Irish Examiner view: Immediate end of Gaza conflict is only option
In Workers Gaza Inspect Strip, Where Balah, 2024 Site Deir People Central Killed Kitchen 2, World Tuesday, Kareem Hana/ap Al Picture: April The On Were
Road deaths continue to bring heartbreak to families around Ireland - events in the last week or so illustrating this point with savage accuracy.
Donegal woman Una Carlin Bowden and her daughters Ciara and Saoirse died in a crash on the N17 outside Claremorris, Co Mayo, last week. Days later student Vikaris Gudaitis was killed about 1km from the site of that crash.
Road safety activist Elber Twomey, whose husband, son and unborn daughter were killed when a suicidal driver drove into them in 2012, has called for school lessons in road safety, and her suggestion could hardly be more timely.
A course similar to the driver’s ed. programme in the US, where high school students are given a grounding in the theory and practice of driving, would be a welcome addition to the secondary school curriculum. We are long past the time when driving was an activity reserved for a relatively small proportion of the population. It is now seen as a fundamental life skill for all, but accommodating the need to learn that skill is proving difficult.
For instance, we also learned this week that the Road Safety Authority (RSA) expects wait times for driving tests to reach ten weeks by the middle of the year. This means that there are thousands of drivers on Irish roads who are not fully qualified to drive.
In addition, at least 141 people were detained on suspicion of driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol between last Thursday and Monday, according to the gardaí.
It is hardly surprising, then, that the death toll on Irish roads had gone from 50 to 58 at the time of writing - up 16 on the 42 deaths at this time last year.
This crisis is very real, and we need to take every available option to combat it.
Simon Coveney's declaration that he would not be part of the next Cabinet under new Taoiseach Simon Harris led probing on RTÉ by Claire Byrne about whether he jumped before being pushed.
In truth it matters not a jot. Readers of the Irish Examiner learned more than a week ago the long-serving TD was not expected to retain his role under Harris, but his enthusiasm for political life at all had been the subject of scrutiny for some time.
Mr Coveney’s reticence to commit to standing in the next general election has now led to a flurry of career evaluations and there are plenty of accolades. His work on Brexit garnered deserved accolades; his work in getting Afghan journalists out of their country after the Taliban takeover is credited with saving many lives; and as minister for defence he sent Irish Naval ships to the Mediterranean to help with the migrant crisis.
The moribund Cork Events Centre project, to which Mr Coveney was linked, is a less impressive entry on the CV. His attempt to appoint Katherine Zappone as a UN special envoy proved disastrous. Having friends and family connected to scandals at RTÉ and An Bord Pleanála, did him no favours as he was rendered unable to pass comment on matters of national importance.
The new Taoiseach must now seek to maintain Fine Gael’s visibility in Cork while also keeping a regional balance in his new Cabinet. Mr Coveney has said that his departure will make it easier to promote younger TDs, but the Taoiseach will not need reminding that a safe pair of hands might be preferable to taking a punt on an unknown quantity, particularly in the run-up to a testing general election.
Before that general election, however, there are European and local elections. In those campaigns Fine Gael - and the other parties - will learn how the public is leaning ahead of a general election that will likely sound the death knell for quite a few longstanding political careers.