A month into Russia's war against Ukraine we are witnessing an unfolding catastrophe that is steadily becoming more global in its reach.
Ukraine is a bread basket for the wider world and it is hard to see how a normal growing season can take place under a hail of Russian fire. According to reports, this will inevitably lead to food insecurity in some nations.
As many as ten million Ukrainians have fled their homes with three million of them, and counting, being classified as refugees.
Ten thousand Ukrainians have arrived in Ireland and more are on their way. Hardly any have landed in the United States as our immigration system is in such a mess that it can't cope with a crisis such as this.
In their meeting on St. Patrick's Day, President Biden congratulated Taoiseach Micheál Martin on Ireland's humanitarian response. The meeting was held remotely even though Martin was only a short distance from the White House - in isolation as a result of testing positive for Covid.
President Biden will not be too far removed from the war zone this week as he is planning a visit to Poland, a front line state that is seeing Ukrainians stream across its border around the clock, tens of thousands of them children fleeing Vladimir Putin's violence.
Putin, meanwhile, saw fit to hold a flag waving pep rally in a sports stadium even as thousands of young Russian soldiers were paying the ultimate price for his vanity and ego.
The man seems to entirely lack human empathy. As such, there is a potentially unlimited number of people who will ultimately die as a result of Putin's criminality and his army's assault on civilian centers, much of this by means of long range missiles and artillery.
And as for the flag waving masses in that stadium? Being spoon fed by Russian state media will have them believe just about anything, and that belief will add fuel to Putin's fire.
The Ukrainians, for their part, are mounting an extraordinary resistance. But when the casualty numbers matter little or nothing to the aggressor it is hard not to believe that they will be slowly ground down, at least in terms of conventional defense.
True, the Ukrainians are being supplied with potent weaponry for fighting tanks and aircraft. With regard to anti-tank missiles one weapon being used to considerable effect are so-called NLAWs, or Next Generation Light Anti-Tank Weapons.
Designed by the Swedish company Saab, significant numbers of these weapons have been sent to the Ukrainians by the British government after manufacture under license - in Belfast.
Down south the Irish government has stated that it will not be sending any weapons to Kyiv even though the Irish military does possess anti-tank arms.
But Ireland is instead sending humanitarian aid and has opened its doors to a stricken people who need all the help they can get as a result of the merciless Russian jackboot.
