Sir, – Conor Pope warns that a tax on air travel would be unfair, penalise an island nation, and that any revenue might be wasted by Government (“Is it time for a tax on air travel?” Opinion, November 4th). None of these points touches the core problem: air travel is absurdly underpriced because its environmental costs are shouldered by no one – except ultimately the planet.
Geography is no moral exemption, nor is distrust in Government an excuse for inaction.
If ticket prices rose to reflect that harm, it would not punish consumers but invite them to think twice: do we really need to fly to every match, every sun resort, every weekend abroad, just because we can? Legally, people may fly wherever they wish. But morally, in a heating world, the right to fly should be exercised with great restraint, not entitlement. To call an aviation tax unfair is to mistake inconvenience for injustice. The real unfairness lies in leaving the planet – and its poor and vulnerable majority – to pick up the tab for our cheap tickets. – Yours, etc,
PAUL O’SHEA,
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Planet Before Profit CLG,
Shankill,
Dublin 18.
Sir – While the “polluter pays” principle should indicate the need for an air travel tax, providing carrots for travelling by sea and land might also be effective. Subsidies for sail and working with other countries rail networks to provide viable “rail and sail” options are needed. Rail and sail options even to our nearest neighbour, Britain, are limited. All this needs work if alternatives to flying are to become realistic options. – Yours, etc,
ROB FAIRMICHAEL,
Ballynafeigh,
Belfast.
Immigration disinformation
Sir, – Fair dues to Fintan O’Toole for giving the real facts and figures on asylum seekers and migrants (“Simon Harris is deliberately spreading disinformation on immigration”, Opinion, November 4th). It is shocking to hear Simon Harris’s broadside about migrants in the last week, giving a distorted and untrue account of the figures and issues. Populism and xenophobic rhetoric are far from the true cares and concerns of Irish people. Cheapening and lowering the standards of our public discourse shows a lack of moral fibre and ineffective leadership. – Yours, etc,
DÁITHÍ Ó HAODHA,
Duagh,
Co Kerry.
German defence policy
Sir, – Eda Sagarra writes that Catherine Connolly hurt “the German people by her casual remark comparing current German defence policy with 1930s Nationalist Socialist warmongering” (Letters, November 4th).
This conflates the German people with the German state. In my experience – I have lived in Germany for several periods and spend part of the year there – the “defence policy” of that state is abhorrent to those Germans who actively accept (in Ms Sagarra’s phrase) “collective responsibility ... for the crimes of the Third Reich”.
In 2022 such Germans shuddered when the Social Democrat Lars Klingbeil (now vice-chancellor) proclaimed that “after 80 years of restraint, Germany must once again assert itself ...” Earlier this year the Christian Democratic chancellor Friedrich Merz announced that “Germany is back!”, an assertion that led the Berlin-based journalist James Jackson to opine that “the mask in this once-respected democracy is slipping ...”
Ms Sagarra writes, “Germany has been a good friend to Ireland over many years, treating our citizens with the respect we hope to deserve”. Perhaps those pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Berlin last April who were forbidden to speak Irish might disagree. Perhaps Kitty O’Brien might disagree, having been hospitalised last August after Berlin police assaulted her brutally during a demonstration in Berlin against the killing of journalists in Gaza.
The Politbarometer survey commissioned by public broadcaster ZDF earlier this year found 83 per cent of Germans think their government should stop or limit arms exports to Israel.
It would appear a majority of German people share Ms Connolly’s viewpoint. – Yours, etc,
RAYMOND DEANE,
Broadstone,
Dublin 7.
Ivan Yates and Fianna Fáil
Sir, – I would have expected the first piece of advice Ivan Yates gave Fianna Fáil was, “don’t use me”. – Yours, etc,
DAMIEN HANLON,
Clontarf,
Dublin.
Sir, – Many political observers commented that there was an assumption that Jim Gavin was a Fine Gael supporter when his candidacy to represent Fianna Fáil in the presidential election was announced.
Now we have learned a former Fine Gael minister, Ivan Yates, has been providing media coaching to a Fianna Fáil Taoiseach and high-level Fianna Fáil Ministers.
It seems the distance and difference between the two former Civil War party adversaries is reducing with each passing year. I can think of a few former Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael party leaders that would be spinning in their graves at the recent revelations. – Yours, etc,
STEPHEN O’HARA,
Carrowmore,
Sligo.
A voice for the poor
Sir, – I was saddened to hear of the passing of social justice campaigner and advocate Sister Stanislaus Kennedy. I always admired her tireless advocacy and ability to inform policy. Sr Stan left a marvellous legacy because she was conscientious and diligent. When one looks today at Focus Ireland or the Young Social Innovators, for example, we see that all her efforts had longevity.
Sr Stan was a voice for the poor. She had a capacity for trust in the poor, of knowing what they were able to do and how they could show extraordinary initiative.
When she set up Focus Ireland 40 years ago, she believed homelessness could be solved within a decade. The problem persisted but so too did Sr Stan’s campaigning. She has inspired generations of young people to tackle social problems in their own communities. – Yours, etc,
JOHN O’BRIEN,
Clonmel,
Co Tipperary.
No model for Ireland
Sir, – I refer to the David McWilliams article in which he proposed the Irish economy could go the way of Argentina or Australia (“Look out Ireland, our economy could go the way of Argentina”, Opinion, November 1st).
Australia is incredibly unsustainable, a power house of environmental destruction and resource extraction, and not a model Ireland should be attempting to follow.
If Argentina and Australia are our only options, I beg this economist to broaden their horizons and consider that Ireland might chart its own path.
It is undeniable that Ireland’s brightest are flocking to Australia but there is the distinct possibility that is due to bad Government policy, and the dangerously naive notion that once people get their fill of adventure, they will return with newfound skills.
The only reason Australia is in a position to offer such immigration incentives is due to an over extractive and unsustainable government funded economy built on coal and natural gas that will pay out in the short term but cost a hell of a lot more in the future. – Yours, etc,
THEO DILLON,
Cork.
Europe’s open back door
Sir, – One of the biggest threats to Europe’s security, and our own, is Ireland’s exposure to a vast Atlantic Ocean, which is policed by two or three relatively small Irish Naval Service vessels.
This level of security, for all of western Europe, is ridiculously inadequate. It offers little security for continental Europe and its vital undersea communication cables, not to mention the importation of illicit drugs.
While we undoubtedly need to make a clear funding commitment to our Defence Forces, one might ask whether it will ever be realistically practical for Ireland alone to patrol this vast area without additional naval and air support from Europe?
What is badly needed is a joint EU and UK funded naval defence force to police what could be described as Europe’s open back door or, alternatively, allow the EU and UK to support additional funding of the Irish Naval Service. We need to meet the real and hostile challenges Europe is now facing. – Yours, etc,
PETER KELLY,
Straffan,
Co Kildare.
Convoluted menus
Sir, – I think the hotel in Arranmore in the 1960s offering “fish or meat” was quite sophisticated (Letters, November 4th).
The hotel was using the same menu description as their fellow restaurateurs in Italy use today. There, the response to asking what is on offer is often simply “pesce o carne”, resulting in a discussion between waiter and diner as to the merits of either.
I believe the simplicity of the Arranmore menu spoke volumes about the quality of the lamb and salmon on offer. Much better than the convoluted descriptions we read on menus nowadays. – Yours, etc,
MARION WALSH,
Donnybrook,
Dublin 4.
Taiwan and Cop30
Sir, – It appears that once again, some are attempting to politicise a professional conference and turn it into a political showcase (Letters, October 30th). The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change clearly defines the Cop as a conference for sovereign states.
The position of the UN on Taiwan has been clearly stated in the official legal opinions of the UN secretariat that “the United Nations considers ‘Taiwan’ as a province of China with no separate status” and the “‘authorities in ‘Taipei’ are not considered to ... enjoy any form of government status”.
Attempts by Taiwan’s separatist forces to label itself as “nation” to seek entry into the Cop under misleading pretexts are purely actions of political propaganda. Such actions disregard the proper channels for Taiwan’s participation in international climate co-operation. Focusing on political posturing rather than practical co-operation undermines the very purpose of the foremost global forum devoted to multilateral discussion on climate change. – Yours, etc,
GUO BIN,
Spokesperson,
Embassy of China in Ireland,
Dublin 4.
Irish in the Áras
Sir, – In reply to Michael Deasy on Irish in the Áras, I would like to offer a counterpoint and start with a small correction (Letters, November 3rd). The correct phrase is cúpla focal, not “cúpla focail”, as cúpla is always followed by the singular form.
Immigrants to Ireland like myself often seem among the most eager to learn Gaeilge, perhaps not scarred by the education system frequently cited as draining the joy from the language.
To me, this is an encouraging move by Catherine Connolly. Reclaiming and normalising the language is not necessarily easy, but it is a meaningful step away from treating Irish as an inconvenient cultural artefact and towards a future where it is lived, spoken and shared with confidence. – Yours, etc,
PETER ELST,
Donabate,
Co Dublin.
Clinical safeguards
Sir, – Coru, as Ireland’s statutory regulator for health and social care, is legally obliged to ensure that national standards align with those recognised elsewhere in the EU.
While Coru’s draft training standards maintain the academic requirement of a Masters, they remove the core clinical components of training, mandatory personal therapy and structured clinical supervision. These are not discretionary, they are the clinical safeguards that underpin competence, accountability and client protection.
Personal therapy equips trainees to recognise, regulate and manage their own emotional responses so they do not become entangled, reactive or over-invested in a client’s experience. Supervision provides structured oversight, case review and professional accountability. Omitting these requirements permits practice without essential safeguards.
An FoI to Coru revealed the regulator’s rationale for omitting personal therapy was that it may “distress” trainees. This reasoning is self-defeating, because encountering and managing such discomfort is precisely how therapists develop the resilience to work safely with intense emotions and traumatic material. If a trainee cannot tolerate therapy, how can they be deemed fit to provide it without risking harm?
The European Association for Psychotherapy has standards precisely to prevent such risks. Ireland’s regulator should adopt, not diverge from, these norms. Ignoring them renders Irish qualifications out of step with EU standards and jeopardises the mutual recognition Coru is legally obliged to uphold. – Yours, etc,
CAROL DUFFY,
Psychotherapist,
Navan,
Co Meath.
