Irish Examiner view: Common sense must prevail

Irish Examiner

08-05-2025

It is entirely understandable that readers are looking at events in Ukraine and Gaza with a mixture of revulsion and concern.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine means there is open war on the continent of Europe, while savage conflict in the Middle East has been a staple of our news diet, unfortunately, for decades.
Another long-simmering enmity now appears to be edging towards open war, though in a part of the world which may appear remote from us.
The conflict is a legacy of British colonial rule: India and Pakistan both gained independence from Britain in 1947 but the territory of Kashmir, in the foothills of the Himalayas, has been a flashpoint ever since.
The two countries have spent almost 80 years disputing ownership of the region and have fought three wars as a result.
In recent days those border skirmishes have become more deadly, with Pakistani officials claiming more than 20 civilians had been killed by Indian strikes, while India has claimed several civilians died in Pakistani shelling.
Both nations have exchanged heavy artillery fire.
The EU has already called for de-escalation, and those calls have been replicated by other countries.
Iran — which shares a border with Pakistan — has called on the two countries to exercise restraint, while Turkey has also called for calm.
One does not need to be a professor of geopolitics to appreciate the gravity of the situation when those two countries, quite capable of striking a bellicose pose themselves, are so concerned.
Focusing on the wider implications of the invasion of Ukraine may have blinded us to the possible results of this conflict widening.
China, for instance, shares a border with Kashmir and could be dragged into a conflict here, which would be catastrophic.
Common sense and calm must prevail here for all our sakes.
Climate change: Adapting to new extremes
The effects of the climate crisis are having an impact on all of us, with some of those effects now visible in unexpected corners of Irish life.
The annual conference of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) began this week, and delegates heard of challenges facing its members — such as exhaustion and burnout.
They also heard a motion calling for the INMO to engage with the HSE on how red weather warnings are managed in relation to staff.
The motion stated that the red weather event policy should be reviewed to ensure its fairness: 'The employer's approach must be reasonable and supportive, prioritising the safety and wellbeing of staff.
'Furthermore, nurses/midwives who attend work during extreme weather conditions must receive timely and adequate compensation — with no undue delays or obstacles in accessing their entitlements.'
This motion illustrates the real world impact of climate change.
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With more and more red weather warnings, employers and employees alike must settle on work practices which are safe and practical.
This is particularly true for frontline workers who have to deal with such hazardous conditions first-hand.
Nurses and midwives are an obvious cohort of workers who will have to work no matter how severe the weather, and the likes of gardaí, firefighters, and paramedics are the same.
Those workers' representative bodies are likely to follow the example of the INMO in seeking compensation for working during extreme weather events.
Readers can expect plenty of debate on this matter, but it would be helpful if such discussions focused on the initial part of the INMO motion — that employers adopt a reasonable approach, particularly at a time when remote working obviates the need in so many sectors for workers to travel.
It is more worrying to consider this in the wider context of how our weather is changing, and what that means for our future.
At what point, for instance, will weather events we now see as 'extreme' become normal?
Voice of reason
Former US president Joe Biden broke his silence this week, giving his first in-depth interview since leaving the White House.
Mr Biden touched on several subjects but was unsparing in his criticism of his replacement, Donald Trump, specifically using 'appeasement' to describe Mr Trump's policy on Ukraine.
This term carries connotations of the 1930s and the way the democracies of western Europe agreed to Adolf Hitler's territorial ambitions.
When war eventually erupted, those politicians who had sought to appease Hitler — such as Britain's Neville Chamberlain — were regarded with ignominy and their reputations destroyed.
The implicit comparison with Mr Chamberlain will not please Mr Trump, given his child-like need to be seen as a strongman, but the Biden interview is more instructive in other ways.
It shows the lack of response from other American politicians to Mr Trump's behaviour over his first 100 days in office, from his cavalier treatment of legal process and economic norms to pardoning the January 6 rioters and using an executive order to insist the Gulf of Mexico be referred to as the Gulf of America.
Many of the politicians who might be expected to oppose those measures have been ineffectual, if not invisible, thus emboldening the Trump administration even further.
The White House has continued with an unrelenting stream of decisions, cuts, and orders in the absence of opposition.
The irony will surely not be lost on Mr Biden and his inner circle that he was jettisoned by his party after a poor performance in a presidential debate, but now he has offered some of the most trenchant criticism — and most coherent opposition — of president Donald Trump we have yet heard.
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