What are politicians doing for Travelling community?

There was an article by Ellen Coyne on a study of the relationship between Travellers and gardaí (‘Travellers racially abused by gardaí and treated like lowest of the low – report’, Irish Independent, June 23). I hope the report was not just concerning the relationship with gardaí, as the relationship between State institutions in general needs attention.

It would be interesting to see if the study examined the amounts of money received from the Government by local authorities to house Travellers that was returned because to spend it would cause problems by the Nimbys.

We see money being spent in cleaning up beaches and huge amounts on street cleaning, but I am sure very little, if any, is spent on cleaning halting sites.

While Travellers may not pay tax in the conventional way, they pay VAT on all purchases, as we all do.

Frequently, Travellers are not welcomed in hotels to celebrate weddings and they are received in pubs at the expense of other customers leaving.

We see our politicians streaming out to Ukraine to ensure they get a photo opportunity, but it would be interesting to find how many politicians visit halting sites.

Hugh Duffy

Cleggan, Co Galway

G7 leaders may not be best people to look to for advice

A meeting of G7 economic leaders is taking place in Germany to decide how best to organise economics so that “recession” can be avoided, “inflation” curtailed and “growth” reinstated into the future.

It is interesting to see what the members bring to the meeting: USA $30trn debt, Japan $15trn debt, Italy $3.8trn debt, France $3.6trn debt, Germany $3.4trn debt and Britain $3.4trn debt. And the EU? Nobody knows. In total, these economies carry $59.6trn (€56.7trn) debt between them.

And they are the ones to devise action to save global economics from the greatest chaos ever experienced.

I wonder who is going to pay the bill?

Padraic Neary

Tubbercurry, Co Sligo

Post-match fights and brawls are almost expected in GAA

To listen to many GAA pundits, one gets the impression that after-match fisticuffs are almost non-existent. I am not a follower of our national sports, but suggest too many matches end in some form of pushing/shoving/wrestling.

It’s probably down to what we were advised to do at school games, certainly in my old alma mater: “If you can’t get the ball, get your man.”

Difficult to square that with honest competition.

David Ryan

Co Meath

People of Western Sahara need support more than ever

On Saturday, June 25, at least 37 migrants died while attempting to cross a six-metre-high fence from Morocco into the Spanish enclave Melilla. Moroccan and Spanish security personnel were accused of brutality and using unjustified force by human rights observers.

The Melilla enclave is just one of the many flashpoints on the borders between the European Union and Africa that have their roots in colonial abuses by former European powers that are now important EU member states. This recent tragedy results partly from a Spanish-Moroccan agreement in which the Madrid recognised Moroccan annexation over the sovereignty of Western Sahara in exchange for buying a guarantee from Morocco to prevent asylum seekers entering Spanish and EU-controlled territory. In 1976 the UN reaffirmed the right to self-determination of the Sahrawi people, but Morocco continues to occupy most of Western Sahara and its illegal occupation is supported by several EU states and the US.

The UN has had a peace mission in Western Sahara called Minurso for over 30 years to which Ireland has been contributing a small number of unarmed observers.

Ireland’s contribution to Minurso ended last year, arguably at a time when genuine neutral observers were most needed by the people of Western Sahara who have been experiencing serious human rights abuses by occupying Moroccan forces.

Edward Horgan

Castletroy, Limerick

Some are given packs of cash, others are just sent packing

The difference between princes and paupers; one is given suitcases stuffed with money by their friends, and the others are given an empty bag by the state and told to pack for deportation (‘UK watchdog to look at €1m cash donation given to Prince Charles by Qatari sheikh’, Irish Independent, June 27).

Liam Power

Dundalk, Co Louth