Letters: In praise of the kindness of strangers at a frightening time

Sir — I was travelling home from the Leinster v Ulster rugby game in Dublin last Saturday when I was taken ill on the Belfast-bound train.

The train was headed up by Stephen and he had very efficient and sympathetic staff.

Assistance was requested and I was immediately attended to by Peter, a medical student from Northern Ireland, quickly followed by Seán, a doctor associated with Dundalk RFC, and by Angela, a GP from Armagh and Chelsey, a nurse from Belfast, none of whom had ever met before but who all came to offer assistance.

In a short space of time, I was in the hands of the paramedics and taken by ambulance to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.

There, I received excellent attention from a myriad of medics, of Irish and other nationalities, who all worked together magnificently to ensure that I received the very best of care.

Thankfully, after all the diverse tests, I have been assured by the medical staff at the hospital that my prognosis is positive.

This rather scary experience proved to me that Ireland is truly a wonderful place, where the vast majority of people of all classes and creeds live and work together for the common good.

I am extremely grateful to each and every one for the kindness shown to me at the time I needed it most.

Denis Templeton, Crawfordsburn, Co Down

Cruelty to horses calls for immediate action

Sir — Is there any right-minded citizen in this country who was not moved to tears and horror after watching the RTÉ ­Investigates documentary on horse ­racing’s dark and secret underside?

Let’s be clear: we should be shocked and horrified at these inhumane practices. But we should not be shocked to know that they are taking place right here, right now, under our noses.

As human beings, we have domesticated lots of breeds of animals. We owe it to them to at least try to have them treated with respect and dignity.

Tim Sheehy, Newbridge, Co Kildare

​Sir — I felt a sense of deja vu watching Wednesday night’s report because five years ago a similar gut-wrenching exposé on the greyhound industry showed dogs that had outlived their value as runners being disposed of; and that programme also alluded to the thousands of greyhounds that go missing each year.

Missing dogs, missing horses and compassion missing, too, it seems, in the ranks of our political leadership. So much money doled out… just to keep horses and dogs running around in circles.

At the very least, the Government should stop subsidising these activities. And people who fancy a flutter or a visit to a racetrack might reflect on what they are supporting.

I would like to think the Government will respond to the RTÉ report, an example of public broadcasting at its best. But I wouldn’t bet on it.

John Fitzgerald, Callan, Co Kilkenny

Sir — The abattoir in Kildare should be closed immediately and the owners should never receive another licence.

Breeding of horses must be controlled and regulated. Trainers must be vetted. The money given to Irish horse racing must be re-evaluated. Basically, this scandal is all about money.

When horses can no longer race or are no longer useful they are sent for slaughter. The owners of all the animals should be ashamed to send their horses to be terrorised and tortured in the conditions depicted.

Teresa Mitchell, Arklow, Co Wicklow

Sir — Seeing this unspeakable, mindless violence and viciousness I am left wondering how the people who benefit from the work of these noble animals can leave them to suffer when their useful life is over.

I speak of the breeders, trainers, owners and punters. How do they sleep at night?

Rose McNeive, Cliff Road, Tramore

Sir — Deja vu all over again. In July last year, the RTÉ ­Investigates team uncovered animal welfare concerns at marts around the country and concerns about the transport of bull calves to mainland Europe.

Frankly, these two exposés show Agriculture Minister ­Charlie McConalogue and his ­department in a very shoddy light. Either the department does not want to know what is going on, or it is not efficient at keeping tabs on what is going on. Either situation is far from ideal.

Rosaleen Crotty, Allensbach, Germany

English obsession is a glaring Irish own goal

Sir — Conor McKeon writes that we shouldn’t feel guilty about wanting to see England fail at Euro 2024 (Sport, June 9).

He is not giving the love to Declan Rice, our former international player and his underachieving compatriots. I used to think it was a superiority complex that was England’s undoing, but it is the opposite. They can’t cope with failure and have to build themselves up — an ­ingrained inferiority complex.

However, I will as always rise above any inbuilt prejudice in the hope that they do succeed.

Aidan Roddy, Cabinteely, Dublin 18

​Sir — It must have been galling for Conor McKeon to have to use the English language. Your paper should give him an all-expenses trip to London, including tickets for an England international at Wembley and the lyrics of ­Football’s Coming Home.

David Hayes, Douglas, Cork

Voters deposit their ire with Green Party

Sir — The drudgery of having to traipse backwards and forwards across town to the new-fangled deposit return machine to retrieve my “deposit” — passing my convenient, empty recycling bin on the way — seems a bit more bearable as I listen to reports that the Green Party has taken a bit of a thumping at the polls.

Some words of advice: they need to seek consensus on the matters they are concerned with rather than constantly intruding into the lives of others with superfluous contrivances.

Jim O’Sullivan, Rathedmond, Co Sligo

Class clowns and star pupils from elections

Sir — The votes are all counted, the seats filled and the political parties have all got their report cards.

Your columnist Eoin O’Malley has given his assessment and it did make for interesting reading (‘McDonald’s loss of momentum brings general election closer’, June 9). But I would like to act as an external examiner and give another perspective.

O’Malley’s report started with Ivana Bacik and Holly Cairns. I think if they were put sitting ­together next term they might have a good influence over one another, but, at the moment, there is a lot of room for improvement.

Scholarship boy Simon ­Harris got the highest grade, but I think your examiner, O’Malley, was a bit harsh on mature student Micheál Martin.

Mary Lou McDonald started so well at the beginning of the term, but has slumped to the back of the class, after being distracted by events out on the street.

I will be examining their progress in more detail next term. Enjoy the holidays.

Thomas Garvey, Claremorris, Co Mayo

Ireland fails to box clever with votes

Sir — The total lack of common sense was stark in the Scoil Íde Naofa, Kilmeade, classroom when I visited last Friday to cast my votes in the European and ­local elections.

One black box into which all the ballot sheets were placed.

Any of the 6th class students, in whose room we were, would have pointed out the obvious solution: two black boxes; one for European sheets and one for local election sheets. How much easier it would be at the other end for the sorters.

Back of the class to the amadán who was so stingy with the boxes.

Kay Lawler, Athy, Co Kildare

Report on abuse by Spiritans is shocking

Sir — I was horrified to read the following in the latest report from the Restore Together group on sexual abuse in Spiritan schools: “The vast majority of cases relate to Willow Park and Blackrock College.”

It frightened me to think I spent eight years of my life boarding in these two so-called elite schools in the 1960s.

Brian McDevitt, Glenties, Co Donegal

Too many consumed by ‘murdering hate’

Sir — Tom McCaughren asks the important moral question of how human beings can kill and maim for the IRA/UVF (‘The incomprehensible inability of violent people to ever say sorry’, June 9).

He correctly notes the lack of remorse shown by the vast majority of perpetrators of violence.

One hundred years ago, Sean O’Casey’s Juno Boyle was pleading: “Take away this murdering hate.”

Sadly, we have ignored her plea, and the UVF/IRA continued to kill into the 21st century.

Paramilitaries kill not because of mental illness, nor individual psychopathy, but specifically because it can work as an effective political tactic.

In 1981, Danny Morrison was refreshingly honest about the republican movement’s dual strategy of the “ballot box in one hand and the ArmaLite in the other”.

This was successful; in 2000, Tony Blair was telling the SDLP’s Seamus Mallon: ‘Your problem, Seamus, is you don’t have any guns.”

Within a year, Sinn Féin had overtaken the SDLP — and have widened the gap ever since.

We can only guess how life in Ireland might have been different if all Irish people had committed themselves to exclusively democratic methods from 1910 onwards. However, that was not the case and we live with the consequences.

Dr Philip McGarry, Belfast

Old friends are gone but not forgotten

Sir — I recently paid a visit to Killaha Cemetery in the parish of Glenflesk, a few miles outside Killarney on the main Cork road. My parents and indeed many of my friends from my childhood are sleeping there.

Memories came flooding back of a happy childhood at a time when life was a lot different.

I emigrated to the US when I was 18 and with my 80th birthday approaching (a bit faster than I’d like) I had a lot of catching up to do.

One thing stood out. The cemetery is immaculate. The grass paths would give competition to Augusta, the home of the US Masters golf. Not a weed nor a discarded flower on show.

And so, last Sunday, while Mary Lou was blaming everyone except her and her party, and Clare and Limerick were duelling it out in Thurles, Mike was happily lost in a Kerry cemetery.

Mike Kelleher, Tramore, Co Waterford

Disabled people are ignored over housing

Sir — The broad housing crisis, as well as the homeless situation for refugees, has become a common feature of press coverage in Ireland. However, I am writing to specifically highlight the personal story affecting my 24-year-old grandson.

I have been his primary caregiver through foster care since he was five years old. He has multiple disabilities, including autism, ADHD, ODD and severe anxiety disorder. Despite his difficulties, he has completed college and managed to secure work thanks to the Wage Subsidy Scheme for employers who hire people with disabilities.

His lone income is too low to afford the private rental prices of today’s market, and so far he has had no option but to continue living with us, his grandparents. Despite joining the waiting list for social housing in June 2021, and applying for several houses through HAP, he has been unable to secure anywhere else to live.

Unfortunately, I am now 78 and in ill-health. Having him live with us and providing the support he requires is ­becoming overwhelming. The local housing authority suggested that we make him homeless in order for him to be given any priority for housing, otherwise he is likely to remain waiting at least 10 years. This suggestion is inhumane and unconscionable.

We have national and local policies to support the housing needs of people with disabilities — for example the National Housing Strategy for Disabled People 2022-2027 — but they seem ineffective and people like my grandson seem to very much fall between the cracks.

I fear the day that I am not here to shelter and advocate for him. How can we secure support and social housing before this becomes a crisis situation and another statistic?

Name and address with editor

Let’s turn the page on literacy levels

Sir — In her article last week (‘Take a good look at your selfie before blaming kids for being phone addicts’), Eilis O’Hanlon lamented the decline in quality of the books that Irish children are reading in this age of the internet.

Eilis highlighted some of the negative consequences of falling reading standards — which she attributes to the prolific use of internet and social media in modern society — but perhaps overlooked the most critical side-effect of this digital phenomenon: its impact upon literacy as a key life skill.

In a world of abbreviated slang, speech-to-text applications and AI technology, children should be encouraged now more than ever to simply read whatever books interest them if a slide in literacy levels is to be arrested.

The concern should be less about what type of books children are reading and more about whether they are actually reading in the first instance.

Over the next three months, Summer Stars will take place in all Irish public libraries.

This free, national reading programme encourages children to read for enjoyment, with the added objective of keeping up the practice of reading during the holidays when children are out of their school routines.

The core message of Summer Stars is that if you read for fun then you will read for life, regardless of whether your preference is for Ulysses or Dog Man: Lord of the Fleas.

Enda McEvoy, Laois County Library Service

Daytime dance party in our shops is a drag

Sir — I had a nice day out in our capital city recently, but it was almost ruined by a modern-­day phenomenon: loud thumping music in shops and cafes.

So, Dublin shop managers, please turn it off.

John O’Sullivan, Dublin 11

Irish athletes relay a message of fair play

Sir — What a joy to see the celebrations for our wonderful female athletes who brought honour and glory to our country at the European Championships. I was so pleased to see our noble flag, which stands for tolerance and fair play for all, at an event of joy and positivity.

In contrast, our flag has been most evident lately at events of protest and intolerance. Our ­Tricolour unfortunately has no say in where it ends up.

Our relay teams typify the ­Ireland that I love, which is built on that great Irish custom of inclusiveness.

Pat Burke Walsh, Ballymoney, Gorey, Co Wexford

Jewish heritage key to Bloom’s character

Sir — Leopold Bloom is one of the most famous real or imaginary Dubliners who ever lived; he is also one of the most famous fictional characters of Jewish ­descent in world literature.

Although fictional, the character of Leopold Bloom is firmly rooted in a historic reality. As well as living in the pages of James Joyce’s Ulysses, he also lives on the streets of ­modern-day Dublin where he is invariably encountered on tours of the city. A plaque on a house in Clanbrassil Street commemorates his place of birth.

Such is our longstanding ­affection for Leopold Bloom and his wife Molly that we named a day especially after them — and, as a result, Bloomsday is now celebrated around the world.

In celebrating Leopold Bloom, we celebrate his Jewish heritage, which is a hugely important part of his character and identity. We also condemn the antisemitism he experiences. Given the world we live in today and as a fellow Dubliner, I think it’s important to say this again.

Chris Fitzpatrick, Terenure, Dublin 6

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