Irish Daily Mail 05/01/2026
Abduction of Maduro and his wife shows US has no respect for the rule of law
Dear Sir,
International peace was shattered on 3rd January when the US invaded and bombed Venezuela and kidnapped its President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. The Venezuela Attorney General Tarek Saab reported that "innocent victims have been mortally wounded and others killed." US naval forces have unlawfully killed at least 115 boat people off the coast of Venezuela. US President Trump announced the US is going to “run Venezuela until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition". All this is in clear breach of the UN Charter. Statements by Irish and EU leaders paid lip-service to the rule of international laws, while questioning the legitimacy of the Venezuelan government. Kaja Kallas, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs called for ‘restraint’ and stated that: “The EU has repeatedly stated that Mr Maduro lacks legitimacy and has defended a peaceful transition”. What right has the EU to challenge the legitimacy of a Latin American state, or to call for a change of its government? Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee TD on 3rd January echoed the dictates of the EU rather than adopt an independent view, as behoves a genuine neutral state. “While we have been clear that President Maduro does not have any legitimacy we have consistently called for a peaceful and negotiated transition in Venezuela …”. What right does the Irish Government have to make such irresponsible judgements and statements? As the de facto government and as a UN member state, Venezuela does have legitimacy under international law.
What is happening is that the genuine rule of international laws has been replaced by so-called ‘rules based international order’, enforced by ‘coalitions of the willing’, both terms frequently used by our Irish leaders. The peoples of Cuba and Iran may be the next targets, and the extermination of the people of Gaza is already happening.
Edward Horgan, Castletroy, Limerick.
___
Irish Independent 08/01/2026
Government really needs to choose between EU and desires of the Irish people
What does a national declaration on the subject of Irish neutrality mean? To the many people who changed their vote in the Nice referendum because of promises given in the Seville Declaration, it meant that Ireland would not become involved in any military alliance.
Indeed, one sentence seemed to say just that: “Ireland confirms that its participation in the European Union’s common foreign and defence policy does not prejudice its traditional policy of military neutrality.”
The EU’s white paper on defence, Readiness 2030, repeats the Seville Declaration, but adds to it a phrase that has serious implications for Irish neutrality: “...and taking into consideration the security and defence interests of all Member States.”
Sadly, it seems our Government prefers to be seen in a good light by the EU Commission, rather than by the Irish people who, over decades of opinion polls, have consistently expressed their preference for Ireland to be neutral.
Elizabeth Cullen, Naas, Co Kildare
___
Sunday Independent 11/01/2026
US military aircraft flying through Irish airspace
Dear Madam,
The seizure or hijacking of a Russian flagged oil tanker in the Atlantic on the orders of US President Trump involved the use of Irish sovereign air space. A US Navy Poseidon P-8 special anti-submarine aircraft took off from RAF Mildenhall on 6 January and flew over Wexford, Limerick city and Shannon airport on its way to participate in the seizure of oil tanker Marinera. It returned to RAF Mildenhall on 7 January passing to the South of Ireland. This aircraft is a powerful weapon of war, and can be armed with torpedoes, anti-ship missiles, and naval mines. Speaking on RTE news, foreign affairs minister Helen McEntee TD said that she has been in touch with the US embassy and that they are very clear that they have complied with the long-standing aviation agreement on US military overflights of Ireland. Given that the US has been acting in serious breach of the UN Charter it is at best naive of the Minister to accept such assurances from a US Government that had caused the deaths of over 100 people in or near Venezuela in recent times. Tánaiste Simon Harris said he was not aware whether permission was sought by the United States for its military to fly over Ireland. Why did he not properly inform himself concerning this breach of Irish neutrality. Speaking in Shanghai, the Taoiseach said "common sense needs to prevail" on the issue of the US taking over Greenland. Our national leaders stated that the government led by Maduro had no legitimacy, yet failed to criticise the unlawful killing of dozens of people. The Irish Open golf tournament is due to be held this September at the Trump golf course in Co Clare. If US President Trump attends, will he be arrested by An Garda Siochana and investigated for war crimes and other breaches of international laws?
Edward Horgan, Castletroy, Limerick,
___
Irish Independent 21/01/2026
With all eyes on US and Greenland, child killings in Gaza go unpunished.
Dear Editor,
Due to the plans by US President Trump to seize the island of Greenland, the international community has been ignoring the ongoing genocide in Gaza. At least 73,000 Palestinians have been reported killed in Gaza since 7 October 2023, but the full death count may exceed 100,000. On 30 July 2025 the Washington Post published the list of names of 18,500 children killed since October 2023. Their deaths must not be ignored. The Trump peace plan makes no effort to hold Israel to account for the genocide, or to hold the US and others to account for their participation in that genocide. Trump’s Board of Peace for Gaza will be chaired by Trump himself. There will be several subsidiary bodies whose membership will include former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, the US president's son-in-law. With a lineup like this, what could possibly go right? There are no genuine plans for democracy, independence, accountability or justice for the Palestinian people.
We need to understand the stories of some of the children killed to appreciate the suffering and trauma. The film, The Voice of Hind Rajab, tells the horrific story of five-year-old Hind Rami Iyad Rajab, killed by the Israeli tank fire on 29 January 2024. Six of her family members and two paramedics coming to her rescue were also killed.
More than 100 children are reported to have died in Gaza since the Oct 2025 ceasefire. They include two-week old baby Mohammad Abu al-Khair who died on December 15, 2025. He was the eighth to die of hypothermia in Gaza this winter, including a 27-day-old baby named Aisha Ayesh al-Agha, who died17 January.
All these crimes against humanity must not be ignored.
Edward Horgan, Castletroy, Limerick.
___
Irish Examiner 21 /01/2026
Efforts to hold leaders to account welcomed.
Dear Sir,
On 16 December the Council of Europe announced the establishment of an International Claims Commission for reparations for Ukraine to hold Russia accountable for war damage. All wars of aggression are outlawed by the UN Charter and by international and humanitarian laws. All efforts to hold countries and their leaders to account for wars of aggression and crimes against humanity must be welcomed and are long overdue. History demonstrates that accountability and reparations are only imposed on some of the defeated countries and never on the victors. Powerful states, especially UN Security Council permanent members can use their veto to avoid accountability for themselves and their allies, even when they are on the losing side. Some examples include the French and US Indochina wars, Soviet Afghan wars in the 1980s, US Afghan war 2001 to 2021. Israel has been granted immunity and impunity for its war crimes amounting to genocide in Palestine.
The Irish Government has already signed up to this reparations commission despite being complicit in US led unjustified wars by allowing the US military to use Shannon airport. This complicity makes Ireland liable for a proportion of reparations payable due to these wars. Our government has also supported the proposal to use Russian national financial reserves held in Belgian banks as reparations for Ukraine, regardless of the damage that this will do to the existing global financial system and to Ireland’s reputation.
The peoples of Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, and others especially Palestine, deserve reparations, accountability and justice. In this age of nuclear weapons and environmental destruction such wars are suicidal madness. Venezuela may be next. Children are dying daily in Gaza from hypothermia, starvation, diseases and continuing Israeli bombing. ‘Don’t they know it’s Christmas, over there?.’
Edward Horgan, Castletroy, Limerick.
___
Irish News 17/02/2026
Ireland is considering boarding Russian oil tankers?
Dear Editor,
In an interview with Niall O'Connor of The Journal on 15 February, Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Defence Helen McEntee TD stated that: “Ireland is considering boarding and inspecting Russian oil smuggling ships, known as the Shadow Fleet, as they pass through the seas off Ireland. The allegation that Russia as a sovereign state is smuggling its own oil, or any other oil, has little if any basis in international law. The precedent set by the US in seizing oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela and in the Atlantic was not justified under international law. It arguably amounted to a crime of hijacking or theft on the high seas. The US unilateral military actions off the coast of Venezuela also included U.S. military strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats that have unlawfully killed 131 people since September 2025 and at least 83 people were killed when the US attacked Venezuela on 3 January 2026. The UN has not imposed any sanctions, or authorised the use of any aggressive military force, against either Venezuela or Russia. If Ireland takes any military against Russian owned or operated oil tankers it may be doing so in breach of the UN Charter. Since the Minister has now forewarned Russia of the possibility of Irish military actions or attacks against Russian owned or operated ships Russia may take the precaution of having armed Russian security personnel on board such ships. Why is Ireland, a small neutral country, with total defence forces of less than 8,000, publicly threatening to take military action against one of the most powerful nuclear armed countries in the world? Coalitions of the willing, that Ireland have joined, break rather than make international law, and have caused millions of deaths.
Edward Horgan, Castletroy, Limerick
___
The Kerryman 18/03/2026
Those responsible for the slaughter of the innocents in war such as at the Minab school must be held to account
Dear Sir,
The killing of children in wars and genocide can never be justified. The New York Times reported on March 11 that an ongoing US military investigation has preliminarily determined that the United States is responsible for a Tomahawk missile strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in the town of Minab Iran on February 28, 2026, and that the targeting of the school was mistakenly caused by outdated target information. Middle East sources suggest that the school was deliberately targeted because most of the schoolchildren were the children of Iranian military personnel based in the nearby Iranian IRGC military base which is very close to the Hormuz Straits choke-point in the Persian Gulf. Middle East Eye news agency reported that: “Iranian girls killed by ‘double-tap’ strikes on Minab school. Eyewitnesses describe a second blast which killed survivors as they sheltered in the prayer hall”. The US military has a history of such unlawful targeting of civilians in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. The worst example was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, with the ‘second-tap’ on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands Japanese civilians.
The numbers killed in the Minab school bombing has been rising almost daily as some of those injured die from their injuries. So far 175 are reported to have died, most of them children under 12 years of age. Unfortunately, this war crime is not an isolated case. Since the end of the Cold War millions of children have died due to war related reasons. These children’s deaths are not just collateral damage. They are a crime against humanity. This slaughter of the innocents must be ended, and those responsible must be held to account.
Edward Horgan, Castletroy, Limerick
___
Irish Examiner 28/03/2026
Dear Editor
The end of the Cold War should have brought peace and prosperity to most of humanity. Instead, it has brought real bloody hot wars that have cost the lives of millions of civilians especially children. This slaughter of the innocents has become normalised, and therefore almost
justified, in many western media reports. The price of oil and gas is given far more media coverage, despite the damage that burning these fossil fuels is doing to our environment.
The Washington Post in the US and The Guardian in the UK did give exposure in 2025 by publishing the names of 18,457 children killed in Gaza between October 2023 and July 2025. If indirect war deaths are included, the full number of children who died due to war
related reasons in Gaza is likely to be as high as 40,000 and this genocide is ongoing. In the recent conflicts in the Middle East, up to 1,500 children have been killed.
At least 200 were killed in Iran including more than 150 in the Minab school double-tap bombing perpetrated by the US military on February 28. At least 120 children were killed by Israeli bombing in Lebanon, four in Israel, and one in Kuwait.
In Africa, many thousands of children have died due to conflicts in Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and elsewhere.
It is vital to remember and commemorate all these children killed, not just as statistics or collateral damage, but as the beautiful individuals that they were for their all-too-short lives.
The United Nations has been prevented from maintaining international peace and far too many UN and EU member states including Ireland have been complicit in these children’s deaths, as well as failing in their duties to take all necessary measures to
prevent such crimes.
One child’s death is a tragedy. The killing of millions of children is a crime against humanity.
Edward Horgan, Castletroy, Limerick
___
Irish Independent 28/03/2026
Dear Sir,
Largely because of concerns over the militarization of the EU, the Irish people initially rejected both the Nice and Lisbon treaties. People changed their vote from a no to a yes in the repeat referenda on both treaties on the basis of a promise made in a National Declaration. This declaration affirmed Ireland’s attachment to the aims and principles of the United Nations, the only global agency with a remit to work for world peace. This solemn declaration was issued before the repeat of both referenda.
It is now very clear that people’s fears in relation to the militarization of the EU were not unfounded. In 2017 for the first time, the EU approved the funding of military research and the development of new arms and technologies. Indeed EU defence research spending has increased by 90% over the past 5 years, reaching approximately 17 billion euros last year. It is now clear that Fianna Fail’s allegiance to the EU is far greater than to the Irish people and our unwavering support for Ireland to be a peacemaker.
Yours sincerely
Elizabeth Cullen
___
The Kerryman 08/04/2026
It would benefit humanity if Trump were to pull out of NATO.
Sir,
US President Trump has threatened to pull the US out of NATO. If he does so, this will be one of his very few actions as President that would benefit humanity. However, he is unlikely to follow through on this threat, and his successor would likely reverse any such decision. NATO should have been disbanded shortly after the Warsaw Pact ceased to exist in 1991. NATO was founded in1949 the same year that the USSR developed its first nuclear weapon, and it claims that it defended western Europe during the Cold War. Nuclear weapons have terrorised all of humanity since the US first used them in its double-tap war crime nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. With the increasing proliferation of nuclear weapons, humanity has never been more threatened with extinction.
In the meantime, the US has misused NATO as the equivalent of a global criminal protection racket in its series of resource wars of aggression, beginning with the NATO attack on Serbia in 1999 in contravention of the UN Charter and of NATO’s own Charter. These wars have killed millions of people, especially women and children, wreaked havoc with the environment and left multiple countries in chaos. Trump is now accusing his erstwhile ‘allies’ of failing to support the illegal US/Israeli attacks on Iran and elsewhere, while at the same time threatening to annex NATO member Canada and Denmark’s Greenland territory.
Trump is annoyed because three large NATO members, France, Spain and Italy have imposed severe restrictions on US military use of their airports or overfly their territories. Neutral Switzerland and Austria have done likewise. Our Irish Government, while claiming to be neutral, is recklessly allowing aircraft associated with the US military to use Shannon airport and fly through Irish airspace, thereby being complicit in genocide and war crimes. It is failing to support the UN and the proper rule of international laws. Basic morality should ensure that preventing the killing of hundreds of thousands of children is prioritised over Irish economic interests
Edward Horgan, Castletroy, Limerick.
___
Irish Examiner 24/04/2026
Israel must be held accountable on Gaza Genocide
Dear Sir,
EU Vice-President Kaja Kallas announced on 20 April that: “Rebuilding Gaza is estimated to cost at least $71 billion. And we have been working four months with World Bank, the UN and the European Union on this assessment.”
Statements like this raise very important questions and issues, including whether the UN, EU, World Bank and others will be expected to pay for the reconstruction of Gaza. Israel is still in the process of destroying Gaza and the Palestinian people. Why should the UN and the EU have to pay for the rebuilding of Gaza when Gaza has been destroyed by Israel with the active support of the US, UK, Germany and the complicity of many others? It is the responsibility of the ICJ and the ICC to hold Israel and its leaders to account for the genocide and crimes against humanity, including imposing financial reparations on Israel and the others who are supporting Israeli crimes. How much has the EU already spent on reconstruction after previous Israeli bombing attacks on Gaza, and what can be done to prevent Israel from destroying Gaza again in years to come?
Nothing can bring back to life the Palestinians who have been killed and are still being killed. Genocide and crimes against humanity keep reoccurring because they are perceived to be successful. Southern Lebanon is now being destroyed and its people killed because Israel has been granted impunity to continue committing genocide against the Palestinian people. It now feels free to do likewise in Lebanon.The US and Israel combined are now threatening to do to the people and infrastructure of Iran what they have succeeded in doing in Gaza. Humanity must not abandon the peoples of Palestine, Lebanon and Iran. The proper rule of international and humanitarian laws must be reestablished and all the perpetrators of crimes against humanity must be held to account.
Edward Horgan, Castletroy, Limerick
___
Irish Examiner 30/04/2026
We voted against Lisbon and Nice, but now Martin is dismantling Triple Lock
It was the great Daniel O’Connell who said that “nothing is politically correct which is morally wrong”.
It is therefore difficult to rationalise Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s decision to remove the necessity of a UN mandate for the deployment of Irish troops abroad.
The mandate is the central core of the Triple Lock. Irish people voted to reject both the Nice and Lisbon treaties because of fears over the increasing militarisation of the EU, but were reassured after Fianna Fáil introduced the Triple Lock.
Removing this opens the possibility that Irish troops could be deployed at the behest of the EU, and the EU is inextricably linked with Nato.
To remove the Triple Lock negates Irish credibility as a peacemaker. Ireland needs to work for a reform of the UN and to be an effective voice for peace.
Former US president John F Kennedy stated in his speech to the Dáil in 1963 that “it matters not how small a nation is that seeks world peace”.
It also matters that Mr Martin and Fianna Fáil do what is right.
Elizabeth Cullen, address with editor
___
Irish Daily Mail 31/05.2026
The killing of Hind Rajab and far too many other children
Dear Editor,
A recent UN report found that more than 38,000 women and girls were killed in Gaza between October 2023 and December 2025. This figure does not include those buried under rubble, and deaths caused by hunger, diseases, and the destruction of vital infrastructure.
The horrific murders of five-year-old Hind Rajab and her family is just one example of the barbarism being inflicted on the Palestinian people. The Palestinian genocide is being perpetrated not only by the state of Israel, but by individual Israeli politicians, soldiers and others. It is also being facilitated by other governments, especially the US, and by all those individuals and officials who facilitate or are complicity in genocide, or who are failing in their moral and legal duties to take all possible measures to prevent or stop genocide. By allowing US military use of Shannon airport and Irish airspace, the Irish Government could be judged as being complicit in war crimes and genocide. We cannot say that we did not know. Too many are doing too little to stop the killing of children especially. The trauma suffered by Hind Rajab was not an isolated event. We now know the names of over 21,000 children killed in Gaza since 7 October 2023. Other ongoing conflicts in Sudan, Lebanon, Iran and elsewhere are causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of children annually. They are not just numbers or collateral damage. The killing of children is among the most serious breaches of international and humanitarian laws.
The killing of Hind Rajab will be commemorated at a special peace vigil ceremony at Shannon airport at 1pm on Sunday 3rd May, which should have been Hind’s eight birthday.
Edward Horgan, Castletroy, Limerick.