The fate of Ukraine is a litmus test for Europe

EDITOR – As 2024 is poised to be a year of global democratic significance, a European nation, Ukraine, is grappling with the aggression of a power-hungry totalitarian – Putin’s Russia.

This is an affront to democracy and demands our immediate attention and action. It is crucial that EU leaders take swift action and agree the substantial €50bn aid package for Ukraine to support the country facing Russian aggression, when they meet at the extraordinary European Council summit in Brussels on February 1st. The hurdles in securing this fund for Ukraine in particular are not just bureaucratic; they are potentially life-threatening for the people of Ukraine. The escalating public deficit and the ongoing Russian attacks necessitate urgent financial support, which we must provide without delay.

It was disappointing but not unpredictable that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán blocked agreement on the Ukraine facility and on the revision of the EU’s long-term budget in December.

It is clear that Orbán’s selfish veto is an increasing impediment to solidarity among European nations. We cannot allow the will of 26 Member States to be obstructed for his personal interests. However, I am hopeful that an acceptable way can be found to alleviate this impasse.

EU aid to countries in such dire need should extend beyond the question of basic finances. It is also strategic. Ukraine’s freedom and security is also Europe’s freedom and security.

We need to equip Ukraine with the tools necessary to defend itself and secure a better future for its citizens. It is about standing in solidarity with a nation under duress. Whether Viktor Orbán, Putin’s pompous puppet, likes it or not, we must ensure that our democratic principles prevail. The fate of Ukraine is a litmus test for the strength and resilience of European solidarity.

Seán Kelly MEP,
European Parliament,
B-1047 Brussels.

Pine marten must remain off-limits to shooters

EDITOR – Those who care for the countryside via the firearm are looking for a new animal target.

In their crosshairs, the pine marten, one of Ireland’s rarest and most secretive animals. Hunted to near extinction, pine martens are now widely distributed throughout Ireland and are present in every county.

The population has been expanding its range and distribution since the 1980s, and is now common in the midlands, west, east, north and southwest of Ireland.

Pine martens are less widely distributed in Mid-Ulster and parts of the south, particularly Cork and Limerick. Fully protected under Irish and international wildlife law, the revival of this magnificent creature in the Irish countryside is to be welcomed.

However, gun club members are calling for the removal of pine marten from the list of protected animals under the Wildlife Act.

Claiming that pine martens are attacking pheasants in their rearing pens, those who enjoy blasting wildlife for entertainment are itching to get this legal protection removed so that they can feel the weight of a dead pine marten in their hand.

As ever, the shooters are regurgitating inflated claims about the damage caused by this animal in pheasant pens.

The impression being given is that pine martens are laying siege to pheasant prisons to obtain a ‘McShooting’ meal. For shooters, the pine martin would be added to the list of target species that sometimes look over the pheasant pen such as fox, grey crow (hooded crow), magpie, grey squirrel, mink and rat.

Notwithstanding, that these pheasants will end their day as gun barrel fodder for those who see nothing amiss with shooting a farmed bird while donning the hunting blazer.

The conservation of Irish wildlife and its habitat does not and never did depend on the actions of those who kill wildlife for fun. Ireland’s small shooting community must be told in no uncertain terms that the pine marten will remain off-limits to them.

John Tierney,
Association of Hunt Saboteurs,
Dublin 1.

We will never forget the work of our nuns

EDITOR – In light of the recent TV programme on Ireland’s nuns, let me say that the Irish nuns were an incredible pillar of the Church and society.

Looking back over the years some will always admire them whilst others will only portray them as otherwise, uttering scurrilous things about them. But they should stand up with their hand on their heart and spit out what the nuns did for them and our country.

They served as mothers and fathers to children when parents couldn’t or wouldn’t be allowed – remember each and every child born has a father and a mother.

In times past, if a teenage girl fell pregnant, she was classed as a woman of a lower socio-economic class or a fallen woman and sent away to the nuns, very often in the middle of the night and on the carrier of a bicycle and not allowed to come back home. They were so glad to have the nuns.

Where were the fathers?

They were very often married men and employers while those young ladies’ lives were destroyed forever.

Unknown numbers were dumped on the nuns at a price that the nuns later paid dearly for. The nuns established hospitals, schools, convents and other institutions that the country and governments couldn’t afford. They ran hospitals without trolleys and waiting lists. The hospitals were spotless from floor to ceiling.

They looked after the sick and comforted the dying with the greatest of compassion. Their schools and convents produced some our finest academics.

They looked after the churches, bishops, and priests – and still do to this present day where the few that are left live.

Let’s not forget the outstanding work that have done for the homeless down through the years, and are still doing.

Never ever will the nuns be forgotten in Ireland for their dedication to the Catholic Church and society.

Michael O’Sullivan.
Kilkinnikin Upper,
Allihies.