Irish Unity | Gaza | A better world

Irish Unity makes economic senseLast month a report by the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) caught the headlines with the claim that Irish Unity could cost the South up to €20 billion annually. The analysis was quickly challenged by other economists and last week those with different opinions had their opportunity to address the Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.We are running out of words to describe what is happening in Gaza.” United NationsTuesday was a special day. For the first time the Palestinian flag flew over Leinster House in Dublin following the announcement by the government to formally recognise the State of Palestine. Tuesday’s move was the next step in a process that will see the Palestinian Mission in Dublin upgraded to an Embassy. The representative office of the Irish government in Ramallah will be re-designated as an Embassy and its representative there will become an Ambassador.A Better World Is Needed. For decades now I have argued that the big central international struggle of our time is for people to have democratic control over the decisions which affect their lives. The absence of this basic right underpins conflict in the Middle East and Ukraine and other parts of the world.  It poisons relations between Ireland and Britain and within Ireland although thankfully we have a process for dealing with that. Painfully slow though it is, it is better than war. And such an approach is clearly required in the Middle East and between Russia and Ukraine.  That is what the United Nations should be advocating.