Politics

Elaine Byrne: The Russian invasion exposes the Irish left’s problem with moral inconsistency

The controversy over Sabina Higgins’s letter introduced shades of grey to a situation in Ukraine which is very much black and white

Sabina Higgins’s letter to the Irish Times failed to draw a distinction between the violations by the Russian aggressor and the oppressed Ukrainian people. Picture: Rollingnews

The debate over Sabina Higgins’s letter to the Irish Times, which was briefly posted on the Áras website, has exposed a weakness of the political left in Ireland when it comes to moral equivalence.

“Until the world persuades President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire and negotiations, the long haul of terrible war will go on,” the wife of President Michael D Higgins wrote.

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