Letters to the Editor Opinion Far from a defining moment, Saipan was par for the course

Like Father Ted, the associated cast involved in the Saipan incident have dined long on what was a shambles.

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Letters to the Editor Opinion Multiple reasons why neutral Ireland should not arm up

Critics of Ireland’s policy of neutrality and relative lack of military capability tend to call for us to join Nato or else to expend many billions of euro on fighters, tanks and Navy ships to develop an independent capability to defend ourselves.

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Letters to the Editor Opinion Coalition of autocracy dressed up as democracy

The suspension of Green TDs Neasa Hourigan and Patrick Costello is indicative of the autocratic process of policy and law-making in our ‘democratic’ government.

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Exit of small landlords is the real issue in the rental market

Sir — The piece by Niall Toner on May 15 on the rental market (‘The only way is up’) stated that the latest Daft.ie report “made grim reading for renters” and quotes a range of numbers as if they were rents paid by the average sitting tenant in Ireland — that is, the more than 300,000 registered rental units in the State.

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So many questions remain over nature of the lease for our new national maternity hospital

If you rent an apartment, you do not grant your landlord exclusive rights over its use. Yet this is exactly what the Government has done with the new maternity hospital.

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Letters to the Editor Opinion It’s nice to see us peacefully ploughing our own furrow

Elizabeth Cullen (‘Ireland must be peacemaker to prevent further loss of life’, Letters, May 19) asks for the preservation of Irish neutrality and says we might position ourselves to act as peacemakers between the belligerent countries of the world.

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Letters to the Editor Opinion National Maternity Hospital progress is not irretrievable

The Cabinet’s decision on the ownership of the new National Maternity Hospital is a setback, but it is far from an irretrievable position.

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Letters to the Editor Opinion Food security should be front and centre in UN messaging

The devastating damage caused by explosive weapons, especially when used in places where many people live, is evident each night on our television screens.

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Letters to the Editor Opinion Chilling echoes of Putin in Johnson’s protocol menace

Liz Truss may have replaced Lord Frost as the UK’s lead Brexit negotiator but the same old sabre-rattling by Boris Johnson, in threatening to unilaterally set aside major parts of the protocol, is again on loudhailer.

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Letters to the Editor Opinion Hospital plan is yet another betrayal of Irish women

It is looking likely that Health Minister Stephen Donnelly’s plan for the new National Maternity Hospital will be accepted without demur by the Cabinet this week. It is extremely disappointing that the previously vocal voices of women in Government are now silent.

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Letters to the Editor Opinion Forget buffoonery of recent years – Eurovision must focus on real songwriting talent again

WATCHING some of the Eurovision semi-final entries this week, I began to wonder if some of those who were representing their respective countries are the best they have or did those countries just not care?

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Letters to the Editor Opinion DUP needs help to get over itself and its protocol woes

Whatever about long-Covid symptoms, I think we are all suffering from long-protocol, particularly the DUP, which can’t seem to even assemble itself these days.

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Letters to the Editor Opinion Unanswered questions in maternity hospital debate

I have read the documents and listened to all sides of the debate in relation to the National Maternity Hospital (NMH), yet questions remain.

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Letters to the Editor Opinion Messy Northern politics will eventually serve Alliance well

It is unfortunate that the real winners in the Northern Ireland elections – the Alliance voters – are in the first instance not well served by the framework of the Stormont Assembly.

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Letters to the Editor Opinion Basic housing is a basic right not yet granted to our young

It’s not just first-time buyers left high and dry in the property market. It goes so much further than that.

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Letters to the Editor Opinion Democracy needs to precede tribal bias against protocol

Much has been made of the fact that nationalist and unionist parties each achieved 40pc of the vote and 70 seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly elections, with the Alliance, Greens, independents, and People Before Profit achieving the remaining 20pc of the vote and 20 seats.

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Letters to the Editor Opinion Happy birthday David, tireless champion of our great planet

Sir — Today marks David Attenborough’s 96th year on p lanet Earth. A global adventurer and champion of nature, Attenborough has presented us with pictures of nature from sparkling coastlines to immense grasslands and has spoken from the highest mountains to the deepest depths of the ocean.

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Letters to the Editor Opinion What more provocation do we need before we break off diplomatic relations with Russia?

The Irish Government expelled four out of 30 registered Russian diplomats in Ireland, allegedly for meeting dissident republican and loyalist paramilitaries in an attempt to stoke tensions here and in Northern Ireland. In response, Russia expelled two of our six embassy staff in Moscow – one third of our full complement, which is equivalent to us expelling 10 of their diplomats here.

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Letters to the Editor Opinion More of foolish Filatov being filleted on RTÉ would be nice

I welcome the many occasions we might continue to hear from the Russian ambassador to Ireland, Yuri Filatov.

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Letters to the Editor Opinion Making peace would be far cheaper than making war

The recent request by Joe Biden to the US Congress, asking for $33bn to support Ukraine against Russia, makes it blatantly obvious that talking would be cheaper than warring. And it’s also less hurtful to the most vulnerable members on each side of the conflict – whether they be Ukrainian or Russian .

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Letters to the Editor Opinion Serving up mercy to Boris Becker would do us all good

We all struggle to get through life at different stages, but not many of us endure overexposure to the public at large.

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Letters to the Editor Opinion A hopeless Government that ignores hidden homelessness

The plight of the homeless is not limited to the poor souls we see on the street everywhere during our daily lives. The homeless are all around us, in every housing estate, poorly built apartment blocks, and isolated rural houses. These homeless are working families, single men and women, who are working every week and paying direct and indirect taxes to our government.

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Letters to the Editor Opinion Well done Katie, but we must talk about dangers of boxing

Katie Taylor is a world-class athlete. Congratulations to her on her unique achievement and for waving the flag for Ireland. However, when it comes to boxing – particularly the professional game – the general public, sports commentators, journalists and politicians have a collective blind spot that I find difficult to understand.

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Letters to the Editor Opinion Kinahans have wrought havoc and so much misery on my son

Sir — Reading the article ‘Wherever the Kinahans go, we will be following them’ in the Sunday Independent last week, I felt anger, grief, determination and hope wash over me.

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Citizens of the soil with narrow world horizons cannot dictate to a modern society on the brink

The robe of victimhood does not spend much time on its hanger in an Irish person’s wardrobe.

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Letters to the Editor Opinion Teachers are qualified to test their own pupils in Leaving

Mary Kenny makes valid points and raises good questions in respect of teachers awarding public examination grades for their students (‘Teachers might be wise to not enter risky blackboard jungle of grading their pupils’, Irish Independent, August 27).

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Letters to the Editor Opinion Widespread censorship is blocking important debate

People of all political persuasions must put their differences aside and unite to end the censorship prevalent in society. It seems you can’t say diddly-squat without being banned, censored, deplatformed or cancelled. Avoiding all of that, you can still be accused of misinformation, false news or any of the other rubbish.

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Letters to the Editor Opinion It’s all academic? Not when it comes to life in its entirety

Alan Whelan is absolutely right when he says research in England has consistently shown “girls overall do best in single-sex schools and boys perform best in mixed schools” (Irish Independent, Letters, April 26).

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Letters to the Editor Opinion People of Russia should not look the other way this time

Many commentators deliberating on Russian foreign policy, advance the argument that it’s not the Russian people – it’s their regime. But indeed, that is the point – it’s their regime.

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Letters to the Editor Opinion Bring some of your Russian steel to the Northern Ireland protocol, Mr Martin

The Downing Street Declaration of peace signed on December 15, 1993 by then taoiseach Albert Reynolds and British prime minister John Major, was designed to remove conflict and historical disagreements between the different traditions on this island, particularly in Northern Ireland.