Sir, – Your call for political courage to tackle Ireland’s climate crisis is very opportune, as we may now have also entered a damaging energy crisis (“The Irish Times view on the climate crisis: political courage to act is missing”, January 1st).
Despite immense efforts, where Ireland’s electricity is now 40 per cent renewable and is our most successful sector at reducing emissions, major challenges are now obvious. Electricity prices are among the highest in Europe, grid network and onshore wind energy projects have stalled, and emergency generation is needed to ensure continuity of supply.
Financially, clean energy shortages have led to a moratorium on expanding vital energy-intensive industry, we import much more electricity at high cost than we export at lower cost, and EU fines for excessive total emissions could reach €30 billion.
These significant problems have no simple solutions. For example, amending the planning process to reduce objections won’t significantly increase onshore wind installation, because large wind turbines raise reasonable local concerns if placed too close to houses, and won’t remove concerns about endangered species, rural environments, and heritage.
Dublin food delivery riders on thefts and attacks: ‘They do it just for fun, it’s horrible’
Nineties hair is making a comeback. Here’s how to get a gravity-defying blowout at home
When the 46A ends in two weeks I will say goodbye to those first feelings of freedom and adulthood
‘I make a mark in the grass with my foot as I go.’ How GAA groundstaff line pitches for new football rules
Further, Ireland’s energy exports won’t increase while our prices are higher than those of our neighbours. But, because our electricity prices are normally set by gas, we’ve a Catch-22 situation: renewable exports depend on lower prices; prices can’t fall until we stop using gas; but gas is needed to support renewables.
Ireland’s plan is for offshore wind and hydrogen to replace gas by 2040, but offshore wind energy is continuously delayed and faces difficult financial hurdles, and there’s increasing scepticism that green hydrogen will be economic here.
Hence the need for low-risk political courage, as the policies that previously succeeded no longer meet our needs in 2025 and appear unsuited to the more arduous challenge of achieving net zero by 2050. As electricity is the easiest sector to decarbonise, we could do much better by using more options, as in most advanced nations.
Energy policy based on science, in the best interests of society as a whole, starts by assessing all available options objectively.
Instead, our government now excludes nuclear energy from net zero and energy security studies because nuclear is not permitted here. This is despite nuclear being acknowledged by the European Commission Joint Research Centre as being sustainable and by ESB, EirGrid, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland as being worthy of consideration.
Whether it is ultimately chosen as a solution, Ireland should know the pros and cons of replacing existing power stations with suitable nuclear energy, using existing power transmission lines, especially as our current energy strategy appears so precarious.
In our knowledge-based economy, public opinion consistently supports removal of artificial legal barriers to clean energy and assessment of all options without commitment or bias.
Acquiring such knowledge wouldn’t cost the earth, while the potential rewards are significant. – Yours, etc,
DENIS DUFF, C Eng,
Greystones,
Co Wicklow.
Reforming the Seanad
Sir, – The argument that the current Seanad electoral system for 43 of the 60 seats in the Upper House reflects a form of indirect representation is a strong one, but falls at the first hurdle (Letters, January 10th).
In order to argue that those who elect the 43 senators of the vocational panels are “effectively delegate voters” and represent the people directly, those electors would of course have to be directly elected.
However, we know immediately that 11 of the 1,165 electors are simply appointed by the Taoiseach. A further 51 have also not been elected but rather were co-opted onto their local authority seats since last June’s local elections. In total, that is more than 5 per cent of the Seanad vocational panels’ electorate who have not been directly elected by the public.
The 2018 all-party Seanad Reform Implementation Group, formed by Fine Gael leader and then-taoiseach Leo Varadkar, produced a report recommending 28 of the vocational panel senators be elected by direct public vote, while 15 would continue to be elected as they presently are. The group also made a range of other recommendations in line with the mandate given to the group by the Fine Gael leader.
While there was some divergence among members at the end of the process, the majority, including Fine Gael’s representatives, ultimately committed to the reforms proposed.
No one, including myself, has proposed replicating the Dáil through the Seanad. Both Houses should have unique roles, including the Seanad reverting to its original purpose as a platform for independent and expert voices rather than party political representatives.
What we, as Seanad reform advocates, are primarily seeking is simply that the people of Ireland would have a direct say in who governs them through the Oireachtas. As it stands, the only people who get that say are college graduates – though we still await the effective expansion of that franchise; senators – some of whom have simply been appointed by the Taoiseach; TDs; and councillors – a portion of whom have not been elected by anyone.
Let those who believe the Seanad electoral system is satisfactory as it is say that. Let them tell the public that in their opinion college graduates, TDs, councillors and senators are all uniquely placed to cast votes for members of the Seanad, while the majority of the Irish population should hold no such voting power. – Yours, etc,
TOMÁS HENEGHAN,
Dublin 3.
Health sector management
Sir, – Martin Wall reports (“HSE told to shift staff working patterns”, News, January 10th) that the Minister for Health has urged the HSE to have more healthcare staff working across an extended day using provisions in the new Sláintecare contract for hospital consultants “and agreements with unions going back to 2008″. No doubt these agreements going back to 2008 would have been activated heretofore by the HSE if only we had anything approaching a crisis in our public health system.
Shauna Bowers reported that much staff opposition to the public-only consultant contracts has fallen away and that uptake has been higher then predicted (”Public-only consultant contracts: is the health system finally beginning to see some benefits?”, January 9th). But figures quoted by her suggest that this greater uptake is not reflected in the numbers of consultants rostered to work outside the hours of 9am to 5pm or at weekends. In response to this, the Mater hospital is quoted as saying that it now has 273 consultants on the public-only contract, all of whom “are committed to working on Saturdays”. Isn’t that simply a re-statement of what appears in the contracts? Consultants who sign up to the new contract are ipso facto committed to out-of-hours working.
As ever, the problems which bedevil our public health system come down to management or the lack of it. The taxpayer is providing resources to beat the band. The Sláintecare contracts include provision to deal with one of the key problems – the delayed discharge from public hospitals of well patients. It’s long beyond time that healthcare management did its job. – Yours, etc,
PAT O’BRIEN,
Dublin 6.
Winter weather
Sir, – You know that you inhabit a parallel universe when the National Emergency Co-ordination Group promises a return to “normal winter weather”. Those tasked with forecasting and dealing with emergencies consider that snow and frost in the first 10 days of January are abnormal.
Undoubtedly, all frontline staff worked hard to deal with whatever this “cold snap” presented in certain parts of the island. But whence the avalanche of meteorological and media gloom and doom? We need to get a grip! – Yours, etc,
LARRY DUNNE,
Rosslare Harbour,
Co Wexford.
Underground power lines
A chara, – David Doran’s letter (January 7th) outlines the power of electricity – its power for good and the need for control and balance in its use.
For more control, it would be desirable to put the large cables underground, if even at a cost, thereby removing their vulnerability to damage during high winds and freezing snow and would go some distance in eliminating damage such as fallen trees and flying debris and domestic interference to domestic supplies.
On a smaller scale, we ourselves can play our part by keeping a watchful eye on any large trees on our property and making sure that there are no loose large branches which would be likely to fall in a storm with the result of interference with domestic electricity supplies. – Yours, etc,
MARY RIGNEY,
Dublin 18.
Putting McNallys on the map
Sir, – As an Armagh man, I was intrigued by Frank McNally’s An Irishman’s Diary (January 10th) on Andrew McNally from Armagh, co-founder of the Rand McNally map publishing empire. The McNally name, it seems, has a history of influence stretching far and wide.
A few years ago, while wandering through St Macartan’s Cathedral in Monaghan, I learned of Charles McNally, Bishop of Clogher, who passed away in 1864. Not only did he oversee the beginnings of Monaghan’s cathedral, but he also had the foresight to move the episcopal see from Clogher to Monaghan, a relocation of ecclesiastical significance, if not quite as lucrative as publishing atlases.
From mapping continents to constructing cathedrals to writing compelling columns, it seems the McNallys have always had an eye on the bigger picture. – Yours, etc,
ENDA CULLEN,
Armagh.
Foreign policy objectives
Sir, – Finn McRedmond’s questioning of Ireland’s current foreign policy (“We can’t rely on our peacenik reputation now”, Opinion & Analysis, January 9th) is timely, as the new government is now being formed.
Neutrality during the second World War won Ireland few friends in Europe or beyond, but proved to be strategically in the country’s best internal interests at the time and in the long run carried little or no reputational damage.
Current foreign policy, particularly toward the Middle East, lacks the conviction of either a self-interested strategy, or a purpose which would place Ireland in the company of a majority of like-minded European sovereign states.
In the interests of transparency, each matter of foreign policy by the government should in future publicly state the purpose of that policy and more particularly the intended aims in achieving a strategic positive outcome for Ireland. – Yours, etc,
KLAUS UNGER,
Killiney,
Co Dublin.
Disrupters rely on fear and apathy
Sir, – The root cause of much of the world’s chaotic events can be linked to the gradual erosion of intellectual rigour, emotional intelligence and clear boundaries. An over-reliance on technology, an obsession with “designed to be addictive” social media, soundbites from unchecked sources, less physical human interaction and a pervasive fear of public censure have left many people continually anxious and unable to sit peacefully within their own headspace. While we’re now in a world of moral relativism and shifting boundaries, we’re also dealing with an increased level of intolerance – as much from the left as from the right. Rational debate is becoming harder and harder to find.
In spite of all this, there is no need to feel hopeless and we are certainly not helpless. As individuals, we have more power than we realise. Technology is not the problem – how we allow it to manipulate us is. We can’t control what the world’s “bad actors” do but we can neutralise their effect by changing our response to it. Misinformation is everywhere but so is verifiable fact. We do not have to rely on external “fact checkers”. Adults need to re-learn how to do this for themselves and children need to be taught. Learning how to spot misinformation and navigate the internet safely should be embedded in our education system from primary school. We need to have open debates about difficult topics and stop virtue-signalling. We need to focus on our commonalities and have more faith in each other’s good intentions.
Disrupters rely on a mixture of fear and apathy.
We need to rediscover our collective courage. – Yours, etc,
JESSICA FREED,
Dublin 2.
Tackling the housing crisis
Sir, – My son has been studying in Munich for two years for his master’s degree in maths. His rental costs are approximately €250 per month. My youngest daughter, who has just started her internship in Cork while trying for her master’s in mechanical engineering, pays €1,200 in rent per month. Our eldest daughter, who is just starting her PhD in computer science, has to stay living with her parents for four years due to exorbitant rents charged Dublin. We are a typical working family with four children and nearing our retirement in a few years. I am raging with how this State has got itself into such a disgraceful position on housing. The solution which all politicians seem afraid to talk about is more public housing. – Yours, etc,
PAUL DORAN,
Dublin 22.