Sir, – The investigation published by The Irish Times on the links between Aughinish Alumina and Russia’s military supply chain (“From the Shannon to Siberia”, March 24th) is timely and important, both for the substance of the story itself but also the general trend it exposes.
For a long time, the clear Achilles heel in Irish foreign policy – be that in Palestine, in Ukraine, or our positioning on human rights, global justice and international development more generally – has been a deep and persistent unwillingness to properly regulate powerful corporate actors.
Ireland’s opposition to illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank is meaningful and important, but grinds to a halt at almost precisely the point where it might begin to inconvenience US multinationals.
The extent to which those companies, still trading with and profiting from a brutal occupation, are exempted from the long-promised Occupied Territories Bill is a litmus test of the sincerity of years of government speeches.
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Similarly, Ireland has taken a clear and consistent position in opposing Russia’s illegal war of aggression in Ukraine, and rightly so, but a Limerick-based company supplying critical materials into the supply chains of its arms industry is a very different story. The holding position from Minister of State at the Deparement of Justice Niall Collins gives an indication on the limits of that opposition.
These contradictions are not new, but they matter. Whether it’s pharmaceutical giants using Ireland as a base to avoid tax, energy providers importing coal linked to serious environmental harm and abuses, or tech companies pushing back on regulation, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to reconcile Ireland’s human rights and foreign policies with the corporate reality at home. – Yours, etc,
CONOR O’NEILL
Head of Policy, Christian Aid Ireland,
Chair, Irish Coalition for Business & Human Rights.
