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Mon, 02 Dec, 2024 - 00:22

Why is it that governments overreact when it comes to social media and technology?

First, there was our own pre-primary school smartphone ‘ban’ which led to the €9m (for pouches plus maintenance) budget fiasco and now Australia has initiated plans to ban social media for under 16s. They are underestimating the intelligence of students, who will use spare phones, virtual private networks, or (this next one is very technical) lie about their age when creating an account.

Also, banning things never works. In the past, works by WB Yeats, Oscar Wilde, and Brendan Behan were banned in Ireland, and we all know how that worked out.

At the end of the day, restrictions on media and apps usually lead to a boomerang effect of making them more popular. If lawmakers were serious about online safety, they would hold discussions on how to adapt the algorithms of the Apps to make them more child friendly.

John Jennings, Knocknacarra, Galway

Challenges of safe use of e-scooters

I was emboldened to hear a clarion call from the Road Safety Authority (RSA) of Ireland urging people not to buy e-scooters, scramblers, or quad bikes for children this Christmas.

One is reminded that sadly four e-scooter riders were killed, and 117 were seriously injured, on Irish roads between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2023. It’s a fairly straightforward call out by the RSA to remind people that as they are thinking about buying gifts, to remember e-scooters, scramblers, and quad bikes are not toys, and that they are unsafe for young people on our roads.

Under the law, it’s legal to use an e-scooter if you are 16 or over. I believe it’s incumbent on parents and guardians to ensure children who are 16 or over are familiar with using these e-scooters.

It’s my assertion that this a challenge, because people aren’t as
familiar with the rules of the road as they should be. I think it’s really important for people who are giving a gift of an e-scooter, to somebody aged 16 or over, should ensure that these young people get the necessary training and guidance in using these machines.

I am also very uneasy about quad bikes and scramblers. The fatalities and serious injuries around the use of these devices is rather concerning. These appliances are a big worry whether people are using them on or off public roads. Let’s not forget that these machines are very heavy and powerful and that they are not a toy.

John O’Brien, Clonmel, Co Tipperary

Airbnb rentals are a scourge on our city

The recent news that 208 co-living units in Dun Laoghaire are to be taken out of the rental market for use as Airbnb-style holiday rentals is very dispiriting.

In the Dublin city rent pressure zone where we live, hundreds of homes have been converted from residential use to holiday-lets; this is a disaster for renters and first-time buyers alike.

The volume of inner-city Airbnb-style properties is eroding social cohesion and destroying the already strained community relations. Our home has been targeted by a crime gang who used a neighbouring Airbnb rental as a base to ‘case’ the neighbouring properties.

Another appalling consequence of being surrounded by holiday lets is that many of these rentals do not pay to use the designated waste collection companies; instead they instruct the property cleaners to simply dump their rubbish bags on the nearby streets. Airbnb-style rentals have led to a tsunami of rubbish bags strewn across the city on a daily basis.

Not only has Dublin one of the worst housing crises in Europe, we now also have one of the worst litter problems in Europe. The epidemic and scourge of these holiday rentals needs to end.

John Devlin, Erne Terrace, Dublin 2

Europe and its deindustrialisation

Last week, Europe’s steel industry group Eurofer stated: “The clock has already struck midnight. Europe’s deindustrialisation is accelerating with steel, automotive, renewables and batteries all on the brink. Without immediate action Europe’s manufacturing base will disappear.”

Like climate collapse, it’s amazing how many people are sticking their heads in the sand as the Western world allows manufacturing to move east.

Here in Cork, we have seen how Ford, Dunlop, Irish Steel, Verolme Cork Dockyard, Sunbeam, etc, have gone in modern times.

It is no different in the US, England, Australia, and continental Europe.

Even retail has collapsed now with online purchases from China arriving on our doorsteps within a week.

Maybe in the future our descendants will have to emigrate to Asia and Eastern Europe to find decent employment.

Michael O’Flynn, Friars Walk, Cork

Low turnout for general election

The silent majority have voted by not voting in a super low turnout. What is their message? Is it that they hate the political system and want nothing to do with it because they are so disgusted with it?

Maurice Fitzgerald, Shanbally, Co Cork

A spirited game

Ireland sported the anniversary jersey commemorating 150 years of Irish rugby, and rugby greats from the past. It most have been those ghosts we were passing to every time the ball ending up bouncing on the pitch.

Cillian Campbell, Kinsale, Co Cork

Degrees of leftism

Many commentators are saying that Ireland’s leftist candidates/parties erred by failing to make a pre-election pact.

Such analysis is disingenuous. Or simply dumb. Irish politics is left of centre. So, in any general election, the electorate merely decides what degree of left takes power: Slightly left or more full-on left?

And it’s the former that wins out, the pernicious, elite left, those who condescendingly tell us plebs how we should live our lives whilst they fatten themselves on the cream of others’ endeavours.

Those in Ireland’s political establishment make the pigs in Orwell’s 'Animal Farm' seem trustworthy.

Brendan Corrigan, Granada, Colombia

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