Many CIÉ pensioners are on very low pensions. For example, one member of the Regular Wages Scheme in his 90s has a CIÉ pension of €52 per week, with no increase since 2008 after 46 years of service to the State.
To illustrate this injustice, take this case of two sisters. One became a teacher and the other a CIÉ clerk. Both paid a D-type stamp. Each retired the same year, 2004, after full service to the State. Both had legitimate expectations that their pensions would at least keep in line with the cost-of-living increases.
From 2004 to 2008, these expectations were realised as both received pay parity in line with public service norms.
Then we had an economic crash in Ireland, resulting in public servants and others not receiving any increase in their pensions for a number of years.
However, as the economy recovered, public servants and others began to receive cost-of-living increases around 2016, including teachers. But there was no increase for the CIÉ clerk.
We have learned that the CIÉ executive board decided in 2009 not to grant further increases for pensioners, which is still in place today, effectively freezing their pensions.
(Note that CIÉ pensioners who paid a D-type stamp in some cases receive less than the State pension and no other State benefits.)
Having raised this matter over the past five years with politicians from all parties and Independent TDs, including ministers, it would appear that there is no justice in sight for CIÉ pensioners.
It would also appear that the organs of the State have no interest in resolving this issue. Justice delayed is justice denied.
Reviewing the excellent coverage of the Corn Uí Mhuirí GAA in the sports supplement (November 14), I couldn’t help but notice the discrepancy in the standard of football being played in Cork and Kerry schools.
In three of the group games, three Cork colleges conceded a combined total of 8-36 against their Kerry counterparts while only scoring a total of 3-14.
Another match contested by two Cork colleges resulted in a low-scoring draw with 1-5 a piece.
Two Cork colleges were successful at group game stage, one against Tipperary opposition and the other winning out in a match between two Cork teams.
These results would leave any lover of Cork football very disillusioned.
Second-level college football played at a high competitive level helps identify and improve young players for both their club and county respectively. They have the opportunity to play and train with players of a higher ability, which will give them the confidence to perform at a higher level and possibly a bigger stage later in their development. This, I’ve no doubt, is what happens to some extent in Kerry, such is the success of their schools and county minor teams in recent years.
Having taught for many years in a Navan college with a strong Gaelic football ethos, winning two Hogan Cups and runner-up in two finals, I can testify to success coming from a drive within the school management and dedicated members of staff. There also has to be a willingness on the part of the county board to accommodate second-level students by providing space on the fixture calendar to allow competition to run uninterrupted.
If our county has serious ambitions to progress at national under-age and senior football levels in the future, then a full root-and-branch assessment, with a view to putting a workable strategy in place in our second-level schools in Cork county, is necessary. This process should begin immediately. Only then can we begin to seriously compete with our Kerry counterparts.
Historically, the unionist/loyalist community has had legitimate concerns that their British heritage would not be safeguarded if and when a nationalist/republican took on the role of first minister in Stormont.
However, on Remembrance Sunday at the cenotaph in Belfast, First Minister Michelle O’Neill demonstrated her commitment to represent everyone equally through words and actions by placing a laurel wreath in memory of Irish men and women from Northern Ireland who were lost in both world wars. Despite the deeply held concerns of some in the nationalist/republican community, the historic action of Ms O’Neill suggests Irish men and women who lost their lives during the world wars and who have a British dimension to their Irishness will have a place in the commemorative memory of a united Ireland. I applaud the first minister for stepping outside the historical box.
As citizens, we are faced with a bill of between €1.5bn and €2.5bn for the fixing of defects in apartments built between 2001 and 2015.
In the light of this, it might be useful to ask all the political parties and the politicians running for office if they received donations over this period from any of the construction companies or their owners that were involved in the building of these places. After all, the construction industry has not been notably reticent in the past about making such contributions. If they did, would it not be appropriate for parties to give this money to the State to help cover the costs of cleaning up after the builders? This might be more constructive than simply being angry at them, as the housing minister claims he is.
As we observe the International Day of Tolerance on November 16, it is an opportunity to pause and reflect on the true essence of tolerance. Tolerance is not merely about tolerating differences but about respecting and embracing the diversity of others — recognising their right to hold distinct beliefs, practices, and perspectives. It calls for understanding, appreciation, and acceptance without prejudice, even when we may not agree.
From an Islamic perspective, tolerance and respect are foundational values. As a Muslim and a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, I am deeply committed to these principles. The Prophet Muhammad taught that kindness and love for others are essential to faith, saying: “You will not enter paradise until you have faith; and you will not have faith until you love one another.” He demonstrated this love for all of humanity by honouring a Jewish funeral procession, asking: “Was he not a human?”
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community’s motto, ‘Love for All, Hatred for None’, reflects this unwavering commitment to peace, empathy, and respect for all people, regardless of their background or beliefs. On this International Day of Tolerance, let us reaffirm our shared responsibility to build a world rooted in mutual respect, tolerance, empathy, and compassion.
Elon Musk is the world’s richest man, is the owner of one of the biggest social media platforms, and, one could argue, is now the US president-elect’s latest bedfellow. It leaves me wondering if X is now an arm of the US government.
One has to ask: What is happening to the podcast space in America? Why can’t centrists find the influence that the right now wields in the US?
At the US election, it’s my contention that Donald Trump won on the margins. I believe he did that by bringing in new people to the electorate. Mr Trump amplified these new people through social media, digital media, and podcasts, and through streamers and influencers.
I believe Democrats were preaching to the choir, preaching to the chorus.
Mr Musk’s support of the Trump campaign, allied to their use of social media, made this a slam dunk for the president-elect and Republican Party.
W McGuire’s itemisation of Barack Obama’s positive achievements (Your View, November 14) needs to be balanced with a clear-eyed acknowledgement of his failings. Mr Obama was, indeed, “the first black American president” but this makes his “refusal to use his position as president to intervene on behalf of African Americans” (in the words of author Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor) all the more reprehensible.
Mr Obama may have promised to “reduce... the threat of nuclear weapons” but, by the time he left office, “Washington was well along in a modernisation program that is making nearly all of its nuclear weapons more accurate and deadly” (in the words of investigative journalist Scot Paltrow).
Having campaigned against the Iraq war while a senator, as president he instituted a ‘kill list’ targeting suspected “Islamist terrorists”, sometimes including children and US citizens. Political scientist Micah Zenko dubbed him “a drone president”, pointing out that the 542 drone strikes he authorised during his presidency killed an estimated 3,797 people, including 324 civilians. Mr Obama boasted that it “turns out I’m really good at killing people”.
Although the media hyped Mr Obama’s supposedly bad relationship with Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu, towards the end of his presidency he signed off on the largest military assistance US aid package to Israel. This may have facilitated the current genocidal actions of the Netanyahu regime in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon.
Let’s face it, Mr Obama was no better and no worse than his predecessors and successors in the job.