Sir, – Dublin City Council’s announcement that bylaws will be introduced to prohibit the provision of on-street soup kitchens by volunteers (“Bylaws would ban ‘well-meaning’ on-street soup kitchen runs to Dublin homeless”, News, December 27th) is necessary but should be accompanied by the provision of more appropriate responses to the needs of the vulnerable people who rely on these services.
I fully acknowledge the good intentions of the volunteers who provide these soup kitchens and the need for the food they provide.
However, feeding vulnerable people on the street is not a dignified solution to their needs.
Furthermore, the unmanaged expansion of these services has exacerbated the problems associated with the overconcentration of services for vulnerable people in Dublin’s inner city, including homeless hostels, food and addiction services.
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The vast majority of these are situated within a two-mile radius of O’Connell Bridge. This creates significant anti-social behaviour and policing challenges and inequities, both for local residents and for service users, many of whom are forced to travel from Dublin’s suburbs and other parts of Ireland to access the support they need.
The volunteer on-street soup kitchens also create challenges for the operation of the state funded food services for homeless people in Dublin. Several charities are funded to provide these services in dedicated premises across the inner city; however, they also provide showers, clothes and referral to medical, addiction and accommodation services.
Food provision encourages homeless people to engage with these services, build trust and enable them access the other supports they need. The provision of on-street soup kitchens by volunteers undermines this model.
Yet the scale of use of on-street soup kitchens in Dublin indicates that many people who do so are not homeless, but are clearly in food poverty.
Their needs should be met by moving these services into suitable premises and setting up new services as appropriate, but spread across the whole of Dublin, not just concentrated in the inner city.
All four Dublin local authorities should take responsibility for this and work with the volunteer soup kitchens and other service providers to put in place a more appropriate solution. Dublin City Council should not be left to deal with this challenge on its own. – Yours, etc,
MICHELLE NORRIS,
Professor of Social Policy,
Director,
Geary Institute for Public Policy,
University College Dublin,
Belfield,
Dublin 4.
A chara, – In an earlier life I once heard a prison governor remark that prison would be a great place to work if it wasn’t for all the prisoners. It seems now that dealing with the homeless would be more visually appealing if it wasn’t for all the homeless people. – Is mise,
EOGHAN MAC CORMAIC,
Cill Chríost,
Gaillimh.
A Maud Gonne statue?
Sir, – I wonder if Diarmaid Ferriter had too much brandy-butter on his Christmas pudding when writing his paean “It’s time for a Maud Gonne statue in Dublin City centre” (Opinion & Analysis, December 27th). Apparently she “was the most beautiful woman of her time”. What the objective criteria for achieving this accolade and the historic value of same escapes me when selecting a worthy role model for a statue. I’d imagine there are numerous women in history more worthy of such recognition based on their achievements rather than men’s subjective notions of “beauty”.
But more seriously, his passing assertion and the free pass he appears to give for “the prejudices she embraced including her deep anti-Semitism . . . and sympathy towards aspects of fascism in the 1930s” should carry more weight for her exclusion than her beauty for inclusion?
If Dublin city centre is in pressing need of a statue, Edna O’Brien was an artist and woman of some substance and achievement and deserving of a statue.
And apparently she was “beautiful” too. – Yours, etc,
TOMÁS FINN,
Cappataggle,
Ballinasloe,
Co Galway.
Sir, – Could there be a more inopportune time to erect a statue of a virulent anti-Semite on a street in the capital? – Yours, etc,
PAUL DELANEY,
Dalkey,
Co Dublin.
Remembering Tom Hyland
Sir, – Conor McCarthy’s letter (December 27th) about the late Tom Hyland reminded me why his legacy as a unique and historically very significant human rights defender must be both celebrated and better understood. International law is irrelevant without global outrage because the UN has no police force to enforce it. This is why people like Tom are de facto the ultimate enforcers of global justice because they mobilise people to take action and through the expression of humanity’s outrage make international law real and help secure justice and accountability, and stop genocides like he helped to do in East Timor.
We made a documentary (Dropping The Number 10 for Dili) about Tom at probably the most critical time in efforts to end the genocide, and his role at both local and international level proved very important and showed the difference a committed person can make. Mind you, filming him in East Timor under the brutal Indonesian occupation underlines he was no ordinary person, given he was well known to the occupation forces, and that put him in grave danger.
Nonetheless, while he may have been very modest, there is no doubting his very important role which the president of the Republic of Timor-Leste Josè Ramos-Horta noted at his funeral in Dili. Xanana Gusmão, the legendary independence leader and now prime minister, described Tom in language we in Ireland understand as “one of our own”. – Yours, etc,
RONAN L TYNAN
(Director,
Dropping The Number 10 For Dili),
East Wall
Dublin 3.
Dublin Airport passenger cap
Sir, – I raised my eyebrows reading the article “Passenger cap on hold as airlines look forward to growing services out of Dublin Airport” (News, December 27th).
There is no mention of rising carbon emissions, air or noise pollution, nor any critical analysis regarding the implications of lifting the cap.
A more accurate headline might read: “Passenger cap on hold as airlines look forward to increasing emissions while Ireland faces billions in climate fines for failing to meet emissions targets.” – Yours, etc,
Dr OLA LØKKEN NORDRUM,
Irish Doctors for the Environment,
Dublin 4.
The patience of a saint
Sir, – When I went to consult the television programme listings in the Magazine of The Irish Times on Thursday, I discovered that my feast day had been obliterated: St Stephen’s Day is now called December 26.
Are you abandoning our Christian and national heritage? What next? Boxing Day? – Yours, etc,
STEPHANIE WALSH,
Newport,
Co Tipperary.
Estonia and Baltic Sea cables
Sir, – It is reassuring to learn (“Nato to boost presence in Baltic Sea after suspected sabotage of power cable”, World, December 28th) that Estonia has deployed its navy to guard an undersea power cable and four internet lines following suspected sabotage of a number of subsea cables in the region. Of course we would do the same, wouldn’t we? – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN CONWAY,
New Quay,
Co Clare.
A firm resolution
Sir, – My new year’s resolution for 2025 is the same one as for past years. I’m not making one! – Yours, etc,
LAURA O’MARA,
Stillorgan,
Co Dublin.