Letters: Pedestrians are not even safe on the pavement any more from road users

I believe the most dangerous way to travel nowadays on Dublin city streets is on foot.

A lot of e-scooterists, e-cyclists and cyclists travel on footpaths at frightening speeds, putting pedestrians in extreme danger.

They don’t even use their bells any more to warn pedestrians they are coming.

Several times I have had a narrow escape from a bike, e-scooter or e-bike while walking on a footpath.

After all the taxpayers’ money that has been spent on cycle lanes, some cyclists still refuse to use them and travel on footpaths instead.

Also, most cyclists don’t stop at traffic lights for pedestrians. Several times, while crossing the road at a pedestrian green light, I was inches away from being knocked down by a speeding cyclist.

Transport Minister Eamon Ryan, or the Government as a whole, don’t seem to give a damn about this. Gardaí don’t seem to be interested.

Now the same Mr Ryan is cycling off into the sunset, leaving someone else to pick up the pieces.

If this dangerous situation is not dealt with soon, I will have to either use a crash helmet when walking or revert to using my car.

Martin Heneghan, Richmond Road, Dublin 3

Swift’s shows revealed why we need to shake up our transport system

I write in profound disappointment following recent events surrounding the Taylor Swift concerts in Dublin.

As the echoes of the music fade away, the city’s businesses are undoubtedly tallying up their gains from a weekend of extravagant entertainment featuring three unforgettable nights with Swift.

However, my personal experience was marred by the glaring shortcomings in our public transport system, which led me to embark on a frustrating journey to collect my two daughters.

The failures of both the Government and the National Transport Authority in ensuring adequate public transport services have left me disheartened and disillusioned but not surprised.

Despite the rhetoric from Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil about safeguarding and regulating to protect citizens and the environment, their actions – or lack of – speak volumes.

Their negligence and that of their representatives have culminated in a situation where a significant event proceeded without the proper transportation infrastructure in place.

The scenes of thousands stranded at bus stops, watching full buses pass them by, and numerous young adults aimlessly wandering the streets due to the incompetence of our authorities were totally unacceptable.

We need a more transparent, accountable and responsive government that prioritises the well-being and safety of its citizens instead of the cycle of spin and little substance.

If we vote for more of the same then we’ve truly missed the bus.

Thomas O’Connor, Crumlin, Dublin 12

Could we make Pride a week instead of a month to avoid traffic problems?

With all the welcome, if relatively recent, laws now enacted establishing the rights of our LGBTQ+ community, and a general better understanding of people’s situations in what is “modern Ireland”, do we really need a Pride month?

I can see a “Pride week” would be reasonable. But a month?

Live and let live is my personal approach, but traffic congestion and inner-city hold-ups for workers and commuters will not win friends over time.

Eamon Kearney, Ayrfield Road, Dublin 13

Old agreements made in the 1980s on pay have left us all up in the air today

The Social Partnership model as agreed in 1987 seemed like a good approach at the time to centralise pay awards and minimise strikes.

However, a downside that was, in my opinion, always going to come back to bite us was the compounded impact of an annual increment/cost-of-living award based on a percentage of salary.

This now seems to be evident in Aer Lingus. Take an average increase of 2.5pc granted annually in 1990 to a pilot on, say, the equivalent of €65,000 and an employee on €15,000. Compound those sums over 30 years.

The gap between both widens to a greater extent as the years progress to a point 30 years on where the cost-of-living increase sought by the higher paid pilots (admittedly, to cover a number of years) will be greater than the total gross annual salary, post increase, of the lower paid.

It may be time the trade unions and so on revisit this 37-year-old model.

Diarmuid Murphy, Wexford

Old age matters for both Biden and Trump when it comes to running the US

A few days before seeing the debate between Joe Biden (81) and Donald Trump (78), I saw the French debate between that country’s prime minister, Gabriel Attal (35), the chief of the main far-right party, Jordan Bardella (28), and the hard-left MP Manuel Bompard (38).

Quite a contrast. There was certainly the age of the participants, but not only that.

The French debaters knew their files thoroughly and really spoke in impeccable language, but not their American counterparts.

It is clear Trump is a political ignoramus who lives in a parallel world. Considering the importance of the US and its highest office, all the falsehoods and distortions that this alley cat spouted seemed incredible.

As for Biden, we have clearly seen that he is a very experienced politician who knows his issues well, but his problem is age, which prevented him from expressing himself clearly and correctly.

The debate certainly did not help him convince many undecided and independent people.

The US constitution requires a presidential candidate to be at least 35 years old to run. I recommend that the US amend it to prohibit the presidency to any citizen aged 75 and over.

If that article in the constitution had existed, Trump and Biden would have abstained, for the good of democracy and to the delight of the friends of the US.

For the health of the planet, it is essential the US remain democratic.

Sylvio Le Blanc, Montreal, Canada

Football is a funny old game of paradoxes when it comes to the greats

With the Euros in full swing , one is reminded of a quote from the late football great Bobby Robson: “We didn’t underestimate the opposition, they were just much better than we had expected.”

Tom Gilsenan, Beaumont, Dublin 9

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