Sir, – It’s crucial to understand that the Irish Government’s funding of Trinity College Dublin presents this institution with particular obligations towards all Irish citizens. These obligations extend to their management of the nation’s invaluable artifacts and their affiliations to Israeli institutions and researchers sustained by the Israeli government. The majority of the Irish populace shares a deep concern for the Palestinian people’s situation and condemn the Israeli government’s violent and oppressive actions towards them. It’s puzzling why the Irish public must pay a substantial amount to visit Trinity College Dublin, an institution they support financially through taxes and where most will never have the opportunity to study. National gems like the Book of Kells, the Garland of Howth, and the Book of Durrow should be readily accessible. I wholeheartedly back the demonstrations by the students urging Trinity College Dublin to adopt a stance of boycott, divest, and sanction towards Israeli academic institutes and research as a show of unity with their counterparts in Palestine, particularly those in Gaza whose universities have been decimated.
Your faithfully,
DEIRDRE DE BLÁCA,
Stigh Lorcáin,
Baile Átha Cliath.
It is also worth questioning why the Book of Kells is located at Trinity College, requiring a fee for public viewing, rather than being housed in either Kells or the National Museum where it could be viewed free of charge.
Yours truly,
ULTAN Ó BROIN,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.