Tuairisc ó Mheiriceá – An Searmanas Seamróige!

Opinion from America - The Shamrock Ceremony!

by | 2024/03/27 | Current Affairs, International News, National News, Politics

Opinion from America - The Shamrock Ceremony!

Many people in Ireland were demanding that the meeting between Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and the President of the United States Joe Biden be canceled as a protest against the support given by the United States of America (USA) to Israel during its horrific attacks in Gaza. More than 30,000 people were killed there, most of them civilians. Around 250 people are killed on average every day in the Strip – six times more than in the war in Ukraine. There can be no excuse for the destruction and looting that is going on in Gaza - including the Holocaust. It needs to be stopped immediately. This is an unmitigated shame, and the USA is indirectly to blame, as they are a facilitator. In addition to financial and military aid, the US also provides large-scale political support to Israel. The US has vetoed 83 UN Security Council resolutions. 42 of those were against criticizing Israel and the most recent one (on October 18, 2023) against a humanitarian pause in the Gaza Strip.

After thinking it over, Varadkar decided to make the visit to Washington, instead of turning his back on Biden. He was determined to express a strong position to Biden, criticizing the policies of the genocide that are being implemented by Israel, and that it is unacceptable for the western world to support Israel in relation to the same policies.

The Shamrock Ceremony

Varadkar attended the events celebrating St. Patrick's Day. An important part of the celebration is the visit of the Taoiseach to the White House to chat with the President of the United States, face to face. That is a great privilege, and no other country, especially a small country, is able to have such a chance, year after year. As important as it is, I was very pleased that Varadkar did not cancel that annual meeting. Also, isn't it better to have a difficult conversation, instead of a boycott?

The two had a private conversation at first, discussing many topics. Biden and Varadkar then gave speeches. Varadkar bluntly said that the problem for the Irish people is that the US is still giving military support to the Israelis, despite what the Israeli military forces (IDF) are doing in Gaza. At the same time, he accepted that the US was working hard to enforce a ceasefire in Gaza. It's interesting that Biden agreed with everything Varadkar said, but actions speak louder than words, and Biden's words and actions are in disagreement so far.

Here are a few excerpts from Varadkar's speech:

“Almost 250 years ago, we Irish were in the American War of Independence. Exactly 100 years ago, the United States became the first country to formally recognize the newly independent State of Ireland and establish diplomatic relations.”

"And tonight, let us all reflect on the words of President Kennedy when he urged us to do 'the most important work of peace' to protect the weak and the small, as he said in the Irish Parliament: ' from Cork to the Congo, from Galway to the Gaza Strip'.

"Mr President, as you know, the people of Ireland are very worried about the disaster that is unfolding before our eyes in Gaza. As I travel the world, leaders often ask me why the Irish have so much compassion for the Palestinian people. The answer is simple: we see our history in their eyes. A story of displacement and dispossession, national identity questioned and denied, forced emigration, discrimination, and now - hunger.

So we support your work and the work of your administration, to achieve a humanitarian ceasefire and to create space for lasting peace.

The people of Gaza are in desperate need of food, medicine and shelter. But especially they need the bombs to stop. This has to stop. On both sides. The hostages taken back home. And humanitarian relief allowed to come in.

Israel must reverse its rash decision regarding the ground invasion in Rafah.

And after 100 years of violence, as you said, the only way forward for security is to have two peaceful and sovereign states, side by side.

Ireland is ready to recognize a Palestinian state with like-minded partners at the right time in terms of peace.

Mr. President, we also see the history of Israel in our eyes. A diaspora whose heart was in Ireland generation after generation. A revived nation-state. And the revival of the language.

I believe that it is possible to be pro-Israel and pro-Palestine and I believe you believe the same.

Because the life of a Palestinian child has the same status as the life of an Israeli child.

And that the ambition of the Palestinian people to have their own homeland, a full-fledged State in the land of their ancestors, is on par with having a state for the people of Israel.

I also believe that there are lessons that can be learned from our own peace process in Ireland. A concept of equal respect and the importance of relationships in particular.

And also the vital role of America, personified by the chairman of our peace talks, Senator George Mitchell. There was a permanent secretariat based on American trust and oversight.”

Conclusion

The Taoiseach's speech tells its own story, and I think we all agree with what he had to say to Biden. I think things are going in the right direction but at a snail's pace. But I also think it's no coincidence that more is happening after the meeting between them than before. That is a small beacon of hope, and maybe there is a small chance that there will be a ceasefire in Gaza before long.

As a final word, Varadkar has announced that he will be stepping down from his role as Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael. "After seven years, I'm not the best person for the job anymore," he said. I wiish you well in your endeavours, Leo!

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Go raibh míle maith agaibh!

Thank you very much!

by | 2024/03/20 | Current Affairs, International News, National News

Thank you very much!

I was very proud of my fellow countryman Cillian Murphy last night, when he won the Oscar for Best Actor at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles - Cillian is the first ever Irish-born man to achieve this feat. I can't even imagine how proud the people of Cork are of him, and also the people of Corca Dhuibhne, where his family has a holiday home.

The film Oppenheimer won seven of the 13 awards it was nominated for! Christopher Nolan received two awards, one for Best Director and the other for Best Film. Robert Downey Jr. received award for Best Supporting Actor. There is no doubt about the alliance between Cillian and Chris Nolan, as they have worked together many times over the years. They started working together on the film 'Batman Begins' in 2005, and continued with a series of successful films: 'The Dark Knight' (2008), 'Inception' (2010), 'The Dark Knight Rises' ( 2012), 'Dunkirk' (2017) and 'Oppenheimer' (2023). Cillian landed the lead role in Oppenheimer, and Chris Nolan is said to have asked him to take the role, after seeing Cillian in the TV series 'Peaky Blinders'.

There was intense competition between the actors who were nominated for the Best Male Actor award. Bradley Cooper, Colman Domingo, Paul Giamatti and Jeffrey Wright were also nominated for that award, with leading roles in the films 'Maestro', 'Rustin', 'The Holdovers' and 'American Fiction', respectively. But Cillian was the favourite from the start, and he easily fulfilled that prophecy!

Oscar acceptance speech

'Oppenheimer' is not my favorite film, in particular because of the story and plot. But I have to admit that it is a great piece of cinematography. To be fair, the film deserved every award. And Cillian's acceptance speech really impressed me – more than the film itself!

He said: " I’m a little overwhelmed. Thank you to the Academy. Chris Nolan and Emma Thomas, it’s been the wildest, most exhilarating, most creatively, satisfying journey you’ve taken me on over the last 20 years. I owe you more than I can say, thank you so much. Every single crew member, every single cast member on Oppenheimer you guys carried me through. All my fellow nominees, I remain in awe of you guys, truly. "I want to thank my incredible team. Big shout out to Craig Bankey, Brendan Murphy, Mary Murphy, Yvonne McGuinness, my partner in life and art, my two boys Malachy and Aran who are sitting up there, I love you so much and I’m a very proud Irishman standing here tonight. "You know, we made a film about the man who created the atomic bomb and for better or for worse we’re all living in Oppenheimer’s world, so I’d really like to dedicate this to the peacemakers everywhere. Go raibh míle maith agaibh."

Cúpla Focal

Isn't that a great speech? I think every Irishman in the world was very proud of Cillian, not only because of the Oscar he won, but because of that beautiful speech he gave with confidence. It has long been a habit of British presenters to say that successful Irish people who win awards are British - Irish people like Paul Mescal, Michael Fassbinder and of course, Cillian Murphy. As usual, it happened again on ITV when Jonathan Ross referred to Cillian as a British star. But after Cillian's speech, Ross had to apologize and admit that Cillian is Irish. Irish people don't let things like that happen anymore, I think! As Breandán Ó Murchú, Cillian's father, said about his son, on the show 'An Saol Ó Dheas' with the famous presenter Helen Ní Shé: "He probably has confidence in himself. I don't think he has to pretend. He can speak confidently, which used not be common either. We were different, I guess. We thought, for example, a long time ago, if people had a different accent - the English when they came for example - we thought that there was something special about that, that they were better than us.

But the Irish now, the young people, they're happy to get out there and speak out confidently and they're all doing it and that's a very good thing."

It is also noteworthy that Cillian spoke a few important words at the end of his speech, when he said, in Irish: "Thank you very much!" That topped off a great night for all of us, on possibly the biggest stage in the world! I have no second choice now, but to write these last words: Go raibh míle maith agat, a Chillian!

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Eisimircigh

Emigrants

by | 2024/02/28 | Current Affairs, National News

Emigrants

There is a lot of negative public discussion about immigration these days. When a building is set aside to shelter immigrants, there are those who think it is a good idea to burn that building to the ground. Isn't that terrible? Especially when you look back at our own history. For example, there is a lot of information about emigration from our own country on the site: https://www.ucc.ie/en/emigre/history/. When John F. Kennedy was on his Presidential visit to Ireland in June, 1963, he said: Most countries export oil or iron, steel or gold, or some other crop, but Ireland has only one export and that is its people. .”

Ireland is the country in Europe most affected by emigration in the last two hundred years. In total, approximately ten million people emigrated from the island of Ireland from 1800 onwards. In the late eighties, more than half a million Irish people (~16%) left their own country. 70,000 people left in 1989 alone – a few years before the arrival of the Celtic Tiger. Then, the economy collapsed in 2008, and another 630,000 left the country between 2008 and 2015.

However, our emigrants are now almost forgotten, I think, and instead the emphasis is strongly on immigration - both legal and illegal. That is a great pity, in my opinion, and I think it is a good thing to always have both things in mind - immigration and emigration. Otherwise, we will not learn what we should do about immigration policies, when we already know it from our own history.

Long before the time of the Celtic Tiger, many people were coming across the southern border in Mexico to America in search of a new life there – and still are. It has been a bone of contention for a long time here between the political parties. Everyone agrees that there is a big problem to solve, but there are big differences between the approach of the Democrats and the Republicans in America. We saw Trump's brutal approach on behalf of the Republicans, and 5,500 children separated from their parents because of his immigration policy. Many of the parents were imprisoned, and the rest were deported to their native land. The children were taken into protective custody by the government. That is disgraceful misconduct, and a violation of human rights, no doubt. Hundreds of children are still without their parents, as a result of that brutal policy. Things are not so bad in Ireland regarding immigrants, but they are too great at the same time. If the hatred and resentment fueled by extremists against immigrants is not curbed, there is a great risk that things will get worse and people will be killed before long. What kind of solution is that? The government has an obligation to bring security matters under control without delay.

Our story

There are many Irish people who are emigrants – including my wife and myself. We didn't know in 1986, when we first went to America, that we would stay there forever. My employer in Ireland at the time – IBM Ireland – gave me a short-term job in California. It was for two years, but after a year, I was asked to come home. To tell the truth, we weren't ready to come home at the time. Sinéad was working on her PhD dissertation at the university (UCLA). So I got another job with another company. All went well! One year passed and then another, and bit by bit, almost without our knowing it, we put down tentative roots. Over time, the roots grew stronger and then we had a child. We bought our first house! Sinéad completed her studies, obtained a PhD in archeology and then got a job. I myself graduated with a master's degree in electrical engineering. It was abundantly clear to everyone else that we weren't coming back to Ireland anytime soon. Eventually, it also became clear to us that we would spend our working lives in America. Don't touch it if it ain't broke, so to speak. We were able to visit Ireland every summer for a month and finally we were able to buy a house in County Kilkenny. As we are both retired now, we are able to spend a good while in Ireland every year. Going through the immigration process was quite difficult, but the government treated us fairly. We were never discriminated against in America either, and we had the same opportunities as anyone else. I strongly believe that America has given us great opportunities, and in return we have given much more money to the government than we have received from it.

Immigration is, in fact, the lifeblood of the economy, and overall immigrants strengthen their new country in a number of ways. That is not to say that any country should have open borders, but it should not only have reasonable policies but also a welcoming society, which treats people trying to enter, and immigrants living in Ireland already.

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SBF!

SBF!

by | 2023/12/13 | Current Affairs, International News

SBF!

I am surprised that more has not been written in Irish about Sam Bankman-Fried, who is known as SBF for short, and who is one of the worst fraudsters ever! As that is a significant oversight, here is my attempt to correct that problem!

Who is SBF?

Sam Bankman-Fried was born in California in the United States to two Stanford Law School professors in 1992. After attending secondary school in California, he graduated in physics and mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2014.

He started his career in 2013 as an intern at Jane Street Capital – a trading firm with expertise in exchange traded funds – where he got his first work experience. He went to work full-time with the same company after graduating. In November 2017, he co-founded the quantitative trading firm Alameda Research with Tara Mac Aulay of the Center for Effective Altruism, where he briefly worked as director of development. Effective altruism, founded by two philosophers at the University of Oxford in 2009, is a philosophy in which people earn as much money as they can, so that they can donate more money to charity. That philosophy had a great influence on SBF, especially after he met their co-founder, William MacAskill. MacAskill is said to have convinced the brilliant mathematician SBF to maximize his influence by taking a high-paying job and giving away a large portion of it. It was because of this that SBF chose a permanent position with Jane Street Capital on Wall Street. He donated half his salary to charity while he was there.

Sa bhliain 2019, bhunaigh SBF an malartú cryptea-airgeadra darb ainm FTX.  Bhog Bankman-Fried ceanncheathrú a dhá chomhlacht go dtí na Bahámaí ag deireadh 2021 agus bhog sé é féin agus roinnt dá bhaill fhoirne isteach in árasán dín a cheannaigh sé ar $35 milliún. Faoin am seo, bhí SBF ar cheann de na daoine ba shaibhre ar domhan, agus an ceann ba shaibhre níb óige ná tríocha agus glanfhiúchas $26.5 billiún aige! Bhí luacháil FTX timpeall $40 billiún ag an am.  

Sins of SBF!!

In 2019, SBF founded the cryptocurrency exchange called FTX. Bankman-Fried moved the headquarters of his two companies to the Bahamas at the end of 2021 and moved himself and some of his staff into a penthouse he bought for $35 million. By this time, SBF was one of the richest people in the world, and the richest under thirty with a net worth of $26.5 billion! FTX was valued at around $40 billion at the time.

No other customer was allowed to maintain a negative balance. That negative balance meant that Alameda would be able to borrow FTX customers' money, without the knowledge of those same customers.

SBF and FTX also gave Alameda another advantage. FTX fulfilled any trade submitted by Alameda faster than other customers. That gave Alameda a big advantage, because in that business, time is money!

SBF also received personal loan money from Alameda – about $1 billion! And he borrowed $2.3 billion for his company 'Paper Bird'! FTX employees Nishad Singh ($542 million) and Ryan Salame ($55 million) also borrowed money from Alameda.

Also, SBF and FTX created their own cryptocurrency, named FTT. They kept most of it as collateral in FTX and when Alameda borrowed from FTX, often FTT tokens were used. Because FTX and Alameda had the majority of FTT tokens, FTT did not have a real exchange rate, as neither FTX nor Alameda would be able to sell many FTT tokens, without reducing the same rate. Therefore, FTT's token holdings were not realistic collateral, especially if they had to sell those holdings!

Catastrophic failure!

In November, 2022, the site 'Coindesk' published a report claiming that Alameda was heavily dependent on FTT. Therefore, the company Binance, which competed with FTX, and had a fair amount of FTT tokens, said that they were going to sell them all. That started the panic sale of FTT, and its value fell badly. FTX was short of money, and Alameda was unable to repay what they had borrowed from them. FTX was missing $8 billion and had to declare bankruptcy.

SBF was arrested in the Bahamas and extradited to the United States. He was accused of seven criminal charges, including electronic fraud and money laundering. He was found guilty of all charges. Other FTX and Alameda employees were also arrested, including Caroline Ellison. Those employees testified against SBF, so that they would receive leniency in their own cases.

Conclusion!

This is a foreboding story, no doubt. SBF may have started out full of good intentions, trying to practice 'effective altruism' to help others. But before long, all that was visible was his selfish predation. And finally, as always happens, the whole thing fell apart. SBF will be back in court next March, when he could be sentenced to up to a hundred years in prison.

A little verse to conclude:

The decline of the SBF empire

The world laid low and the wind blew like a dust,

Bankman-Fried, Ellison, and their co-conspirators;

FTX is grass; and look at how it stands with Alameda,

SBF will wake up in a prison cell every day.

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Todhchaí an Mheánoirthir – Idir dhá cheann na meá!

The future of the Middle East - conflicted!

by | 2023/11/07 | Current Affairs, International News

Todhchaí an Mheánoirthir – Idir dhá cheann na meá!

The Israeli government was in a panic, after the recent horror when Palestinian militants attacked Israel. At the time of writing, more than 1,400 have been killed in Israel and more than 8,000 have been killed in Gaza since the conflict began on October 7. The Israelis had a choice between two tough options: launch a major invasion of Hamas in Gaza, guns blazing; or take a more prudent, measured approach.

Background

Most Palestinians live in the occupied Palestinian territories. The Israelis captured those territories in the six-day war in 1967. The Golan Heights were captured from Syria, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, and the West Bank and Jerusalem from Jordan. Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in 1982. They pulled out of the Gaza Strip in 2005. For decades, Palestinians have been racially discriminated against in the occupied territories. The most horrific thing is the illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. From 2012 to 2022, the number of Israeli residents in the West Bank and East Jerusalem increased from 520,000 to over 700,000. These settlers are living illegally (according to international law) in 279 Israeli settlements throughout the West Bank, with 14 of them and 229,000 inhabitants in East Jerusalem. 147 of the settlements are outposts, which are illegal even under Israeli law.

Israel's efforts to expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank have intensified this year, reflecting the agenda of the right-wing government in Israel and prompting international criticism of a practice that violates international law.

The Palestinians say the settlements are encroaching on territories that will one day be part of their own state. The settlements also create a two-tier legal system in the territory – one set of rules for Israelis and another for Palestinians who live under military rule.

The Israeli approach creates a lot of tension between the Palestinians and the Israelis, and especially when the Israeli government is ignoring the Palestinians and their demands to have their own country.

Response to the Hamas Attack

The Israeli defense forces (IDF) have launched a ground invasion. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “We are only at the beginning of the war against Hamas. What we do to our enemies in the coming days will hurt them deeply for generations to come."

Immediately after the Hamas attacks, Israeli forces have been carrying out continuous airstrikes on Gaza and the people of the area are lacking food, water and medical supplies. A ground invasion is underway but not much news is coming out, as the communications systems in Gaza were destroyed as part of the attack. It is very unfortunate that Israel did not follow the advice of the experts.

Advice from couple of experts

A couple of Middle East experts I respect have offered their suggestions. Thomas Friedman is an award-winning journalist for the 'New York Times' - including three Pulitzer Prizes! Here are a few words he recently wrote about what's going on in the Middle East, referring to President Biden's visit to Israel:

"I admire how President Joe Biden has used his compassion and physical presence in Israel to convince Israelis that they are not alone in their war against Hamas, while at the same time extended a hand to moderate Palestinians. Biden strongly urged the Israeli leadership to pause and to think about the next three steps forward – not only what they should do in the Gaza Strip to destroy Hamas, but also what should be done next to achieve peace and political stability.”

Yuval Noah Hariri is a historian, Professor of history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a famous writer (who wrote 'Sapiens' and 'Homo Deus'). Here are a few words from him:

“The Israeli government says it wants to disarm Hamas, and it has every right to do so to protect its citizens. The disarmament of Hamas is also crucial for any chance of peace because, otherwise, as long as they remain armed, Hamas will be able to prevent that. Even if Israel succeeds in doing so, that is only a military achievement, not a political plan. In the short term, does Israel have any plans to salvage the peace deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia? In the long term, does Israel have any plans to achieve a comprehensive peace with the Palestinians and to normalize its relations with the world?”

Conclusion

The Israeli government went against the advice of the aforementioned experts, who were saying that this is the time for it to show unprecedented self-discipline. Hamas was expecting a fierce and violent response from Israel, which has happened and will end any chance for Israel to form alliances with Arab countries in the region. No doubt, Iran is happy to see that, with Israel stuck in an endless war.

It would be better to devise a new and more targeted approach against Hamas as soon as possible, and protect innocent people in the Gaza Strip. As part of that strategy, it would be necessary to stop building settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem immediately. These proposals are unlikely to happen today or tomorrow, and in the meantime innocent civilians will be slaughtered in droves.

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Plus ça change…

Plus ça change…

by | 2023/10/17 | Current Affairs, International News, National News

Plus ça change…

The more things change the more they stay the same, or as they say in French: "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose!" Although that statement is true in the sense that human nature does not change, it is not true in the way that changes are happening now that have never been seen before. Exceptional crises are underway now and we cannot take the chance of failing to find solutions to them. For example, global warming is taking place, due to atmospheric pollution, and we can no longer ignore that problem. Often, changes, both good and bad, start in one place, and then spread to other places. Global warming started primarily in the United States with the proliferation of cars, and then as other countries became richer, they followed suit.

In the article I wrote last week, I toured back memory lane, remembering a few criticisms that my mother expressed to me on her first trip to California. She was absolutely right about the problems she focused my attention on, and her keen insight has stayed with me ever since. The amazing thing about that is that most of the same problems happened in Ireland later, starting in the reign of the Celtic Tiger and continuing to the present day. I well remember the bar man in "Tynan's Bridge House Bar" - he may have been the owner- telling me when he heard I was living in California, "We only take the good stuff from the United States, son!” I didn't have a sharp answer on the tip of my tongue, but now I have the answer. "Keep dreaming, son!" If I were to meet that guy again, I would have a lot to say to him and I would recommend he read this article! Anyway, here are a few examples of the problems that I first saw in America, but which can be seen in Ireland today.

Housing Crisis

As strange as it may seem, it is true that there are certain problems that become worse when countries become richer. The housing crisis is one of them. When countries become richer, house prices increase. Between 1996 and 2006, prices in Ireland quadrupled! The country was then divided between the rich and the poor, on the basis of home ownership. Buying a new home has not been easy for people and especially first time buyers. Sometimes, they could not afford to buy a house at all, and therefore, they were left homeless and had to sleep on the streets.

Poverty and Immigration

Up until the time of the Celtic Tiger, the Irish used to migrate in waves with every bad economic recession in the country. Not many wanted to come into the country. Things changed completely with the arrival of the Tiger, and the waves began to move in the other direction – into the country, including refugees and asylum seekers, many of whom were destined to spend years in Direct Provision Centres. Many people also landed from other countries in the European Union, looking for work. Those numbers put a lot of pressure on the country's infrastructure, which wasn't very good in the first place. Housing matters became worse, and the Health Service Executive was also under additional pressure.

Health Care

Everyone knows that the Health Services Executive (HSE) has big problems. It is a shame that the hospitals are always overcrowded and have been so for a long time, with no viable solution yet in sight. A few months ago, there were around 85,000 people waiting for inpatient beds and almost 500,000 people waiting for an appointment at the outpatient clinic!

Drug Epidemic

Everyone has seen the headline recently: "Cocaine worth €157 million in 'biggest drug bust in state history'". The drugs came from cartels in South America and organized crime gangs from Ireland and Britain came together to share and distribute the drugs, some of them in Ireland. There is a big cocaine problem in Ireland now - even in the Gaeltacht. This is a headline in a recent tuairisc.ie article: "50-year-old man arrested and €105,000 worth of cocaine found by Gardaí". Those are just a few examples, but without a doubt people have the money to buy the cocaine, and this problem is not only in the cities, but throughout the country.

Violence and Guns

Compared to the United States, there is not a big problem with guns or violence. But it is necessary to keep a close eye on it, because the murder rate doubled last year.

Conclusion

I think certain problems arise in rich countries. There are still those who deny that we are a rich country, but I read in 'Forbes Magazine' recently that Ireland is the richest country per person, in the world! The United States is only in 9th place!!!

Unfortunately, to my knowledge, our government has not done much for a long time to address the above mentioned problems. But big changes are coming in the political sphere and Mary Lou McDonald and Sinn Féin are well-positioned coming into the next general election. If they are elected, they may be able to take a step forward, in terms of those big problems. Failing that, one day guns will be readily available in this country too!

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