Letters to the editor: Invest in counselling and psychotherapy services
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As the general election approaches, the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy views this as a crucial opportunity for each political party to prioritise mental health in its election manifesto, with a commitment to investing in counselling and psychotherapy services that would alleviate pressure on waiting lists and improve the wellbeing of people.
Firstly, we urge the members of the next Dáil Éireann and government to introduce a Vat exemption for counselling and psychotherapy services. This would establish parity of esteem with other health professionals and make vital therapeutic services accessible to those who need them most.
Secondly, we are calling for recognition of counselling and psychotherapy services as eligible for tax relief. In our recent survey, conducted by Behaviour & Attitudes (B&A), 88% of Irish adults supported this policy change, highlighting the public’s desire for greater access to mental health care.
Finally, we welcome the extension of the Pilot Programme of Counselling to 61 urban Deis primary schools in Dublin and urge its expansion to cover all primary and secondary students nationwide. This would facilitate young people to get access to mental health support when they need it.
During the general election campaign, it is essential that counselling and psychotherapy services be given the recognition they deserve in our public discourse, with each political party making a commitment to prioritise implementing the measures outlined during the next Dáil term.
I found Sarah Horgan’s article on Monday’s Irish Examiner apropos to an exciting new project at University College Cork(UCC) to be a most compelling read.
This new project at UCC will use infrared technology to read messages written in the pages of medieval texts, which up to now wouldn’t have been legible.
A sincere word of thanks for the generous donation towards this programme which was provided by the philanthropist Brian McCarthy and Fexco.
These buried messages in these invaluable medieval texts such as the Book of Lismore, may for the first time in centuries, be readable and for this we thank Mr McCarthy for his lavish contribution to our history.
The learned people of the middle ages who preserved our history and our marvellous traditions need to be applauded too.
This is why it is incumbent on all of us in paying back this debt to our ancestors by striving to understand what these medieval books are actually saying to us.
It’s my contention that medieval history encourages rigour and seriousness about how one handles one’s sources as well as assisting us in distinguishing truth from fiction in today’s world which we all could do with a bit more of.
The 19th century British-born academic and historian Goldwin Smith once uttered the following words which I find apposite to the above: “No student can fail to see the moral interest of the Middle Ages any more than an artist can fail to see their aesthetic interest.”
The country would be very much better off getting rid of long bank holiday weekends altogether.
Problem number one: A spate of people die on the roads over these weekends almost invariably, with huge loss of life as our insurance premiums soar.
Problem number two: there is a significant lag in people’s work performance and communication in getting back into the swings of things after these weekends are over with a big alcohol aftermath factor, coupled with forgetfulness and dismissiveness in getting things done.
I am very sorry to see Graham Rowntree depart. l don’t know what prompted the decision. Perhaps we will know in time. He can be proud of his record, URC winners 22/23 and they topped this league last season.
I feel there was a lot of hurt and questioning within the squad with the failure to close out the last two games in Thomond and win the league. The form seemed to drop ever before loss to Glasgow.
If my memory serves me, we were very sluggish against Ulster and lost our way against Glasgow. Why? The URC with the inclusion now of top-tier South African teams has made it very competitive and to win it is no mean achievement and Munster’s wins at the death down there in 2023 is testament of Graham’s ability.
He is a real rugby guy in my opinion. l wish him and his family all the best and thank him.
To this day, 59 years later, I can remember being overawed by the splendour of the ruins of the great temples of Bacchus, Venus and Jupiter in the City of Baalbeck, one hour east of Beirut in the Bekaa Valley, the legacy of the Roman Empire’s grandeur and power in the BC history of the region. Like many other countries in that part of the Middle East, it has a history of multi denominational occupations, many wars, whose histories are written in blood.
That was 1965, when Beirut, as Lebanon’s capital, was the shining light of prosperity, culture and the financial services mecca of the oil rich nations in the Gulf States.
Today, Lebanon is in ruins and the late Robert Fisk’s Pity the Nation traces the steps of its history resulting in its current obscurity from the land of milk and honey to the barbarity of civil war, invasion and occupation.
It grieves me to read of Israel’s bombing onslaughts on the city of Baalbeck, which in 1984 was declared a UNESCO Heritage Site. This is outright barbarism, of which I am sure many right-minded Israelis would abhor.
Indeed I am convinced that many right-minded Israelis would also abhor the continuing slaughter of women and children, even as they lie in makeshift hospitals in Gaza, without medicines, heat, clothes, food, and water, which gets worse now that UNRWA are barred from carrying out their humanitarian roles.
Not good enough, Mr Netanyahu.
May I ask candidates erecting ‘Vote For Me’ signs to think of road safety? Here in west Waterford, a bend on the N25 limits visibility at the L6044 junction.
At a recent election, the problem was made worse when a sign was placed in the line of sight to oncoming traffic. The hazard was removed after local protests, but stupid self-promotion does not win votes.
Far too many individuals are being murdered in Ireland in recent times. Too many crimes against women and children especially are being committed, but at least most of the perpetrators are being successfully prosecuted in Ireland.
Drug barons and other international criminals are now being successfully targeted in Ireland and internationally and credit is due to all those involved in bringing these criminals to justice. People are also being prosecuted for facilitating or complicity in such crimes. However, the same does not apply to the most heinous of war crimes and crimes against humanity involving mass murder on a huge scale internationally, in Palestine, Lebanon, Sudan and elsewhere.
US military use of Shannon Airport and Irish airspace involves facilitating or being complicit in some of these heinous crimes, especially those being committed in Gaza at present.
All victims of crimes everywhere deserve justice and the rule of law must be properly applied at international levels as well as at national level.
I’m disappointed that so few women appeared on RTÉ’s Leathered. A married female teacher (with children) kept her cane and slaps busy at our rabidly anti-English, priest-ridden rural State school. The female principal (also with numerous children) had no control over either her subordinate or the school. Beating us continued, in spite of inspector visits.
Even senior pupils, and unqualified teachers, could beat younger pupils.
Many of us were beaten for not knowing something; how could we learn anything in such a harsh, sub-standard environment? Many of us went to secondary school with a very poor education in basics.
I certainly don’t owe my considerable educational accomplishments to my primary’ school. The normalised brutality inflicted on me, for five of my earliest years, never dented my love of learning, but I still bear the scars in other ways.