Letters to the Editor: Protection of Irish honey bee deserves the support of all

However, research carried out at NUI Galway has shown that our native bee is alive and well, both in beehives and in the wild.

Our wild colonies are surviving multiple years despite the presence of the varroa mite that has caused
colonies to collapse all over the world, indicating that some bees have evolved tolerance to the
parasite here in Ireland. The black bee is well suited to life in Ireland, having evolved and adapted here for thousands of years.

However, increased imports into Ireland of bees from abroad are threatening the survival of this bee.

Recent genetic and morphology work on wild colonies in Galway and Clare showed that around 30% of those tested were hybrids between our native bee and imported bees — a big change from the three years previous.

Of 100 swarms captured by Open Hive on the east coast, 75 were non-native bees. Imported bees mate with native bees and disrupt the delicate balance honed by thousands of years of evolution.

All the adaptations that make the black bee suitable for life in Ireland become disrupted and the unique genetic traits of the black bee get lost. Once genetic diversity is lost, it is lost forever. Imported bees also bring disease, which is how varroa got here, and now we fear the small hive beetle arriving.

American and European foulbrood are becoming more common, as well as a myriad other viruses.

It is time to stop imports of honey bees before the genetic integrity of our native black bee is destroyed forever. The native Irish Honey Bee Society has been fighting for the protection of this bee for years. With the aid of the Climate Bar Association, Green Party Senator Vincent Martin was able to bring a new bill for consideration by our Government. The Protection of the Native Irish Honey Bee Bill was introduced to the Seanad in October 2021 and was read before the Seanad for the second time on Thursday. This bill is supported by all beekeeping bodies on the island of Ireland and deserves the support of our Government and the people.

Professor Grace McCormack

Galway

War used as a reason to ditch neutrality

It is both surprising and alarming that the Irish Examiner seeks an increase in military aid to Ukraine from the EU, not least because your editorial seems to hint at the need for Ireland to provide weapons ( ‘Irish Examiner view: Two steps back with Russian oil ban’ June 1).

Thankfully, our long-standing and well-supported policy of neutrality means we cannot and will not supply lethal aid.

Sadly, the EU countries also in Nato are intent on keeping the war going, as is the US, naturally, and will continue to stoke the war with guns and ammunition. That is a great pity. It is also a pity that the war in Ukraine is being used as a reason for Ireland to ditch neutrality.

There are clearly some in this country intent on Ireland’s full integration into EU defence arrangements and eventual membership of Nato.

Mercifully, a majority of people in Ireland do not agree.

Dominic Carroll

Ardfield

Co Cork

Misguided method of housing Ukrainians

In March 2022 my family pledged shared accommodation for at least six months in our family home in South Co Dublin with the Irish Red Cross (IRC),

The area has great access to transport, education, recreation, and employment opportunities. In sum, we received two phone calls from the IRC. The second call, over five weeks ago now, asked if we could take individuals within three days. At both times we confirmed the room’s availability.

In early May, we independently welcomed a Ukrainian family (two adults) into our home and we are enjoying hosting and getting to know them. Both of them are working and we are learning about their culture. We met them through our volunteering in a local Ukrainian support project. We know of hundreds of other families doing the same, many through the support of a volunteer-run matching group called Helping Irish Hosts. To be frank, many, including us, lost patience with the IRC/pledging system.

The apparent exclusive and ongoing focus on prioritising standalone accommodation is misguided for many reasons. It is also having unintended consequences.

It undermines the groundswell of goodwill provided through the thousands of shared accommodation pledges.

Also, to view standalone accommodation as somehow inevitably superior to shared accommodation misses the value of the rich tapestry of support a host family will often provide to their guests and indeed the cultural exchange both parties can benefit from.

It also puts unnecessary pressure on hotel accommodation, with potential impacts on our important tourist industry — and such extensive use costs large amounts of State money.

It results in more Ukrainians being unnecessarily placed in less-than-suitable short-term group accommodation.

The lengthy hotel-type accommodation process surely risks institutionalising individuals and undermines their independence. Finally, as the IRC has found, the vast majority of standalone accommodation offers are in remote areas with limited accessible services.

In sum, we now have more than 15,000 Ukrainians in hotels, guesthouses and B&B accommodations while thousands of potential hosts, months after pledging, are possibly beginning to reconsider their pledges.

Liam O’Sullivan

Stillorgan

Co Dublin

US problem is not guns but the Senate

The biggest problem in the US is not guns, it is the Senate. Two senators in Wyoming, representing 581,348 Americans, have the same voting power as two senators in California representing 39.5m.

A Wyoming senator’s vote is worth almost 50 times a Californian senator’s vote. Someone here is drunk on their power — and that addiction means the country is no longer a functioning democracy.

However, the American people have the right to repeal any amendment to their constitution. Their politicians can press for a national referendum on the second amendment.

If the Republican senators are confident that the majority of the American voters will want to continue with the right to bear arms, with school shootings, then they (and their sponsors in the NRA) should have nothing to fear that anything will change and will happily avoid a filibuster to prevent a national vote on the issue.

Alison Hackett

Dun Laoghaire

Co Dublin

Discouraging early arrival for flights

Having recently experienced the panic, frustration, and anxiety of queueing for a flight at Dublin Airport, could I offer a simple suggestion?

The Daa could introduce a system whereby people are actively discouraged from arriving too early for their flights and are only permitted to join the queue for security at an agreed time (eg two and a half hours before their departure).

Airport officials could monitor access to the queue by simply checking the passenger’s flight time details.

Ironically, the present problem at the airport is being worsened by people arriving extremely early for their flights (completely understandably given the present chaotic scenario).

These passengers, however, are clogging up the queues and preventing passengers who are travelling at earlier times from getting through security in time for their flights. Obviously, this proposed scheme should be accompanied by adequate, proper, and secure staffing levels by the Daa at security but, in conjunction with that improvement, it should allow for a much smoother and less stressful experience for all concerned. Surely it is worth a try.

Sinéad Boland

Kilmacanogue

Co Wicklow