Why is the United Nations not doing more to stop the starvation in Gaza?
Gaza
is unimaginably bleak. A
Donald Trump
-brokered permanent ceasefire that sees the return of the remaining hostages taken by
Hamas
on October 7th, 2023 cannot come soon enough. In theory, this will see the cessation of Israel's bombardments. Whether there will be a return to UN-managed humanitarian aid distribution, replacing the death traps of the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid stations, remains to be seen.
Whatever happens, even if tens of thousands of
Palestinians
were to avoid death by starvation in the coming weeks and months, Gaza will live in rubble for at least a generation, with the permanent effects of malnutrition, war injuries, disease, familial death and PTSD. Basic housing, healthcare, education or social services will not be restored for years, if ever. There is no long-term Israeli vision for Gaza that involves its reconstruction under any form of Palestinian self-government. As Hamas appears to be replenishing itself to the point where some commentators believe that it has as many active fighters now (through new recruits) as it had before October 7th, the worldview of many on the Israeli right has become a self-fulfilling prophecy: any Palestinian or foreign-led protectorate government in Gaza will inevitably become infiltrated by Hamas and cannot be allowed. The Israeli plan, if there is one, appears a deliberate attempt to starve, slaughter, weaken and traumatise Gaza to the point where two million Gazans consider 'voluntary' resettlement elsewhere. We will not find out for years whether the
International Court of Justice
determines that Israel's actions have met the legal threshold of genocide.
Where is the
UN
in all this? Why can it not do more? There are, in fact, two UNs: the first is the intergovernmental system, where the 193 Member States debate and pass resolutions on various matters under mandates given to them by themselves. The second is the operational system, under which the secretary general oversees the various secretariat departments and appoints the heads of UN agencies.
The latter system has largely done (and continues to do) all it can, as the UN operational system can only do what the member states allow. Senior UN officials, such as human rights commissioner Volker Türk, have documented Israel's grave breaches of international humanitarian law, while continuously calling on Hamas to release the hostages. The UN special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, who is not a UN official and whose pronouncements carry moral rather than legal weight, has used the term 'acts of genocide'.
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Nevertheless, the UN operational system has been humiliated and sidelined by an Israeli regime that loathes it, believing without evidence that Unrwa was implicated in the October 7th attacks via Hamas infiltration. For the Israeli right, allowing UN agencies to feed and shelter the Gazan population inevitably means feeding and sheltering Hamas. This leaves the UN's ability to work freely in Gaza in serious doubt.
But more can be done within the intergovernmental system. While chapter VII of the UN charter authorises member states to use force in their own legitimate self-defence, UN military action 'to restore international peace and order' must be authorised by the security council. This has been done on 12 occasions since 1945, almost always with the tacit approval of the member state most concerned.
What has never happened in its 80-year history is for the security council to authorise UN military action against a member state engaged in the mass killing, starvation or ethnic cleansing of either its own people or people living in disputed territory under its occupying control. To do so would require not only the approval of the security council, but also member states to supply military assets and personnel to ensure a successful military outcome, as well as support for a post-military political process.
This is the context in which the UN finds itself in Gaza. As long as the Trump administration supports Israel's war aims, the US will wield its veto in the security council and permit only resolutions that call for humanitarian access and the safe return of hostages, rather than mandating action.
It is, therefore, to the UN General Assembly, where resolutions are passed by simple majority, that those hoping for greater UN intervention in Gaza must turn. While the assembly has condemned Israel's 'starvation as a method of warfare', it has shied away from considering a stronger interventionist response. It shouldn't. The UN charter clearly gives it the authority to mandate peace operations and it has a track record of doing so ( as in Indonesia in 1962). While the consent of the 'host country' is required for such peace operations deployment, Israel is not the host country in Gaza, which the assembly itself recognises as Palestinian territory. The 1950 United for Peace Resolution gives the assembly the authority to consider peace and security resolutions when the security council has vetoed same.
As a result, therefore, the assembly should request the security council to adopt a resolution condemning Israel's violations of international humanitarian law and Hamas's continued illegal detention of Israeli hostages, and mandating Chapter VII UN military action to forcibly open humanitarian aid corridors. Any veto would have to be explained to the assembly within 10 days.
Secondly, the assembly should adopt a further resolution appointing a special representative of the secretary general for Gaza, indicating its intention to establish a peacekeeping force to ensure aid distribution and the co-ordination of reconstruction efforts. It should call upon member states to voluntary impose a trade embargo and other economic sanctions on Israel should it resist. Finally, the resolution should request other intergovernmental bodies such as the EU or the Commonwealth to explore military options to open aid corridors.
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Precedents for the UN co-operating with other intergovernmental bodies in the implementation of military activity exist, most notably in Bosnia in the 1990s, where the UN authorised Nato to impose a no-fly zone.
Would the EU, the Commonwealth or any individual UN member state be prepared to conduct military operations to open Gaza aid corridors, citing the approval of the general assembly? Unlikely. But such a resolution could just move the political dial and put pressure on Israel to meet its international humanitarian obligations. What is the alternative?
Niall McCann worked worldwide in various electoral capacities for the United Nations Development Programme, as well as the United Nations Mission in Liberia, from 2005-2022. He is co-author of The UN at Country Level – A p
ractical guide to the United Nations Operational System
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Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Irish Times
Letters to the Editor, July 5th: On doctors under attack, school admissions, and grand plans
Sir, – Channel 4 deserves great credit for broadcasting Gaza: Doctors under Attack which was aired on July 2nd (the BBC having changed its decision on broadcasting it) – as do Basement Films for having made it, and all those who bravely contributed to it. This powerful documentary should be shown on RTE – and made available on YouTube. Having said that, as a retired doctor, the documentary sickened me. For those who didn't see it, Gaza: Doctors under Attack portrays how Israel has systematically targeted hospitals, doctors, and other healthcare workers in Gaza to purposely destroy 'the one thing that Palestinians need most: its healthcare system'. Commencing with Gaza's main hospital, al-Shifa, and as shown by a UN Human Rights report in December 2024, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have used a standard sequence of assaults on all of Gaza's hospitals: airstrikes, blocking of access and medical supplies by ground troops, use of tanks and bulldozers, detainment of medical staff and patients and those taking shelter, forced evacuation, withdrawal of troops after rendering the hospital non-functional. READ MORE The scenes are graphic and highly disturbing: patients and staff being shot, emaciated children on intravenous drips, horrific injuries, medical staff digging graves for adults and children in the hospital grounds, beds with patients in them being dragged into the streets to avoid being shot. In addition to this, there are allegations of the targeted killing of medics (including in their homes and with family members), and the imprisonment, torture, rape, disappearance, and death of others in detention – as well as the abuse of prisoners by some Israeli doctors. The documentary includes the, by now, customary denials of wrongdoing by the Israeli authorities without evidence being presented (a) to refute the allegations being convincingly made (using the testimonies of detainees, whistleblowers, human rights activists and video footage taken by IDF and prison personnel) or (b) to back up IDF claims that Hamas is using the hospitals for military purposes. The denials are also implausible given the cumulative evidence that has emerged from Gaza, which includes the chilling statistic of more than 57,000 dead, including more than 1,400 healthcare workers. On the day the programme was screened, the death of Dr Marwan al-Sultan, a renowned and highly experienced cardiologist and the medical director of the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza was announced. He was the 70th healthcare worker to be killed in Gaza in the last 50 days. There is an urgent need for a ceasefire and for all the hostages to be returned and for medical aid (and food) to pour into Gaza and for hospitals and healthcare workers to be protected – as well as the need for a long-term plan to rebuild the health service. In this context, there is now an urgent need for doctors and other healthcare workers individually and collectively to raise their voices – as well as medical schools and professional training bodies around the world (including in Ireland). Israeli doctors, many of whom work in world-class hospitals in Israel, also need to have the moral courage to raise their voices in support of their Palestinian colleagues who continue to work under attack in the most appalling and dangerous of circumstances down the road from them. If we remain silent, we are also complicit. – Yours, etc, CHRIS FITZPATRICK, Terenure, Dublin. Sir, – Niall McCann's excellent article ('Why is the United Nations not doing more on Gaza,' July 3rd) contains one of the most frustrating statements that sums up the tragedy that is happening there. He mentions Bosnia in the 1990s where the UN authorised Nato to impose a no-fly zone. So, if the UN had similarly bravely imposed this policy on Israel any time in the last 600-plus days of genocide how many thousands of Palestinian lives would have been saved? We are all complicit at this stage – Yours, etc , JUDY BURKE, Rosscarbery, Co Cork. Gaza children and visas Sir, – Your report ( ' Evacuation of ill children from Gaza stalls over visas ,' (July 4th) refers to the visas in question being for accompanying family members of critically ill children, some of whom have died waiting. You also report elsewhere that while one- third of Ukrainian refugees have left, there are still 80,000 in the State. What has happened here? Did we expend all our humanity on Ukraine? Have we none left for the victims of a genocide? Why can we not take all the families of these children and many more besides? Our Government has expressed many fine words to the world about the horrors of Gaza, but cannot seem to convert those words to even this small action. Our hypocrisy is staggering. – Yours, etc, DR EDEL McGINNITY, Mulhuddart, Dublin 15. Sir, – Ireland alone cannot stop the genocide in Gaza. Nor can we evacuate the entire population. But surely we can evacuate a few children. If they have families here, good. If not, surely families can be found for them? – Yours, etc, Ben Aveling, Ranelagh, Dublin. Health is wealth Sir, – A thought for the day: It occurs to me that we'd all be healthier and wealthier if we could switch the Revenue Commissioners to run Health and the HSE to run the Revenue . – Yours, etc, JOHN H. DOCKRELL, Foxrock, Dublin. It will never catch on Sir, – I only recently realised that the Irish Times e-paper subscription, as well as giving today's paper, also gives you the newspaper from the same day one, two, five, ten, 25 and 50 years ago. I now regularly read the 50-year-old one from when I was a teenager and totally uninterested in current affairs. Depressingly, many of the topics are similar today as back then; economy, inflation, energy, middle east conflict, etc. Today, the edition from June 2nd, 1975 had a little report in the motoring section ) on the production of the first British electric car. The Enfield 8000 cost £2,808 had a rust-free aluminium body and was powered by eight lead-acid batteries with a range of 55 miles but limited to 40 mph top speed. It has taken a very long time for the EV concept to catch on and contemporary EVs are a far cry from the Enfield 8000 but we're getting there! – Yours, etc, MARTIN HOWLEY, Carrigaline, Co Cork. Calling time on no comment Sir, – With regard to the Ranelagh charging arm, the real question is why did 'Dublin City Council not respond to requests for comment'? (' Dublin electric car owner ordered to remove 'unauthorised' charging arm by council , July 3rd). Who do they think they are? They work for us! If they don't want to talk about a specific case they can give general advice on the use of these devices or suggest real alternatives. The media should be chasing down CEO Richard Shakespeare on a weekly basis to explain these and other decisions about our city. It really is time for an elected executive mayor with a budget. – Yours, etc, MICHAEL O'LEARY, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. Our friends in the North Sir, – Newton Emerson makes some salient points in respect of cross-Border student fees (' Fees for students from Republic in NI need to rise ,' July 3rd). Unfortunately, he slips into the usual blinkered thinking that has bedevilled cross-border mobility when he writes: 'One-third of students from Northern Ireland who want a local place are unable to get one, forcing them to study in Britain, where they have to pay the maximum fee anyway.' They are not forced to study in Britain. They could come South, where fees, even if they go back up to €3,000, would be just over a quarter of the sum to be paid in Britain (¤11,000). Yes, the cost of living is higher here, so some of the savings on fees may be needed for living expenses. And the poor A Level points equivalencies have been a handicap, though that has been removed now on the back of recommendations by a Universities Ireland working group that I chaired in 2023. If only our schools in the North gave students as much support for the CAO system as they do for UCAS, cross-border mobility for Northerners could be addressed. It is high time that they did so, and that they were helped to do so. If only for the sake of keeping more of our youngsters and their obvious talents closer to home. – Yours, etc, PROF PÓL Ó DOCHARTAIGH, University of Galway, Galway. Gaming the education system Sir, – Is it a rule for thee (the poor) and a rule for me (the rich) in modern education? An article by Carl O'Brien details how the deans of the medical schools in Ireland have met and are arranging plans to reduce the weighting of the Hpat aptitude test. ('C olleges to alter entry requirements for medicine amid concern applicants 'gaming' aptitude test ,' July 1st). The article highlights how 'gaming' the system is the perceived flaw of the Hpat exam. It struck me that the comment section related to the article was flooded with comments to the anecdotal tune of 'I know someone who got 625 points but, due to the Hpat, couldn't study medicine.' Surely, by now, we have concluded that being book smart is not the sole indication of the skill of a future doctor? I note that a well-known private 'grinds' school in Dublin, in 2020, had over 100 students achieve 600-plus points. Did these students also not 'game the system' by attending a private institution? Why is it okay to 'game' the Leaving Cert but not the Hpat? –Yours, etc, JAMES BOURKE, Kanturk, Cork. School admissions Sir, – I am writing in response to the article, (' New school admissions system for second-level schools to be piloted in five towns in October ,' July 3rd). While I believe this pilot is a step in the right direction, it ultimately fails to tackle the root cause of the problem. The current system's fundamental flaw lies in the existence of overlapping catchment areas, which actively encourages parents to apply to multiple schools. This therefore leads to 'long waiting lists and months of stress' and 'duplicate applications'. A single application form merely streamlines the submission of these multiple, often redundant, applications; it does not eliminate the underlying incentive for them. A far more effective and equitable solution would be to implement a system where schools have clearly defined, non-overlapping catchment areas. If every residential address falls within the designated catchment of one, and only one, second-level school, then the need for multiple applications vanishes. Parents would know precisely which school their child is entitled to attend, subject to capacity. If capacity for a particular school regularly comes under pressure then the redrawing of its catchment area would be necessitated. 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Years later nothing has happened, the report or study got 'shelved' and perhaps many of the senior personnel involved are long retired. A small suggestion would be 'shelve' this approach. Instead, why not target small but realistic projects and get them built? In the case of the Luas why not construct small extensions each year or target a line say from Broombridge to Dublin Airport (I note that this is ruled out for 'operational' reasons, whatever they are). Rather than grandiose plans which remain just that why not pick a project and drive it on, less is more as is often said and what's more it might actually get done. – Yours, etc, ROB MAC GIOLLARNÁTH, Annascaul, Co Kerry. Counting the carbon cost Sir, – Your recent editorial, and letters drew attention to the issue of costs versus aesthetics in design for public buildings / infrastructure . However, what is truly depressing is the absence of discussion of the carbon cost, as opposed to the financial costs of such projects. Any discussion of these issues without a clear focus on the true cost to the planet is empty. After all, cement contributes about 8 per cent of all greenhouse emissions worldwide. We should not be embarking on such projects without serious consideration of the overall costs (to the planet) against perceived benefits (to whom?). Between artificial intelligence perhaps displacing the need for many jobs, and working from home obviating the need for more office space, not to mention the obvious need for a steep reduction in air traffic – it is surely time to realistically re-evaluate what our priorities should be. – Yours, etc, PAUL O'SHEA, Shankill, Dublin. A popular population Sir, – With reference to your article in today's article: ( 'The people behind the numbers as Ireland's population grows by nearly a third in 20 years, ' (July 3rd) showing Ireland's population increasing to over five million: When I in the course of my 'maiden speech' at the L & H society in UCD in January 1950 voted against the motion that we should unite with England politically, I stated that we had three million people and the audience immediately rose to its feet with thunderous applause! – Yours, etc, SEÁN Ó CEALLAIGH, Dublin 7
RTÉ News
5 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Trump signs 'big, beautiful' bill on US Independence Day
US President Donald Trump signed into law a massive package of tax and spending cuts at the White House during an outdoor ceremony on the Fourth of July holiday. With military jets flying overhead and hundreds of supporters in attendance, Mr Trump signed the bill one day after the Republican-controlled House of Representatives narrowly approved the signature legislation of the president's second term. The bill, which will fund Mr Trump's immigration crackdown, make his 2017 tax cuts permanent, and is expected to knock millions of Americans off health insurance, was passed with a 218-214 vote after an emotional debate on the House floor. "I've never seen people so happy in our country because of that, because so many different groups of people are being taken care of: the military, civilians of all types, jobs of all types," Mr Trump said at the ceremony, thanking House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune for leading the bill through the two houses of Congress. "So you have the biggest tax cut, the biggest spending cut, the largest border security investment in American history," he said. Mr Trump scheduled the ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House for the 4 July Independence Day holiday, replete with a flyover by stealth bombers and fighter jets like those that took part in the recent US strikes on nuclear facilities in Iran. Hundreds of Mr Trump supporters attended, including White House aides, members of Congress, and military families. After a speech that included boastful claims about the ascendance of America on his watch, Mr Trump signed the bill, posed for pictures with Republican congressional leaders and members of his cabinet, and waded through the crowd of happy supporters. The bill's passage amounts to a big win for Mr Trump and his Republican allies, who have argued it will boost economic growth, while largely dismissing a non-partisan analysis predicting it will add more than $3 trillion (€2.5 trillion) to the nation's $36.2 trillion debt. While some politicians in Mr Trump's party expressed concerns over the bill's price tag and its hit to healthcare programmes, in the end just two of the House's 220 Republicans voted against it, joining all 212 Democrats in opposition. The tense standoff over the bill included a record-long floor speech by House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who spoke for eight hours and 46 minutes, blasting the bill as a giveaway to the wealthy that would strip low-income Americans of federally-backed health insurance and food aid benefits. Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin predicted the law would cost Republicans votes in congressional elections in 2026. "Today, Donald Trump sealed the fate of the Republican Party, cementing them as the party for billionaires and special interests - not working families," Mr Martin said in a statement. "This legislation will hang around the necks of the GOP for years to come. This was a full betrayal of the American people. Today, we are putting Republicans on notice: you will lose your majority," he added.
Irish Examiner
5 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Irish Examiner view: Beware this new race to the bottom of the ocean
Space, as Captain Kirk used to remind us, is the 'final frontier'. But the environment that might concern us most in the next 50 years is the ocean. As a country that has a long coastline, more than 7,500km of it, and extensive claims to the seabeds that surround us, we must pay close attention to what is happening on the seas, beneath them, and above the ocean waves. For those who value our native birdlife — and that is all of us, surely — Ireland's belated efforts to recognise and protect the breeding and feeding grounds which create a diversity of species are a welcome, if overdue, move. Birdwatch Ireland wants the Government to catch up with European colleagues in designating key locations — 73 in our case, 24 of them out at sea — as protected areas. These include marine locations where birds gather in numbers to eat, preen, and socialise. There are increasing threats, including intensive offshore developments, such as wind farms. Greedy eyes are being cast over myriad opportunities to colonise the seas, which go way beyond the current human depredations of intensive fishing, plastic pollution, and climate change. Last month's UN conference on the oceans in Nice — non-participants included the US, of course — spent much time focusing on the potential impact of deep-sea mining. This is an activity that has only been undertaken on a small exploratory scale so far, but runs the risk of expanding exponentially as the pursuit of the world's rare minerals — the ones needed to power technology and energy transition — rapidly gathers pace. Deep-sea mining involves extracting resources from ocean floors rich in cobalt, manganese, nickel, and copper, often at depths of between 4,000-6,000m. US president Donald Trump has already issued an executive order entitled 'Unleashing America's Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources'. This observes that the US has a 'core national security and economic interest' in developing seabed minerals. UN restrictions, it says, would be 'inconsistent' with its sovereignty. But the US is far from alone in its ambitions. Norway, with its huge experience in oil and gas exploration, is in the vanguard of countries jockeying for position. Canada and South Korea are also prime movers. China and Russia, in the Arctic, view deep-sea mining as a vital element of longer-term geopolitical strategies. Some analysts believe that there is a $17 trillion profit to be gained, mainly for private mining companies. But in the enthusiasm to stake a claim in the new Klondike, little thought has been given to the net costs and environmental and economic impacts. Some scientists worry that entire ecosystems could be destroyed by devastating the sea floor and that marine life would be smothered by plumes of sediment. We are one of the 37 countries that have backed a precautionary moratorium and called for more research. Anyone who has watched David Attenborough's most recent National Geographic documentary, Ocean, on Disney+ — some critics say it is his greatest and most challenging work — will appreciate the scale of threat to marine life. But mineral exploitation is a topic which is barely on the radar of the general public at this time. This will change as consequences become apparent. Humankind may remember what happened to the Ancient Mariner in the poem by Samuel Coleridge, when he had the temerity to interfere recklessly in the natural order of life. In that case, the unfortunate seaman was lucky enough to find redemption and salvation by changing his ways. Based on current evidence, we may not be so fortunate. 'Beat the Lotto' a reminder of simpler times Because there is plenty to make us grimace in 2025, anything which leavens the mixture, or transports us back to more innocent, less frenetic, times is welcome. Into that category should be placed Ross Whitaker's enjoyable account of a syndicate's 1992 attempt to game the national lottery, ensure the jackpot prize for themselves, beat the system, and earn the admiration of many, if not quite all, fellow citizens for their cheek and enterprise. Stefan Klincewicz speaking with Pat Kenny on his TV chat show in the 1990s in the new documentary, 'Beat the Lotto'. Beat the Lotto, which reaches cinemas this weekend, recreates the caper where a group, headed by Cork mathematician and accountant Stefan Klincewicz, devised a cunning plan to buy every possible lottery combination requiring some two million number squares to be filled in by hand. The story of what happened is an irresistible tribute to ingenuity and the concept that hope springs eternal in the human breast. And our collective love for some good-tempered roguish humour. Ocean's Eleven it's not, but its portrayal of Ireland in the late 1980s/early '90s, the dog days before the arrival of the Celtic Tiger and the era when booms were getting boomier, is unmissable. It's a shame, but perhaps understandable that the National Lottery didn't take the chance to contribute but, as the director says, they 'didn't remember the episode all that fondly'. Like another foundation story of 21st-century Ireland, the movie Saipan, which retells the story of the schism between Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy before the 2002 World Cup, it's an episode which could, perhaps, only have been created here. And it's none the worse for that. What's your view on this issue? You can tell us here Long-awaited reforms to defamation law Long-awaited reforms to Ireland's restrictive and punitive libel laws were finally passed by the Dáil this week, but not without some grudging commentary from TDs, which will fuel opinions that the bill doesn't go nearly far enough. It is unfortunate that the requirement for complainants to pass a 'serious harm' threshold was placed in the 'too difficult' tray by those who drafted the legislation, as it affects retail and hospitality businesses. Challenging a suspected shoplifter or someone exhibiting excessively lairy behaviour at a nightclub remains a gamble, and there remains no meaningful deterrent to frivolous or vexatious defamation claims. Hard-pressed shopkeepers and managers — and there are plenty of those in Ireland's villages, towns, and cities — will still have to decide whether to defend actions and incur costs which can rise to €20,000 or turn to their insurance and incur higher premiums. Even a victory may offer scant chance of recovery if the complainant has no means to pay. This aspect of the new law will fail to change behaviour despite justice minister Jim O'Callaghan's exhortation that businesses should 'not take the easy route' and pay out. Many of the headlines have already been generated by the legal changes which have removed jury trial from the equation, and the 83-61 vote in favour now sends the proposals forward to the Seanad. Ireland's defamation laws have remained unaltered since 2009, since then we have seen the explosive growth of social media and the creation of a Wild West of opinion and commentary which is instant, and often egregious and untrue. Simultaneously, much of what is often categorised as 'old mainstream media' has seen revenues migrate to online competitors. Public understanding of the changed financial circumstances lags the actual reality. Thousands of newspapers around the globe have closed, and many thousands of journalists have lost their jobs. While this produces a tune on the world's smallest violin from some politicians, those losses are a worry for democracy and a threat to the common wealth. Even as the bill has been progressing it has been marked by litigation which proved again that defending an action by a libel claimant is a precarious pastime. This week, Ryan Casey, the partner of murdered schoolteacher Ashling Murphy, won substantial damages from the BBC after it broadcast a discussion about the content of his victim impact statement in its Northern Ireland political programme The View. It was the second court defeat in Ireland in recent weeks for the corporation after Gerry Adams won damages of €100,000 in a case which incurred costs of between €3m-€5m. These eye-watering sums would drive many publishers out of business. Ireland's new bill includes a public interest defence provided statements are published in good faith and reasonable enquiries and checks have been made prior to publication. Such an argument has never been successfully run in the Republic. Whether there is a queue of editors lining up to be the first to test its efficacy is questionable, but there must be protections for honest journalism and enquiry, particularly at a local level where resources are stretched to the thinnest. Read More Irish Examiner view: Free bets escalate gambling problems
