I have been deeply moved by the bravery of the people of Ukraine and their inspiring leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy. This has made me think about what I want in the leader of my country and what values I want my country to promote.
I do not expect political leaders to be saints and have only passing disappointment on learning of inappropriate tweets or the fact that a life-long politician thinks of jumping ship when his party isn’t working for him anymore. I do have a harder time with politicians who become apologists for Irish people who killed other Irish people in the name of political change but we made a commitment in the Good Friday Agreement to move on from past resentments.
But I do want my politicians to promote the ideals I believed were synonymous with being part of these islands – democracy, compassion and a sense that our neighbours are owed more than rhetoric when war lands on their doorstep.
A majority of decent people believed, and voted for the separation of the UK from our neighbours via Brexit, feeding on the deep-set feeling of being overlooked that is common in many poorer communities in the UK. Self-interest led politicians promoting Brexit to reject the relationships that made the UK a successful global economy.
The DUP got on the Brexit train knowing it could cost the Northern Ireland economy dear. They are now prepared to leave Northern Ireland open to direct rule by this very Tory government who are failing so abysmally to take on Putin, who are responding to Ukraine’s humanitarian refugee crisis with empty words and red tape – they prioritise keeping anti-immigration rhetoric in place to appease right-wing ERG supporters.
So how do I stay proud of my country in the way the Ukrainian people can hold their heads high?
We must not become a narrow minded, inward looking country. It is crucial that in May we do not elect in Northern Ireland parties that are only too happy to hand our futures to this bunch of charlatans or who have tied their future to the success of Boris’s failed vision of an isolated lonely Britain.
DR CAROL GREER
Belfast BT6
Only losers from war are the working-class in Ukraine and Russia
The Irish Republican Socialist Movement display of Soviet flags and support for Russian militarism covered in The Irish News needs a reality check. The Euromaidan uprising in Ukraine in 2014 may have resulted in the neo-conservative regime that it ended up with, but there is no-one who is under any illusion that the non-acceptance of that regime came out of Russia’s ‘anti-fascist’ sentiment or its ‘need to protect Russian citizens’. After all, Putin’s authoritarian regime in Russia has rewarded nazis and fascists inside the country by imprisoning and killing anti-fascists, while the numerous interventions of Russian imperialism in areas of the former USSR needed no such justification. It is the duty of those on the left and progressive circles to oppose both Russian aggression and Nato expansionism. The only losers from the war are the world working-class, especially in Ukraine and Russia. They are the ones destined to be the cannon fodder of the states and the capitalists. This imperialist war is being waged for the sharing of spheres of influence, energy routes and the rearrangement of geopolitical power. This system gives birth to wars and is responsible for poverty, injustice, exploitation and oppression. It is therefore time to challenge it in an organised and dynamic way, organising its overthrow on an international scale.
SEAN MATTHEWS
Crumlin, Co Antrim
Coverage of horrible war should be questioned
War in Ukraine is appalling and we all pray for a peaceful resolution. This conflict however has been ongoing since the American organised coup which saw the democratically elected government overthrown and replaced with a compliant western regime which banned other political parties who challenged that viewpoint. A complex centuries-old relationship should not be distilled to some ‘Mad Vlad’ sloganism. Shame on Sinn Féin and their junior partner the SDLP calling for the expulsion of Russian diplomats and banning alternative news outlets like RT. I urge all to remember Iraq, Syria, Libya and question all main stream media coverage of this horrible war.
PETER McKEOWN
Newtownabbey, Co Antrim
A price worth paying
Putin is waging an unjust war against Ukraine.
We are not going to go to war to stop him.
Sanctions are going to be slow in having an affect.
There is another thing which can be done which I believe would have a high chance of success.
President Biden should say to Putin, Nato will not join with Ukraine.
America recognises the neo-nazi element in Ukraine and will call on the Ukranian government to deal with it.
Ukranian shelling of the Donbass will cease. The people of the Donbass will be granted full civil rights.
In return Russia will immediately cease all military action in Ukraine. It will start withdrawing its forces immediately. It will declare a demilitarised zone near its border with Ukraine.
Some will say that would be to reward aggression. That is true but a price worth paying.
BRENDAN O’BRIEN
London
The time is now for debate on Irish unity
The decision of the Irish government to establish two new Citizens’ Assemblies, on biodiversity loss and on an elected Dublin Mayor, is welcome. That said, a glaring omission is any move so far by the government towards a Citizens’ Assembly on the constitutional future of Ireland.
The debate on Irish unity is widening and is now not only a national but an international talking point. It is vital that a broad platform is created and structured debate and dialogue takes place. We need to plan for a new united Ireland – including constitutional arrangements, the health service, education, economic and social development. A Citizens’ Assembly, representative of the people of the whole island, in all their diversity, would help chart the way forward and address these issues in detail, using research and analysis to inform debate and decision. You cannot argue on the one hand that it is premature to talk of an Irish unity referendum because of lack of preparation, and on the other hand fail to prepare with a Citizens’ Assembly. The time is now.
TONY McDARBY
Blanchardstown, Dublin 15
