If ever there was a moment in time that we needed the spirit of St. Patrick's to be abroad in the world it is now. The events of recent weeks in Ukraine are a reminder that, despite our best efforts to embrace what is holy and good about our human lives, there are always some among us who embrace what is unholy and evil.
We celebrate St. Patrick's Day in religious and non-religious ways. We celebrate our Irishness and the fact that Ireland is a peaceful nation that wishes to live in peace with all other peaceful and right minded nations. One of the most obvious expressions of that is the annual greening of iconic world structures, buildings and sites, a project steered by Tourism Ireland in cooperation with host governments and local authorities.
Quite rightly, Tourism Ireland has suspended plans for global greening this year due to the invasion in Ukraine and the heartbreaking scenes emerging from that country due to Russian atrocities.
But the idea of an iconic building expressing - by way of light in a certain color or shade - the very best of humanity is not something that should be entirely shelved. Nations that have hosted St. Patrick's Day greenings can, if they so chose, bathe structures in the colors of the Ukrainian flag. Now that would be something worthy of the spirit of St. Patrick.
Diplomatic Dollars
Back at the beginning of the month the United Nations General Assembly voted to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine; a majority of the General Assembly that is. 141 nations out of 193 member states voted for the obvious moral choice.
That's a lot of embassies in Moscow. In recent days much attention has been focused on major corporations suspending or entirely ending operations in Russia. The Russian economy is taking a major hit as a result.
What if the embassies of the 141 right minded nations decided to suspend, or dramatically reduce, their operations in Russia. They could pare down the staff and work solely at the level of consular assistance and keeping the lights and heat on.
Let's face it, there is hardly any meaningful diplomatic work to be carried out with Vladimir Putin and his gang.
Many of the embassies enjoy substantial budgets. A lot of money is spent in the Russian economy by both diplomats and non-diplomatic staff. What if the 141 governments diverted all that spending to the relief of Ukrainian refugees.
Embassies are sovereign territory whether occupied or not, whether they are housing ambassadors or not. Imagine the moral power expressed in the withdrawal from Russia of 141 ambassadors, the economic effect of the diversion of their spending from an economy that is propping up an evil dictatorship, a murderous war, and what could very possibly end up being genocide.
Imagine the sight of diplomatic flight and the message it would send to Russia, to the world, to history itself. Imagine indeed.
