions.’
There has also been support for Mrs Higgins.
People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett tweeted: ‘The attacks on and censoring of Sabina Higgins are disgraceful. Every effort should be made to achieve a ceasefire and an end to the slaughter in Ukraine.’
The office of the President has been contacted for comment.