The spectacle of teeming lines of young anguished mothers dragging their terrified children away into the unknown – leaving their homes, husbands and everything that means anything to them in life – is unspeakable cruelty. The massacre of the people of Ukraine must be one of history’s darkest chapters. How can such a great nation inflict such evil and horror? Of course the real political hero at the moment is Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, who has led his people in facing down Vladimir Putin, much like Winston Churchill led his country in confronting the last totalitarian despot to terrorise Europe, Adolf Hitler.įr Iggy O Donovan, Glen of Aherlow, Co Tipperary
#Akin life game free
Given the enormity of the challenges he has had to face, I believe Mr Martin’s performance may be favourably compared with that of WT Cosgrave and Éamon de Valera when they led our people in times of grave peril.Ĭosgrave guided the fledgling Free State through the horrors of the Civil War (1922-23) and Dev managed to steer the State through the perilous seas of World War II while clearly favouring the Allies. Up until now, I had felt that the crowning triumph of the Taoiseach’s career was his visionary move in introducing the smoking ban in 2004.
It has been Mr Martin’s lot that he has had to confront as Taoiseach “the two biggest global tests of this century” – namely the Covid pandemic and Russia’s war against Ukraine. I agree with the sentiments expressed by your correspondent Frank Coughlan regarding Taoiseach Micheál Martin (Irish Independent, Notebook, March 22).