Sir, – On this election day, it’s worth pausing to think about what the presidency of Ireland is really for. Beyond the formal role of signing laws and safeguarding the Constitution, people tend to judge candidates on a simpler basis: who will best represent my views?
While that’s an understandable sentiment, it is a flawed way of thinking to believe one person can somehow reflect the views of the entire nation. We can’t even agree on what to get on our chicken fillet roll, let alone every nuanced social issue.
The next Uachtarán na hÉireann won’t share every personal opinion you hold. That’s not a flaw in the system, but a reflection of who we are: not some uniform stereotype of flat-cap-wearing leprechauns with a drinking problem, but a modern nation that – despite not always getting it right – embraces diversity of opinion and the democratic process.
This is perhaps also where the greatest opportunity for a president lies: not to mirror us, but to remind us of what we share. – Yours, etc,
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PETER ELST,
Donabate,
Co Dublin.
No turning back this time
Sir, – We’ll soon turn the clocks back an hour for the end of summer and like clockwork – if you’ll excuse the pun – the chronology activists are out in force, most notably MEP Seán Kelly, to decry the biannual practice.
The amount of daylight we get on any particular day is out of our hands; it is an astrophysical fait accompli. What is in our hands is how we use that daylight.
Changing the clocks by one hour twice a year allows us to maximise the daylight for the majority of people. It is not exactly an onerous task either.
However, perhaps now is not the appropriate time to have this discussion. Maybe we should wait until late November or early December this year to consider the benefits of changing the clocks. And then one morning at around 8.30am or so, we should imagine we hadn’t put the clocks back and consider how dark it would be at 9.30am.
Or perhaps if we don’t put the clocks forward in March we can consider the loss of the long, bright evenings in May, June and July.
Changing the clocks to maximise the usefulness of the daylight we get is something that has worked for decades.
Just because a practice is old, doesn’t mean it’s obsolete. – Yours, etc,
SIMON O’CONNOR,
Ennis,
Co Clare.
It’s in the trees
Sir, – As we head into the winter we are hearing about the possibility of electricity outages due to storms and trees growing near electricity lines.
Over 40 years ago when I worked in a rural ESB (as it was then) office, we regularly took calls from farmers reporting trees getting close to the overhead wires.
A crew would be dispatched to cut back these trees, thus preventing trouble when the storms eventually arrived. – Yours, etc,
MARY DALY,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 14.
MetroLink and connections
Sir, – It’s frustrating to see yet another Dublin resident (Letters, October 23rd) repeat the tired notion that MetroLink is simply a service to and from Dublin Airport. That view completely misses the wider significance of the project.
For those of us living beyond the M50 – or indeed outside Dublin altogether – MetroLink represents far more than an airport shuttle. It’s a long overdue piece of infrastructure that will greatly improve connections between the national rail network and Dublin city centre.
Take my own situation as an example. I routinely need to travel from my home to St Stephen’s Green. At present, the best route involves taking a train from Kildare to Heuston Station, transferring to the Luas from Heuston to Abbey Street, and then, after a short walk, transferring again to another Luas up to St Stephen’s Green. It’s a time-consuming journey and far from seamless.
Once MetroLink is open, it will be possible to do the same journey with a single convenient train connection in Glasnevin.
That’s why suggestions to terminate the line at Tara Street, as Una Mullally recently proposed, are frankly baffling.
The Luas through the city centre is already at standing-room-only capacity during peak times, as anyone who uses it regularly knows first-hand.
Forcing thousands of MetroLink passengers to transfer on to an already overcrowded tram network would make no sense whatsoever.
If we are serious about building a transport system fit for the next 50 years, MetroLink must run through the city centre as planned, connecting seamlessly with existing services rather than overwhelming them.
So, once again, MetroLink is not just an airport line. It’s a critical backbone for a joined-up transport system. And it needs to be built as soon as possible. – Yours, etc,
RICHARD BANNISTER,
Cunnaberry Hill,
Kildare.
Sir, – I agree with Una Mullally (“I want MetroLink, but must it be at the expense of St Stephen’s Green?” October 20th). I was immensely saddened by the original metro plan for the St Stephen’s Green station – and secretly hoped it would fade away.
We probably do need a metro, but not at the expense of St Stephen’s Green, one of Dublin’s jewels and originally a gift to the citizenry. It is the backdrop to so many memories for Dubliners.
There are surely enough nondescript buildings and streets to the west of the green that we could lose to a Lego-style station without injuring our city. If Trinity was off limits to this project, why not the green?
Would the decision have been the same if the trees to be felled were valued on the same price scale as adjacent office buildings? – Yours, etc,
MÁIRÍDE WOODS,
Dublin 13.
Putin and Trump
Sir, – Michael McDowell raised the question of “What exactly does Putin hold over the cowardlyTrump?” (October 22nd). However, the only answer he suggested was the possible threat of a nuclear war. In doing so he referred to the public ambush by US president Donald Trump of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy in February and the more private shouting down attack last week. It may be worth noting that Trump previously tried to pressurise Zelenskiy in 2019 to assist his re-election by threatening to withhold aid to Ukraine unless Zelenskiy helped with investigations into former US president Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
Perhaps this earlier episode had some bearing on the “vengeful idiot king’s” behaviour this year?
Trump’s lack of action against Russia continues to raise the question as to what collection of kompromat Putin has over him? There is no doubt that he is very happy to see Trump as president while the Kremlin continues its widespread efforts to destabilise western Europe.
Trump and Putin are both very vain. One wants to make America great again while the other sees himself as tsar of all Russia – including Crimea and Ukraine.
Trump sees himself as the great dealmaker, while Putin has long perfected the art of recruiting and persuading people.
In the absence of Trump standing up to Putin who started the war, it is imperative that EU leaders continue to strengthen their support for Ukraine. – Yours, etc,
DES MOONEY,
Gorey,
Co Wexford.
Sir, – Russian president Vladimir Putin tries to justify his invasion of Ukraine by claiming that Ukraine has always been part of the Russian Federation. I haven’t heard US president Donald Trump refuting Putin’s claim.
What if Putin was to claim that Alaska really belonged to Russia, that it had no right to sell it to the US back in the late 1800s and, in any case, the US didn’t pay enough for it to Russia?
I expect if what is now known about the extent of the oil and mineral wealth in Alaska was known at the time of sale to the US, then the price would have been multiple times higher and Putin would now want it back.
How would Trump respond to such a claim from Putin?
Would the production line of Tomahawk missiles be put on overtime? – Yours, etc,
MARTIN CROTTY,
Blackrock,
Co Louth.
It’s frightful
Sir, – It’s that time of the year again. Would someone please tell broadcasters that it is Halloween not Holloween? – Yours, etc,
AJ MULLOWNEY,
Co Kildare.
Inclusive education
Sir, – John McHugh makes a number of important points about the steps necessary to achieve an inclusive education system (“Special Class is not the only sign of commitment to inclusion”, October, 21st).
Close co-operation between individual schools, their management authorities and the Department of Education, in a spirit of mutual respect, is essential to realising this objective.
However, as McHugh notes, requiring every school to have some form of special provision and a policy statement does not, by itself, guarantee the creation of an inclusive education system based on equity.
The Education Act includes a commitment to “equality of access to, participation in and benefit from education”, yet 27 years later, we have yet to achieve that goal.
Progress towards a truly inclusive education system at national level requires more than the involvement of schools and the Department of Education.
A broad spectrum of stakeholders also participate in what is frequently described as a “partnership” process. These include the management bodies, teachers’ unions, parents’ councils, school leaders’ organisations and patronage groups.
In addition, there are a number of agencies which operate under the aegis of the department. All exert some influence on policymaking at national level.
Consider, for example, the recent OECD review which examined the resourcing of schools to address educational disadvantage.
The review team observed that “the overall [measurable] investment in Deis is quite modest compared with the overall budget for pre-primary, primary, post-primary and post-secondary non-tertiary education (3 per cent)”.
Thus, irrespective of the size of the education budget, more of it must reach those most in need. Achieving that will require decisive leadership from the Minister, Helen McEntee, the Department of Education, the active support of all policy-shaping agencies and a genuine generosity of spirit across the entire system. – Yours, etc,
Dr BRIAN FLEMING,
Prof JUDITH HARFORD,
School of Education,
University College Dublin.
Protecting the PPE clothing
Sir, – I would like to support Peter O’Rourke’s assertion that it is nonsensical for the Health Service Executive to contemplate destroying its large store of personal protective equipment (Letters, October 20th).
There should be no expiry date for the use of protective clothing like PPE gowns. We, in our practice in Newtowncunningham Health Centre, kept an amount of PPE gowns which we had received from the HSE during the previous swine flu epidemic.
Although the PPE was out of date when Covid arrived in March 2020, it worked remarkably well and protected our medical and nursing staff during the initial assault by Covid-19 on us. Thankfully, we belatedly received a new supply of PPE in September 2020.
My advice to the HSE is hold on to your stock of PPE as you will need it for the next epidemic. – Yours, etc,
Dr EAMON SHEA (Retired GP),
Newtowncunningham,
Co Donegal.
Walking the walk
Sir, – The meeting in Greystones about the ongoing closure of the Bray- Greystones cliff path yet again highlights the need for legislation to protect and extend access to the countryside for walkers and others
(“Responsibility for Bray-Greystones cliff walk may be taken off council, meeting hears”, October 20th).
The emphasis of the meeting was on the economic loss to the town, a loss which many towns all over Ireland suffer due to the lack of walking trails in so many places.
This problem could be addressed by way of legislation as has happened in many European countries including our nearest neighbour, the UK. It is beyond time our politicians tackled this issue.
While the lack of legislation is leading to closures of access in many places, the previously open Cliffs of Moher path being a stand-out example, the continued closure of the Bray-Greystones path is a real disgrace as it is one of the very few paths designated as a right of way.
Wicklow County Council is not serving the needs of citizens or local businesses by its failure to reopen the path over a nearly five-year period.
It has similarly failed in terms of access for walkers to Wicklow Head or the North Beach at Arklow although, in the case of the last two, the council would be aided by appropriate legislation.
A wider problem exists. Last week, Keep Ireland Open, whose main aim is to get legislation enacted to protect and extend access, was informed of the blocking of access to a ring fort in Co Sligo which is under the care of the Office of Public Works.
There are many such national monuments where public access is denied – a real disgrace which is not being tackled.
The same applies to rural graveyards without road frontage where access can be denied.
It is time for action on access, for the benefit of our health, our tourist industry and our rural economy. – Yours, etc,
ROBERT DOWDS,
Chairperson,
Keep Ireland Open,
Dublin 22.
Hyperboles go into overdrive
Sir, – Surely the following should be included in Frank McNally’s list:
– Lessons will be learned
– Commission of investigation
– Resting in my account
– Recollections may vary
–My first thoughts are with the victims
– I have full confidence in
–The project will be within budget. – Yours, etc,
BEN McCABE,
Dublin 6.
Sir, – Standard greeting: “Hello, how are you?”
Standard reply: “Not too bad.”
I often wonder how bad that is. – Yours, etc
ANNE STRAHAN,
Bantry,
Co Cork.
Sir, – Angela Merkel thinks we’re working! – Yours, etc,
TONY WALL,
Dublin.
