Hi °C | Lo °C A thank you for supporting us and brave Donal
* Further to the recent funeral of our son and brother Donal and the many letters of condolence we have since received, we would like you to publish this letter of heartfelt thanks from our family.
What's in a name? Quite a lot, actually
* We seem to have a soft spot for bad boys. Can you imagine a visitor to Israel coming across such place names as Himmler's Way, or maybe Eichmann's Cove?
An Irish sort of logic
Madam – Forgive what on the surface might appear to be boring pedantry, but I must tell you that your report referring to the "new landscape of possibilities" claimed by former President McAleese to have emerged from the "peace process" left one feeling distinctly uneasy as to the implications (Sunday Independent, June 9, 2013).
O'Connor misses point on Bono
Madam – I would have been worried if Brendan O'Connor (Sunday Independent, June 9, 2013) had liked my book, The Frontman: Bono (In the Name of Power). Of the many audiences I had to consider while writing this book for an international publisher, well connected Dublin journalists were at the bottom of the list.
Bank guarantee 'not big mistake'
Madam – In last week's Sunday Independent, Colm McCarthy took issue with one of the conclusions of our recently published book, The Fall of the Celtic Tiger: Ireland and the Euro Debt Crisis. We suggested that even if the Irish authorities had suddenly become aware on September 29, 2008, of the impending insolvency of the banking system, it would have been "difficult to see how the granting of some sort of comprehensive guarantee ... could have been avoided".
We are not a caring society
Madam – I would like to congratulate Carol Hunt (Sunday Independent, June 9, 2013) on her article regarding the shameful treatment of our less fortunate fellow citizens and the consequences of the Government's actions which have created a hugely divided society on this small island of ours.
Points of dispute
Madam – Whilst I do not wish to get into a long debate with Dr Derek O'Flynn (Letters, Sunday Independent, June 9, 2013), there are a number of points which I feel I must make.
What if... Ireland got its act together?
As I live through my final few weeks in Ireland before flying to Australia to enjoy a ‘better' life with my young family, I cannot help but constantly wonder . . . what if ?
Standing up to the church
* Firstly, I would like to applaud Enda Kenny for being the first Taoiseach of this country to recognise and publicly announce that he is a Taoiseach for all the people of Ireland and not just the Catholics.
High time Swift was allowed to Bloom
* What do the phrases "promises are made to be broken", "bursting the bubble" and "raining cats and dogs" have in common?
Seanad bill poses a threat to our democracy
* The forthcoming referendum on the abolition of the Seanad is a good illustration of the type of insidious politics we have to deal with in Ireland nowadays.
Have vote, but no say
Madam– A few years ago a man knocked on my door at two in the morning in a highly agitated state, imploring me to help him get an immediate emergency hearing with a judge, to prevent his wife going abroad the next morning to have an abortion.
Soviet power was a mirage
Madam –Frank McGurk (Letters, Sunday Independent, June 2, 2013) says that it would not have mattered if Britain had capitulated to Hitler in 1940 because the Soviet Union alone would have defeated Hitler single-handed.
McCarthy wrong on manufacturing
Madam – Colm McCarthy's article 'Criticism of our tax policy the height of hypocrisy' (Sunday Independent, May 26, 2013) contains numerous erroneous assertions.
Disgust at article
Madam – I am writing to you to register my disgust at the fact that you allowed the piece 'Let me shake hands with that brave fan', written by Donal Lynch, to be published in your edition (Sunday Independent, June 2, 2013).
Labour lapdog to Fine Gael whims
Madam –Your paper (Sunday Independent, June 2, 2013) has surpassed itself with articles by John Drennan, John-Paul McCarthy and Willie Kealy exposing the Government and the facade of democracy that we live under as dysfunctional.
Some real reforms for Kenny to tackle
It would also strengthen his hand if he were to finally do something about the political expenses gravy train – at local, national and EU level – to ensure that, firstly, no elected representative is able to retain ownership of an asset paid for by the taxpayer via expenses, be it a ministerial car, a second home or a local office. And, secondly, that every single cent claimed is based on a receipt that is published.
‘Prime Time’ pitting young against old
* Watching 'Prime Time' on Tuesday filled me with a sense of revulsion: it was, in my view, an attempt to drum up inter-generational tensions.
Best of luck to all Leaving Cert pupils
* From a remove of more than three decades it is still possible to summon a cold trickle of sweat down my spine by the mention of two words: Leaving Cert.
You can’t legislate for suicidal thoughts
* The South Tipperary Coroner recently highlighted the undeniable link between a sharp increase in suicide in Ireland and the financial pressures many people are under due to debts they owe to financial institutions.
Irony of Boston attack on Kenny
Madam –I am not surprised by the attacks following John Crown's article (Sunday Independent, May 19, 2013). In many ways Mr Crown is the lay equivalent of the arrogance and conceit that he rails so much against in the Catholic Church. This is a pity because it deflects from his central argument that the Catholic hierarchy is trying to mount a coup against the democratically elected government. Talks of potential excommunications against politicians who vote the 'wrong way' in upcoming 'abortion legislation' is undemocratic.
Media furthers homegrown myth
Madam – A recent article (Sunday Independent, May 19, 2013) featured a photograph of my group, MaSamba Samba School. The article in question was called 'Summer fun on the festival trail' and was written by Lucinda O'Sullivan.
'Cowardly' label unfair
Madam – I always find Eoghan Harris's column interesting, but last week (Sunday Independent, May 26, 2013) he referred to Marshal Petain as "a cowardly old man who put Jews in concentration camps". I think it is unfair to call a man who was 84 years old when he became leader of France a coward.
Barbarossa doomed Hitler
Madam – Eoghan Harris (Sunday Independent, May 26, 2013) quotes John Lukacs, who concluded, "Had Britain stopped fighting in 1940, Hitler would have won his war."
A criminal state of affairs
The word criminals conjures all sorts of stereotypes of what that means. Closer to reality is that many people in jail should not be there, and many more outside should. It is a strange island where, if you do not pay your television licence, you can and do go to jail. Yet, many who are inherently corrupt rarely are called to account. It matters not what justice is, morally and much less legally, here. I suspect we are not all in this together or ever were.
Our children deserve a lot better than this
* In light of the current revelations of the sub-standard practices of some childcare providers in Ireland, I feel I have to write this letter to you. Firstly, I would like to say that I am delighted that this investigation has exposed the failings in certain childcare settings. It is high time that parents and the wider society began to examine the environment our children are in on a daily basis for almost nine or 10 hours. As a working practitioner, I was never questioned on my qualifications by parents. It was just "accepted".
A moving poem that every parent should read
* My heart goes out to the parents and families of the children who featured in the RTE 'Prime Time' programme about the treatment of children in some creches.
Nobody listening as families drown in debt
* The real tragedy in Flaubert's 'Madame Bovary' was not the wife's doomed extramarital affairs, but the insurmountable debt she found herself in.
Let’s dispense with the fig-leaf of discretion
* Over the past week, we have been treated to various dissertations on the use of discretion by gardai on the penalty points issue. As the original chief superintendent responsible for the Garda National Traffic Policy Bureau, I feel much of the commentary has been misleading and inaccurate.
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