Let the fleeing banks do the hard graft of transfer –they owe us

AIB’s U-turn on the turning of 70 of its branches into cashless locations, to the detriment of community and customers, demonstrates that banks can act quickly when a majority of their customers and public opinion turns against them.

The banks are adept at making decisions that make them more profitable, with complete disregard for customer service.

Yet when banks leaving the market, the customer is required to do all the necessary work to transfer their accounts to remaining banks. In this digitised age, is it not possible for the customer to designate the bank they want to move to and have their present bank transfer their account, its contents and details to the designated bank.

Maybe this cannot happen because banks cannot be trusted to act effectively on behalf of their customers or they don’t want to take the responsibility of customer care.

Hugh McDermott

Dromahair, Co Leitrim

Energy giants cream profits off back of Ukraine carnage

The placard at a recent protest meeting in Africa says it all: “Russia- Ukraine war has nothing to do with the hikes. Reduce fuel prices now.” Watch the energy providers making vast profits.

Ted O’Keeffe

Ranelagh, Dublin 6

RTÉ Croke Patrick gaffe makes perfectly poetic point

The newsreader on Sunday’s bulletin on RTÉ said that the Kerry and Galway footballers were on their way to Croke Patrick, before correcting herself.

However, she could be forgiven, because did they not have a mountain to climb?

Leo Gormley

Dundalk, Co Louth

Calling RTÉ Dublin centric conflates nation with capital

In her television review column (Irish Independent, July 23), Ann Marie Hourihane repeats the nonsense about RTÉ being Dublin centric. When the three banks and the two building societies closed in Dublin 4 not a peep from RTÉ located just up the road and when the post offices in Donnybrook, Sandymount and Ringsend closed, there was not a squeak either. There is a big difference between national events/issues occurring in Dublin and Dublin affairs. RTÉ covers the first. It ignores the latter. In her next TV review column, Ann Marie might also report on when RTÉ will appoint a Dublin correspondent.

Councillor Dermot Lacey

Donnybrook, Dublin 4

A two-tiered approach to protecting animal welfare

There’s a bizarre anomaly at the heart of our wildlife protection laws.

Anyone who takes the trouble to rescue an injured wild animal or bird is obliged to comply with the strictest regulations, ostensibly to ensure that he/she does not inadvertently endanger the creature.

Yet, just days ago, our Government issued a blanket licence permitting the capture of thousands of wild hares – a supposedly protected species – by coursing clubs.

These animals are not rescued or removed from the wild to attend to their welfare, but so that dogs can be set on them.

Even the ‘mad’ March hare has more sense than the people who devised this two-pronged approach to “protecting” wildlife in Ireland that serves only to protect a most abhorrent form of animal cruelty dressed up as “sport”.

John Fitzgerald

Callan, Co Kilkenny

Bovine mindset behind campaign to cull beef herd

The older I get, the less I understand what’s going on.

Our next Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, has many times expressed the opinion that the methane-producing Irish beef herd should be culled for the benefit of the planet.

What does Mr Varadkar expect will happen if the beef-eating industry is destroyed?

First, the price of beef will rise so that we who live here can no longer afford to eat our own wonderful, grass-fed Irish meat.

Next, when the price has risen sufficiently, farmers in Argentina, perhaps, will grab the opportunity to supply the European market with its own beef. Where is the net gain for the planet then, especially when we consider the CO2 emissions created by transporting the product halfway across the world? Meanwhile, as 40,000 European farmers protest on the streets over similar proposed cuts in Dutch agriculture, are we meant to resign ourselves to a diet of grubs and insects?

Or am I missing something that is obvious to a snot-green mindset which sees the future world food supply as coming exclusively from chemists’ laboratories?

Robert Sullivan

Bantry, Co Cork