Letters to the Editor: Realising full potential of the digital euro
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Sceptics often accuse the digital euro of being a ploy to replace cash. However, the use of cash is already in decline due to the popularity of user-friendly digital payments technology.
Although only central banks can issue cash, the vast majority of money in the economy is already a virtual form of private money issued by commercial banks — created by central banks when they make loans.
The digital euro presents an opportunity for EU citizens to store their money at the central bank and make payments and transactions with it. By allowing people to access central bank money (which is currently the privileged right of the private banking system), this would help reduce the stranglehold of a few large private institutions.
Payments and transfers could be made directly from individual to individual through digital euros, without relying on for-profit banks and clearing houses as middlemen.
For full potential of the public digital euro to be realised, it must be based on the same properties as cash: Free of charge and debt-free.
The ECB should not place restrictions on the amount of digital euros an individual can hold, as this would limit people’s freedom to manage their money and benefit the vested interests of the private banking system.
This conservative approach suggested by the ECB would impede the full potential of the digital euro as a means to ensure we don’t lose the public utility of cash as a public payment system.
War is complex. We honour those that serve, and rightfully, and we all hope for no more wars, but they continue to occur. It is obvious that there will be lives lost, always far too many, and they should not be those of innocent bystanders.
The latest move by the USA to provide cluster bombs to Ukrainian forces is simply wrong, not just because they are banned by more than 100 countries, not just because the Russian forces are using them, but because of the impact they have on the general public as it’s not just one bomb to avoid but up to hundreds of bombs, and although smaller they are still deadly.
US president Joe Biden has called it a “very difficult decision” but it is actually the wrong decision; there must be other options to find some end to this conflict.
US president Biden is quite right in sending cluster munitions to Ukraine. He should have done it 12 months ago. The Russians have been using them on populated areas since the start of the invasion.
Ukraine will only be using them on the battlefield. The complaints by rights groups should be ignored completely; they have been silent about Russia using them. Well done Mr Biden.
In the past this country has had a very poor record in dealing with abuse of power, even in comparison with other jurisdictions. It is time to move towards a better culture of responsibility and to begin to learn the lessons of the past. The only question might be: Was the two-month jail sentence too lenient?
Anyway, the common good has not been sacrificed in this case. There will need to be other difficult judgments made in the future no doubt, but we can build on this decision, which helps to send out a clear, unambiguous message.
Why water tankers cannot be brought to the various villages on a rota is beyond me. My suggestion to have a water tanker come to Ballycotton one week, Shanagarry the next, Cloyne next, and so on, has just fallen on deaf ears.
We do have a right to have access to a clean fresh water supply, this would surely help in the meantime.
We are constantly being encouraged to be more environmentally aware, and yet in this area, the amount of plastic being generated is obscene.
I appreciate the upgrade cannot be done overnight, but this would alleviate the problem somewhat.
I totally agree with Eoin Fitzpatrick when he says that if this issue was a Dublin one, heaven and earth would be moved to have it sorted.
We have been much much too quiet down here; our public representatives need to take much more strenuous action on this issue.
He was also the custodian of a treasure trove of documentation inherited from his father Bob, who held the Dáil seat prior to his retirement in 1969.
I was allowed unfettered access to this private archive when researching — a comprehensive biography of Bob Briscoe’s unique activities in two revolutionary movements against the British Empire.
It would now be a fitting tribute if this archive was donated to a public institution in order for a wider understanding of the tremendous contribution of the Briscoe family to the states of Ireland and Israel.
While the behaviour of our politicians on this environmental issue disappoints me, it does not surprise me as a resident of Fermoy, where the most basic environmental infrastructure, a civic amenity site, has been denied to the population of the Fermoy municipal area through the years.
Stress in its many forms, eg deprivation of water or food, rough handling, exhaustion due to transporting over long distances, mixing of animals reared separately, is unacceptable from an animal welfare viewpoint and should also be avoided because of its deleterious effects on meat quality.
From loading on the farm to the stunning pen, animals must be treated kindly. Stress immediately prior to slaughter, such as fighting or rough handling, causes stored glycogen (sugar) to be released into the bloodstream. After slaughter this is broken down in the muscles, producing lactic acid.
This high level of acidity causes a partial breakdown of the muscle structure, causing the meat to be pale, soft, and exudative. Such meat has a high pH and spoils very quickly as the low acidity favours rapid bacterial growth.
When handling animals during transport and lairage, an electric goad should be used rather than a stick or tail-twisting, not only to avoid stress but also to prevent carcass bruising. Unsightly bruising caused by striking an animal with a stick or fist not only causes loss of product but is also inhumane.