Our leaders should act to help end the fighting
I AM highly impressed by the similarity in gentlemanly behaviour between the Ukrainian troops and their British counterparts during their respective periods of war.
Unlike their enemy, they do not resort to raping, torturing, killing or plundering the civilian population.
However, I do wish, for the sake of all the suffering inhabitants of our planet, that the leaders of every country in the world would unite and join forces and use their collective powers of persuasion to bring both warring leaders to their senses and convince them that the only exit from this situation, which is wrecking the economies of so many countries, is to sit around a table and engage in constructive dialogue.
Would it be a step too far to expect our Taoiseach and Tánaiste to act jointly and place neutral Ireland on the world stage by spearheading this form of noncombative action ?
PATRICK MURRAY, Dundrum, Dublin 14.
Don’t rush to judgment
LAST week, Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney stated that Ireland ‘needs to hold Russia to account’ after the discovery of mass graves in Izyum.
All war crimes need to be investigated and all war criminals held to account.
Mr Coveney said: ‘Countries like Ireland need to insist on international law applying and on Russia being held to account.’
I fully agree that Ireland needs to insist ‘on international law applying’, but it is vital to add that international laws don’t just apply to Russia but apply and should be enforced on all states and on all individuals who commit very serious breaches of international laws, including the UN Charter, and on those who are complicit in such breaches.
We should know from our own history that war crimes are often committed by all sides, as was demonstrated during our civil war in the 1920s and in the more recent Troubles in Northern Ireland.
It is also unwise to rush to judgment on very recent violent conflicts. War crimes need very careful scientific and judicial investigation and should not be used for propaganda purposes. In addition to the war crimes being committed in Ukraine, the international community seems to be applying convenient amnesia to the reality that war crimes were committed by the US and Nato forces and their allies, and by their opponents, in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Serbia, Yemen and Palestine.
The Irish Government should condemn all war crimes and their perpetrators but should do so in a rational, judicial and balanced manner and should be doing a lot more to promote international peace and justice.
EDWARD HORGAN, Castletroy, Limerick.
Importance of rituals
IT was quite surprising that Philip Nolan declared a total lack of empathy with rituals, with particular reference to those surrounding Queen Elizabeth’s death.
Most functioning societies are heavily imbued with ritual, usually marking what one would describe as life’s rites of passage.
From cradle to grave, rituals are markers of life’s significant events and milestones.
For example christenings, birthdays, marriage ceremonies, ordinations and, most importantly, deaths, all usually have accompanying rituals.
Some societies attempt to downplay or even abolish rituals, invariably with disastrous results.
Many of the atheist regimes of the 20th century tried to de-ritualise society or replace rituals with empty alternatives. By and large, these failed to satisfy people and only succeeded in driving the rituals underground.
In the Christian tradition, rituals have been the inspiration for great music and art.
In the field of music, Bach (Reformation tradition) comes to mind and in art, Peter Paul Rubens (Catholic tradition) was perhaps pre-eminent.
Maybe Philip is correct. But it seems that rituals are an essential part of the human condition. ERIC CONWAY,
via email.
No half measures
THE present convergence of crises in energy, cost of living, money, health services, homelessness and the environment is forcing us from the old world into a new.
We need unconventional political action. The care of human lives should be the first object of good government. PAT O’CALLAGHAN,
Mallow, Co. Cork.
Poignant image
I WAS very young when I saw the Queen when she visited my home town of Nelson, Lancashire, following her coronation.
I stood at the front of the crowd, waving a flag. The Queen was a beautiful and radiant sight and I have never forgotten the glamour of her dress and sparkle of her tiara as she waved to the people.
In contrast, the photo of the Queen in great age and dignity, welcoming her last prime minister at Balmoral, was so poignant and deeply moving.
It illustrated her life of service and love for her people to the very end. On the day our Queen is laid to rest, for me that image will remain the most treasured of all. HAZEL GLENHOLMES,
via email..