Letters to the Editor, May 8th: On learning from Northern Ireland, awaiting the new pope, and the closure of Castletown House

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

52% : - Yours, etc, Sir, - The Dutch foreign minister, Casper Veldkamp, has announced that he will call for an urgent review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement at the two-day informal meeting of EU Foreign Ministers in Poland this week ("Netherlands backs calls for review of EU-Israel agreement", World, May 7th).
49% : Despite common languages, culture and history, the people of the subcontinent are held hostage by political and military establishments that benefit from division.
47% : - Yours, etc, A chara, - On behalf of the largely silent Quaker community of Ireland, I would like to confirm that many Irish friends endorse the statement, made by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, regarding the blocking of humanitarian and other forms of aid to the Palestinian community in Gaza and the West Bank, which he has declared a war crime, and which violates international law and the Charter of the United Nations ("Taoiseach Micheál Martin accuses Israel of war crime over blocking of aid entering Gaza", News, May 6th).

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