Letters to the Editor: Experts urge Government to locate one new vet school in west Munster
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The Government announcement of a potential two new vet schools, referred to in Stephen Cadogan’s article — ‘New schools to address the critical shortage of veterinarians’ (Irish Examiner Farming, October 10) — at first glance looks like a positive development.
On closer examination, there are a number of problems with this proposal.
Veterinary education is the most expensive undergraduate course offered in the State. The UCD vet school in Belfield campus cost €44m in 2001. The proposed €50m capital funding spread over two vet schools — including four sites — will not deliver sustainable veterinary education courses.
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The annual cost per student of the 82 students entering under the CAO system in the UCD vet school is well above the State and student contributions. UCD vet school is part-funded through an intake of 40 North American graduate entry students annually, these students pay at a much higher rate. A small cohort vet school, like the two proposed by the Government, will cost more per student than the UCD model does — this is the main reason there are no proven vet schools of this (40) student cohort size in the Western world.
Attracting essential veterinary specialist teaching staff depends largely on the placing in the QS World University Rankings. This reality will create a major issue for ATU and SETU in their search for the quality of staff necessary to achieve professional accreditation standards for their course.
The Veterinary Working Group is asking the State to revisit this decision and to locate one new vet school of practical size (90+ students annually) in a ranked university in the west Munster agriculture-rich region. The €50m the State has allocated for veterinary education will go a long way towards achieving this, to the benefit of all concerned. This option will be both sustainable and bring increased research money into the State.
How low can the world of sport sink, given we have already seen poisoned chess pieces and the kneecapping of opponents in ice skating?
There are accusations, unproven so far, of cheating in the World Conker Championships where the winner was accused of using a metal conker to win given he had one in his pocket — ‘Cheating alleged after men’s world conker champion found with steel chestnut’ (Irish Examiner, October 15/16).
If both had used metal conkers, the clang would have been obvious but only one person had that metal conker in their pocket.
Sometimes it’s obvious when there is cheating, but sometimes it isn’t, so we shall have to watch the judges’ deliberations and the video replays.
If the world of conkers isn’t clean I think it’s time to cancel all sports competitions and head home to sit on the couch for your remaining days.
Mick Clifford’s article — ‘Sinn Féin is hampered by outdated mentality’ (Irish Examiner, October 10) — is a good analysis of why Sinn Féin is still running the party as if it was still representing the IRA instead of the people of Ireland. The fact that two members have departed in the last week, shows it is not a party that has its members or the public at heart. The party seems to want to sue the press when the coverage is negative or shines a bad light on it. The party had to be aware of the references being sought by a former press officer.
The party leaders in Northern Ireland and in the Republic are well able to lead but seem to have not moved forward in dealing with all party issues and problems.
The Sinn Féin party needs a complete overhaul and also needs to be able to elect a leader in the usual way the rest of the parties do. It still deals with issues in the way that its former leader would have done.
The party wants to keep everything hidden but if they were in power, they would have access to the security details of the State.
They cannot have it both ways by hiding their issues while having access to others and having the power to expose other individuals or parties.
Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, and the Green Party members of the Government must be delighted with all the negative coverage of Sinn Féin at the present time.
The reason being of course is that we are now not hearing practically anything about the scandals of the children’s hospital, the housing crisis, the outrageously high rents, and thousands of homeless people throughout the country.
The Government parties, in spite of what they say, have little or no interest in the homeless, because without an address they would have no vote in an election anyway.
Failed government policies over the past two decades or so have ensured that many couples, even with good jobs, are unable to secure a mortgage with average house prices costing up to three times the level they are in France. It should be remembered that during the 1950s hundreds of houses were constructed in Ireland at a time when money was in very short supply.
In my opinion, the Irish people have been suffering because of useless governments for almost as long as I can remember, and it is becoming more difficult with each passing day to have any real faith in them.
The Irish Examiner's editorial last Saturday deplored the Israeli military attacks on UN posts in Lebanon, pointing out that firing on peacekeepers “is usually the province of deranged warlords, militia chiefs, combatants in civil wars, tribal leaders, frustrated dictators, and those who believe that might is right”, and then expressed some surprise that Israel would do such a thing (‘Blessed are the peacekeepers’, Irish Examiner, October 12).
I’m not sure why one would be surprised. This is not the first time that Israeli forces have fired on UN blue helmets. Moreover, the Israeli State fits neatly into at least one of the categories you have listed — it plainly believes that “might is right” — but, also, it is difficult to find an international law regarding warfare that Israel has not ignored, particularly in the past 12 months. It has shown no respect for international humanitarian law in Gaza, where refugee shelters have been bombed, hospitals gutted, ambulances targeted, journalists, media, health, and aid workers blown up, and many thousands of children killed and maimed.
Worse still, Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right government have been allowed to get away with all of this. This is why they had no reservations about moving on to Lebanon.
And it is clear they now want to force out the UN peacekeepers and observers because they wish to do in southern Lebanon what they have done in Gaza.
In your editorial, you also remark that what democracies want from “the US right now is leadership”. I’m afraid such expectations are a part of the problem. It is in effect requesting “leadership” from an active participant. The US is not a neutral party. Rather than seeking “leadership” from the US, those governments that support international and humanitarian law should focus instead on pressuring the US to end the slaughter it is actively enabling.
In that regard, the Taoiseach Simon Harris failed the Palestinian people during his recent meeting with US president Joe Biden when he talked in general terms about the horror in Gaza but did not call for a halt to US arms supplies to Israel. Mr Biden could end the Gaza catastrophe at any time, but he has clearly chosen not to.
At a time when much of the liberal media is sanitising its coverage of the war in Gaza and now Lebanon, the is to be commended in calling Israel to account with its no-nonsense, straight-to-the-point headlines.
'Israeli attacks ‘not accidental’' on the front page of your Weekend edition (October 12) to Dorcha Lee’s ‘Is Israel trying to force Unifil out of South Lebanon?’ on page 10, and your editorial on page 14, ‘Blessed are the peacekeepers’, are some of the best news reporting this writer has seen in the year-long offensive by Israel.
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Whatever one thinks of the man, and many journalists in particular loathe him, Paddy Cosgrave was right about Israel. And all the big companies, many of them with Irish connections and Irish CEOs who criticised him almost a year ago, are now the ones with serious ethical and moral dilemmas they will eventually have to face up to in their dealings with Israel.
They should be named and called out as it is only through economic pressure that Israel will be forced to comply with international law and order. Keep up the good work.