Letters to the Editor: Let’s step up for Zero Emissions Day
Powered Aiming Of Sustainable A Future Brittany Create Lng More To Ferries' Fleet Ships:
As we mark Zero Emissions Day today, it is essential that all transport providers, whether on land, air, or sea, reflect on their role in reducing emissions and safeguarding our planet. At Brittany Ferries, we are proud to be leading the charge for a cleaner future with our fleet of LNG-powered ships.
These state-of-the-art vessels, which include the Salamanca and Santóna, serve passengers on our Rosslare-to-Spain routes. Powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), these ships significantly reduce harmful emissions, virtually eliminating sulphur and soot, and cutting carbon emissions by up to 20%.
Not only are these ships fuelled by the cleanest option available today, but they are also ready to transition to even greener fuels like e-methane or bio-methane as technology evolves into the future.
Brittany Ferries is committed to operating more sustainable travel options, and we have invested heavily in technologies that help us achieve this goal — including the introduction of two new LNG-hybrid ships in spring 2025, which form part of the most ambitious fleet renewal programme in our history.
However, we cannot do this alone. Transport operators must operate as part of a collective to combat climate change, and while this day is symbolic, we need to collectively inspire and invest in long-term change and drive responsibility for sustainability as we transition towards a net-zero society.
As passenger demand continues to grow on our Ireland-Spain and Ireland-France routes, we are proving that sustainability and progress can go hand in hand.
On this Zero Emissions Day, we urge all transport providers to step up, ensuring that together we can create a healthier, more sustainable future for generations to come.
Hugh Bruton, General manager Ireland, Brittany Ferries
One rule for taxis, another for buses
Regarding the taxi driver who wants to have a cash-only business: This driver may lose his licence and business, however, the national bus company can continue to refuse to accept card payment on its services.
Example on the Kinsale route.
Where is the justice here?
Pat Barry, Belgooly, Co Cork
Models where universities can make progress
In a previous letter, I outlined some examples of financial waste within the university sector. In this letter, I would like to present a more positive note where I could see the universities:
1. Progress the current model of learning to promote self-learning supported by expert mentors and technological advancements.
2. Reduce the headcount of lecturers required to deliver a set of courses appropriate to the industry and the thought element relevant to applied/basic university research. This in turn would reduce the funding requirements for the educational element of universities. University research could be treated as a separate matter.
3. Enable front-end development of a range of support courseware modules which would provide the self-learning student with a range of pedagogic tools tailored to their individual learning ability. I coin the term educational software for this complete system.
4. Explore the possibility of offering (selling) these self-learning courseware modules to universities in other countries. To my limited knowledge, no such learning approach is being taken on any widescale basis in other countries.
In what follows only a limited number of salient pointers will be presented. space does not permit for further expansion.
A. SELF LEARNING: The self-learning approach is promoted within this letter. This is in opposition to group learning where issues such as brainstorming and theme sharing are promoted.
The physical environment for self-learning might be an individual study carol with a high-end PC and support equipment. The student would be familiar with self-learning techniques and would be guided by the educational software and a real expert tutor (person). The educational software would be self-paced and the real expert mentor would be available for support on a shared basis(similar to a tutor in a tutoring environment).
It is felt that this model offers the best approach to learning with the ability for the student, when completed, to apply the gained knowledge in different settings as would be the case in real life.
On the contrary group learning promotes group exploration which is not the best for individual problem-solving.
B. LEARNING MATERIAL: A core text is seen as the primary learning tool for the module’s technical content. This text might be developed by a core module design and implementation group directed towards the objective of 3 above. It might be noted that the word technical is seen as generic and would apply to, for example, social science.
The tailored support courseware might include among others: YouTube videos — enhanced YouTube videos — animated simulation software — holographic enhanced simulation software. It might be noted that the online holographic environment is at the early stages of standards development (within ISO) and offers a real system presentation as opposed to the virtual metaverse.
C. COURSE DEVELOPMENT: Currently each course on a similar theme (eg physics, social science, chemistry etc) is developed within each university on an individual basis. Usually a college is not familiar with what other colleges are doing.
Each course must be accredited within each institution and this leads to the expenditure of effort which is duplicated across universities.
This is seen as inefficient and wasteful.
Take for example a computer science degree course. This in general is of four-year duration. The first three might be developed in common across all universities in the State and would represent a significant reduction in resources and, in turn, staff number requirements.
The final year might be tailored to the industry and R&D priorities in the region under consideration.
Option themes might also be considered.
Therefore the learning material in the first three years would be developed on a monopolistic basis and should be comprehensive and clear.
The clarity of the learning experience is emphasised as a primary ‘selling point’ for the approach and would be reflected in the primary text and the educational software experience.
As I mentioned space only allows the above to be presented. I hope it gives a flavour of the approach and system.
Prof Tommy Curran, Retired from DCU
Invest in future, but let’s not go nuts
No politician wants to remove the punch bowl from the party — and we are experiencing a miraculous corporation tax bonanza. This is the result of successive governments' shrewd policies and carefully maintained relationships.
However, the winds and tides are shifting subtly internationally and our surpluses are noticed and naturally envied in other jurisdictions.
It is always a good time to invest in the future but that investment must include some significant hedges and provision for less abundant times.
Remember the “soft landing” we promised ourselves fewer than 20 years ago in a fugue state of groupthink and wishful thinking? Let’s not make that mistake again.
This Government has served the country steadily, durably and well. I, for one, will vote for its return at the next election.
A relatively generous socially protective budget is justified after the inflation absorbed and caused by external events (including a conventional war in Europe) — but let’s keep a hand on the tiller and the other one on the till. Upward and onward.
But let’s not go nuts.
Michael Deasy, Bandon, Co Cork
Downfalls of plastic bottle recycling scheme
I hope I am one of many who believe the plastic bottle recycling scheme was a rushed decision.
It does not make sense to drink from a bottle and not crease the bottle, otherwise it won’t be accepted by the sensitive scan. However, once the returned bottle gets scanned, it is crushed by the machine.
It does not make sense that shops won’t accept the bottles with the return code and just pay money back to customers at the tills but it is ok to charge for every sold bottle.
Returning the bottles can be frustrating. When the machine is full and the bottles are disposed of at a different location than where you want to shop, you can get a voucher from the machine but no other shop accepts this voucher.
The money can be refunded only at the same location where the disposal machine is placed.
It blows my mind how people just accept this.
Is this happening everywhere?
Why can’t we dispose of these bottles at any location and just be given cash back in any shop?
When and where was this national project discussed before implementation? Who signed on the approval of this project?
Uma Omali, Co Offaly