Letters to the Editor: Policies undermine energy security
Developed, Istock Way Green Energy Be Picture: Forward Joe And The Must Writes Is Brennan
We will continue to be harnessed with the servicing of debt exceeding €230bn for years to come and will continue to lurch from one energy crisis to another due to that lack of vision and courage.
This Government’s privatisation policies favour the corporate sector, leaving the people to struggle to maintain a decent standard of living, and subject to the vagaries of the casino-like stock markets.
That so many billions of euro have been ‘coming on stream’ for some time now with precious little, if any, debate given to creating a totally-owned and independent national green-energy industry together with advanced green-energy research facilities for the future simply beggars belief.
Of all commodities, green energy is the one we should not be market-reliant upon.
So much else would flow from the success of this vision, with an assured and continuing source of revenue going to the exchequer to mend our broken health, housing, communications, and energy infrastructures.
The fear is that a lot of that wealth will be squandered in their desperate bid to maintain power and control. Having ditched their old ideology, maintaining power is now all that matters, whatever the cost. The planet is now in survival mode, with globalised international trade a bit of a dogfight. Energy independence is not just desirable but vital for the wellbeing of all our people. There is no room for the abdication of responsibility by the Government parties, as has happened before. Take the Corrib gasfield, Bord Gáis, Whitegate power station (gas-fired).
Now green energy is the way forward and must be developed with ownership and control by the nation a top priority.
In Irish traditional music there is a well-known jig and a lesser-known reel, both named ‘Apples in Winter’.
Perhaps our recent Apple ‘windfall’ might inspire one of our distinguished traditional musicians to complete the trilogy.
A waltz would be entirely appropriate, given that it is characterised by the intimacy of embracing couples turning, stepping, and sliding, sometimes with accusations of cavorting, leaving many in polite European society shocked when it was introduced in Vienna in the 18th century — all evocations of our own 21st century relationship with Apple Inc.
I acknowledge that any such composition should really be called ‘Apples in Autumn’ but winter hasn’t been too far from the doorstep all year.
I find it a little ironic that the daa describes the (An Bord Pleanála draft decision on night flights) as a “backwards step”, given that its initial application aimed to reduce noise protections.
The original application for the Noise Quota Scheme was modelled on the scheme used in Heathrow, Gatwick, and Stansted, but notably it excluded the movement limit that is a fundamental part of the Noise Quota Scheme.
The quota and movement limit are designed to operate together — one without the other does not make sense.
The recent ruling from An Bord Pleanála simply restores this essential component. In Heathrow the overall annual night-time movement limit is 5,800, in Stansted it is 13,700, and 14,450 in Gatwick. Although not directly comparable to Dublin, it would seem the draft decision with a limit of 13,000 is broadly in line with the schemes upon which the original application was based.
If the intention was not the correct and complete application of the Noise Quota Scheme, then one must wonder what was intended from this process?
Israel’s Ambassador to Ireland, Dana Erlich, who was recalled in May over Ireland’s decision to recognise the State of Palestine, expressed in a recent article the notion of bafflement as to what she cites as Ireland’s lack of empathy for the predicament of Israel.
I totally understand Ms Erlich’s position and the views she holds when it comes to this country.
I find it rather discombobulating to say that any condemnation of Israel’s policies appears to me to now sadly sit beside racism.
I would like to ask Ms Erlich, how can people express what they believe to be their honestly-held views apropos what is happening in the Middle East if Israel perceives it as a personal attack?
The vast preponderance of Irish people do not wish to offend the Jewish people but surely we have a right to express our disdain and odium over the actions of Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right coalition for their egregious actions.
We condemn Hamas’ terror attack on Israel on October 7 that killed over 1,200 people. The Gaza death toll so far surpasses 41,200. That old idiom, “two wrongs don’t make a right” has to be apposite to the above.
I believe that it is incumbent on all of us to use our voices to speak out against Netanyahu’s administration vis-a-vis the loss of life in Gaza. Ms Erlich has to understand that voicing one’s opinion on the awful policies of the Israeli prime minister does not infer that one is promoting antisemitism.
If we decide to stay quiet, we would be giving Netanyahu a free hand in doing whatever he wishes. I have to ask Ms Erlich, which of these alternatives does she believe is the least bad?
On an ongoing holiday break in Portugal’s Algarve, I am struck by a to-me novel but obvious traffic speed control used here to ensure motorists reduce their speed when approaching villages or indeed on open stretches of road that tempt motorists to exceed the 50km limit.
While Ireland flashes your speed and appeals to civic responsibility to slow down, here if you exceed the 50km limit, a traffic light ahead of you goes red. If you are within the speed limit, it remains green. It works.
Regarding John Fogarty’s article ‘Before celebrating the wonderful child you have, you mourn the one you don’t’ — great article, true in every sense. Still the Government continues to break its own laws, with empty promises.
Early intervention is of vital importance; those years can never be recovered, but it doesn’t seem to matter to minsters elected to do their job, Hildegarde Naughton being the present minister.
I am so very disappointed in Simon Harris, who has personal knowledge of lack of vital services for these children — no excuse whatsoever — so the fight will go on by parents for their much-loved children that the State is failing.
Fergus Finlay has, as he always does, absolutely got to the nub of this issue and highlighted it in stark terms.
Not a single religious organisation has offered to compensate the victims of whole-scale child rape by their employees or those who aided and abetted the crimes of the rape of children and children with disabilities.
Where is the Nuremberg Trial of these monsters?
The apologies will continue to ring hollow until they, the churches, and the organisations are made to pay for their crimes.
I entirely agree with Fergus Finlay that victims need to see the perpetrators of these crimes punished.
What comfort does it give victims that Irish citizens subsidise the crimes of priests who raped children with mental disabilities and organisations which allowed it?
Another whitewash won’t cut it. With an election coming up, we press every public representative for a commitment that the religious organisations will be required to pay reparation for their horrific crimes.
Maybe then the crocodile tears might become more real.