Letters: Hold your MEPs and local politicians to account for climate chaos that will affect future generations

This is just the latest in a series of climate records to have tumbled in the last few years, with the hottest days, wettest months and driest summers making the headlines.

That we are in a period of uncertainty caused by what the industrialised world has done to the climate is surely beyond doubt. It is also poss­ible that far worse is to come.

The imminent collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation – basically, the ocean engine that drives our climate here in Ireland – is an existential threat that our higher-ups seem to pay no attention to.

While we all recognise the sense of helplessness felt by the ordinary citizens of countries most culpable for climate pollution – and these include Ireland – we need to shout loudly for change.

This week’s elections offer us a chance to demand that our elected representatives prioritise climate change. Do not confuse the Green Party with green issues – you do not have to support or vote for the Greens to demand changes in policies that affect our climate.

If you care about the world in which your children and grandchildren will live, hold MEPs and local councillors of every party to account over what they will do about the looming climate chaos.

Eoin Clooney, Bray, Co Wicklow

Sorry state of affairs when teachers have to bring food in for hungry pupils

Yet again we see teachers are going beyond their calling to support pup­ils, but there is something wrong if they have to supply food as well.

When I was teaching, I carried a pencil box of material for students to borrow – notebooks and copies of textbook material despite copyright issues. Most teachers do the same, but rarely food, although the school administration might make arrangements for credit at the canteen or run a breakfast/study session.

Society has many problems to solve, but the youngest, innocent souls should be at the top of the list.

Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia​

Rich and powerful should not be deciding the fate of innocents in Middle East

Monday’s editorial (‘Biden’s false hope of ceasefire in Gaza war serves no purpose’) arrives at a stark but undeniable conclusion.

After eight months of the Gaza war, US president Joe Biden has not put moral, political and strategic pressure on Israel to accept a ceasefire. Such failure to bring relief to humanitarian strife is common among powerful countries.

This includes those in blocs such as the G7, the EU and Opec. All express concern and donate money, but without decisive impact.

For example, our EU partners, Germany, France and Italy, are chief exporters of weapons to Israel after the US. That they might ever halt this or impose sanctions is unlikely.

For governments of powerful countries, strategic interest and commerce are factors that override human obligation.

Free of such constraints, we in Ireland can play a central role in helping to end the Gaza suffering.

It is now clear we have to do this outside the large power blocs.

Ireland’s Occupied Territories Bill (OTB) was drawn up for this purpose.

Although modest and peaceful, it could have an impact if taken up in many countries, as is likely.

It would have a transformative eff­ect, similar to Ireland’s lead against South African apartheid in the 1980s.

Sadly, the OTB was omitted from the Programme for Government in 2020, despite it having gained major­ity support in the Dáil and Seanad.

It is still on the Dáil order paper and urgently needs to be debated for enactment.

The innocents of the Middle East can no longer be left at the mercy of the rich and powerful.

David Clinch, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin

For the freedoms we now often take for granted, I thank brave D-Day heroes

May we for ever remember the brave men and women, many of whom were Irish or of Irish descent, who died defending democracy and freedom 80 years ago today.

May the sacrifices that the heroes of D-Day made so that their children and their children’s children could live in a free world always be remembered.

I wasn’t born for many decades after D-Day, but because of their bravery, my children and I enjoy a freedom and lifestyle that we all too often take for granted today.

For this, I would like to say thank you to all allied soldiers for the ultimate sacrifice they paid on the beaches and fields of France.

John Dooley, address with editor

Asylum system needs an overhaul with regard to policing and intelligence

A recent newspaper report that two men who had lived in Ireland for over a decade and who were convicted of rapes here made applications for international protection before completion of their sentences makes a mockery off our asylum system. One has since returned to his home country and the whereabouts of the other are unknown. That they were able to walk free from an Irish prison and then disappear, thwarting Garda efforts to serve them with deportation orders, will cause outrage and disgust. The fact that a loophole in our asylum system allows convicted criminals to apply for IP status, without any link up to the Garda or Interpol fingerprint/intelligence system, is a serious system failure that needs to be immediately and urgently rectified. That people who come to this country can take advantage of a weak asylum system, knowing that the process does not allow for the IPO to link with international policing intelligence systems which would allow for proper background checks before applications are processed, will anger the people of this state, if they are not already angry at a system that is out of control and costing taxpayers billions. We must temper this anger because there are genuine applicants who seek asylum or international protection for any number of genuine reasons. But these flaws in an already weak system, which allow convicted criminals who commit serious offences to circumvent that system, will only add fuel to the fire of agitators and far right extremists. It also should be a matter of grave concern for those of us who believe that the security and safety of our state and its people should be uppermost in any system or process. Christy Galligan, Letterkenny, Do Donegal