Letters to the Editor: Retiring ageing and dud politicians
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There is a joke that an indicator for mental incompetency is that you would want to be a politician at all although most are actually sincere and hardworking but, in recent times, some have faltered. It is assumed our politicians are the best we have to lead us but if we tested them all for mental acuity, moral fibre and honesty, many could soon be unemployed.
Many occupations have a retirement age so that people can enjoy themselves before the effects of age slow them but, in reality, it is often to get rid of them before they are no longer able to do their jobs and become a drag on the business.
Although it is being discussed with enthusiasm, these tests are not going to voted for, in fear that a number of politicians will be removed and, if they apply the moral fibre and honesty tests as well, many parliaments might be close to empty.
Think about who you vote for and select someone who will make the country a better place.
Tom McElligott is of the opinion that ‘Catholic guilt’ invariably leads to shame about sex and sexuality [Irish Examiner, September 2]. Really!
The phrase, ‘Catholic guilt’, is spewed out with monotonous regularity as being responsible for everything bar none.
Mr McElligott needs to realise that nobody and nothing can make one feel guilt without one’s consent. Time for him and his ilk to liberate themselves from their self-induced constraints and engage in whatever takes their fancy.
The decision by Iceland to allow the resumption of commercial whaling is truly disgusting.
Tighter regulations won’t lessen the painful deaths these magnificent mammals will suffer when the ban is lifted. Whale populations are already under threat from fishing nets, increased shipping traffic, plastic and climate change.
Will humans ever learn? It is us humans who are responsible for the climate crisis. It is us who are to blame for the destruction of millions of species of animals, insects, plants and marine life. Over half of our eco-systems are at risk of collapse.
We don’t own this planet. We don’t own the animals, insects or plants that we share it with.
They’re not responsible for the perilous health of our planet. We are. They have as much right to live here as we do.
When I lived in England, I was a member of what used to be the CTC, now Cycling UK, and I had very good insurance included in my membership.
I never needed it and never thought about it. I just knew it was there.
Now I’m back living in Ireland, I can’t get public liability and legal insurance for when I’m out leisure riding my bicycle. None of the existing insurance policies, be it those through cycling organisations here or those available commercially, provide that cover.
Personally, I think this is vital for anyone who owns a property and whose children ride bikes. As you know, we live in fierce litigious times.
I think the reaction to the EPA tweet is unedifying: it gives us a peep at how things work with the IFA wielding power over EPA and government to an unhealthy degree.
The tweet made a statement that we read regularly on social media, quite harmless dietary advice about red meat.
What is off putting is the haste at which the EPA pulled the statement because the IFA were not happy. It shows that the IFA is an out of touch organisation which wields huge influence.
How do they expect ordinary Joes like me to be able to afford these EVs that cost on average €35k upwards, not to mind the cost of charging them.
The motor industry tells us they are a lot cheaper than diesel or petrol cars to run but no mention of the original purchase price which can be anything north of €40K for something half decent. PCP or leasing a car are not options for everyone.
So far all I have seen and heard is the charging infrastructure in Ireland is a shambolic mess and not everyone can charge from home. I can’t.
Minister Eamonn Ryan hasn’t a clue about the motor industry. I for One will never be able to afford an electric vehicle.
The FF/FG/GP government has now agreed that Irish Defence Forces are to train Ukrainian soldiers basic weapons training, not just providing them with non-lethal materials such as body armour.
The war in the Ukraine is rapidly escalating, hundreds of thousands of troops have already been slaughtered as more and more new weapons such as cluster bombs, cancer-inducing depleted uranium munitions and long-range missiles are being used.
With suggestions that neighbouring Nato states may start sending troops into Ukraine, and if so, how will the Russians respond, by attacking these states as well as de facto Nato states like Ireland?
So where will ‘Irish neutrality’ as now defined by this government end? Some suspect part of ‘re-defining’ is an ever-closer partnership with nuclear-armed Nato through the Partnership for Peace (PfP).
Irish neutrality was a core value of the participants of the 1916 Rising, and a core value of de Valera, Collins, and Griffith in their negotiations with the British Empire.
A recent Ipsos Omnipoll revealed 87% of Irish people want a ceasefire and negotiations between Russia and Ukraine but this has been ignored in favour of the views of the 8% that do not want a ceasefire.
Irish people want peace and demilitarisation, and our country is dedicated to the peaceful settlement of international disputes as described so eloquently in Article 29 of the Irish Constitution, a Constitution our government has pledged to honour and uphold.