25 brilliant Irish women in 2025
Sir, – In your profile of inspirational women (“25 Brilliant Irish Women in 2025″, Magazine, Saturday, March 8th), I was struck by the lack of political diversity among those featured.
Of the 25 women listed, I counted 10 who are either involved in politics or public affairs, or who have campaigned on domestic or international political issues in the past. In keeping with the regular pattern of such profiles in your newspaper, all 10 participated in these from a liberal or left-wing perspective. (Has The Irish Times ever compiled a list of influential women from which Mary Robinson and Ailbhe Smyth have been omitted?)
Why were no women from the centre or right of the political spectrum included?
For example, what about Mairead McGuinness and Frances Fitzgerald, both of whom may be candidates for the presidency in 2025? What about Norma Foley, Helen McEntee, and Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, the three female members of Cabinet, all of whom have been mentioned as possible future party leaders and the first female taoiseach?
‘I think my brother might be controlling his wife and daughter’
Veteran antiques dealer bids fond farewell to Francis Street after 40 years
John McManus: The more Trump talks of tariffs the better it is for Ireland
Gordon D’Arcy: Shaun Edwards makes a compelling case for the defence in France’s victory
Or Lucinda Creighton, who since her departure from politics has become a clear and interesting voice on European and international issues?
And closer to home, what about your regular columnist Breda O’Brien, and your occasional contributor Maria Steen, who was one of very few female public figures to speak out against the two referendums last year which were overwhelmingly opposed by women voters?
If your newspaper seeks to be truly representative of all women, it should profile women who share our views right across the spectrum. – Yours, etc.,
SARAH-ANNE CLEARY,
Strokestown,
Co Roscommon.
Aviva Blues
Sir, – I wish to compliment Owen Doyle on his insightful and informative articles each week. Today’s article (“Owen Doyle: Some decisions made in the Ireland v France game were utterly bizarre”, Sports, Tuesday, March 11th) covered all the talking points of Saturday’s big game, particularly the Dupont injury and the taking out of O’Mahony in the lead up to a France try. I hope that commentators and former International players educate themselves on the rules of the game. – Yours, etc,
JOE CLANCY,
Circular Road,
Galway.
Bees, dandelions and mowing the lawn
Sir, – I have to bow to what experts tell me, but about dandelions and bees I am greatly puzzled.
Yet again today (March 10th) a journalist says: delay mowing your grass, and, further, “dandelions are springing up in time to meet the bees. These “weeds” are the most important source of nectar and pollen for pollinators here, says the [National Biodiversity Data] centre. Mowing them now is detrimental to the bees.” (“Ireland is emerging from winter, but maybe hold off mowing your lawn for now”. Magazine, Saturday, March 8th.)
I am quite prepared not to mow for the sake of wildlife in general, and the dandelions in my lawn are too numerous and deeply rooted to get out even if I tried.
But I am 78 years old. I was brought up in a house with a big garden, and helped my father in it regularly before I eventually had a garden of my own. From the time I started to notice these things I have never, not once, seen a bee on a dandelion.
I have a cousin older than I am who had a similar upbringing and who also gardens. She agrees with me that she is bewildered by the sudden favourable publicity for dandelions as she has never seen a bee on one either. (We agree that they are most handsome).
Dandelions are very successful plants, propagating themselves happily, presumably with the help of some pollinator or other. But I should love to see a documentary showing bees doing this job.
Only when I do shall I banish my doubts. – Yours, etc,
NORMA JESSOP,
Hillside Drive,
Dublin 14.
Motorcycle fatalities
Sir, – Tim O’Brien’s timely analysis piece (‘Failure to observe’ frequently noted by RSA on motorcyclist fatalities”, Home News, Tuesday, March 11th) cites not just the rise in motorcycle fatalities across the State since 2019 but the onus, expressed by Garda authorities, on car drivers to “share road space responsibly.”
As a passionate motorcyclist who several years ago was knocked off his Ducati by an individual using an electric shaver to groom himself, I can directly attest to the lack of responsibility demonstrated by a cohort of extraordinarily selfish road-users.
Any motorcyclist who regularly drives through our towns and cities will further attest to the numbers of drivers who can be found texting, eating or preparing breakfast, applying make-up, using laptops and electronic devices, and interacting with children and family pets in a manner that, to put it politely, suggests they are not remotely interested in responsible road-sharing. Many of these drivers react in fright and downright irritation when a motorcycle legally passes their window, so blind are they to the world outside their metal cage.
Tim O’Brien quotes assistant Garda Commissioner Paula Hillman who describes motorcyclists as “especially vulnerable road-users”. I suggest we would be less vulnerable if drivers stopped treating their cars as extensions of office, home and kitchen. – Yours, etc,
LORCAN ROCHE,
Kevin’s Gardens,
Dartry.
Dublin 6.
Dogs on leads
Sir, – There is an evocative photograph by Alan Betson on page 4, today (“Taking a stroll in Sandymount”, Home News, Monday, March 10th) showing five dogs off-lead on Sandymont Strand.
There are at least three signposts nearby stating that it is an offence to disturb feeding birds, particularly Brent Geese, at this time of year. Dog-walkers are required to keep dogs on-leash at all times. – Yours, etc,
GERARD CUMMISKEY,
Booterstown,
Co Dublin.
Sale of state stake in AIB
Sir, – An article by Joe Brennan published in your paper (“AIB to buy back €1.2bn of stock from State as profits beat expectations”, Business, Wednesday, March 5th) told of how we are nearing the end of a 17-year long financial saga, with the opportunity for a publicly owned bank now missed.
After the debatable decision to recapitalise our financial institutions after the 2008 banking crisis the government had the chance to be the real hero and dispense appropriate justice for the taxpayer by dissolving the corporate structure of the bankrupted banks, including AIB.
By 2010, the government owned a staggering 99.8 per cent of the shares in AIB and it stayed that way for many years. As recently as 2019, the minister for minance still held over 75 per cent of the shares in the bank, but lacked the vision to transform one of Ireland’s foremost financial institutions into a national, people’s bank.
As is perhaps particularly evident in the US, western governments avoid unnecessary responsibilities, such liabilities often being to the detriment of elected officials who are the ones blamed if that responsibility isn’t met.
In the case of Ireland, the minister for finance could have made the radical and potentially massively beneficial decision to take control of the executive management of AIB, forcing the sale of the remaining shares and discontinuing its capacity as a plc.
The State could have cut interest rates, introduced widespread social-financing programmes, offered affordable loans and forgiven student debt. Mortgages for so long were and continue to be unattainable. This decision, if made years ago, could even have softened the blow of our current, full-blown housing crisis.
In 2019, I even managed to pose my AIB government takeover plan to a sitting cabinet minister, only to be pacified with the promise of the introduction of the German social banking system “Sparkassen” (of which I have heard very little since).
For the last week I have lamented the news that the Government is on track to sell its remaining shares in AIB. How the taxpayer deserved better. – Yours, etc,
THEO DILLON
Innishannon,
Co Cork.
Teacher shortages
Sir, – The idea that a shortage of maths, physics and chemistry teachers can be solved by allowing primary schoolteachers to work in secondary schools is risible.
The Government and teachers' unions have discouraged hundreds of older science graduates who’ve worked in industry for a number of years from becoming secondary schoolteachers, as a two-year, expensive masters in education is required. It seems the department favours those who’ve been trained to teach over those who are experts in the subject. – Yours, etc,
CHARLES McLAUGHLIN,
Portobello,
Dublin 8.
Sir, – The solution to the shortage of teachers is, as Bill Kee suggests (Letters, Monday, 10th March), to increase their salaries and enable them to afford basic accommodation.
The proposal from the Department of Education to place primary schoolteachers in second-level schools is an unrealistic approach to education and an insult to the students concerned. (“Primary teachers could work at second level to tackle staff shortages”, Home News, March 7th).
Are we forgetting the rights of the child to an education according to the rules of the country? Is our school system now reduced to merely a supervisory duty where unqualified personnel can stand in front of a class? I have seen no “good news” regarding the Irish education system in a long while – we used to be so proud of our commitment to educating our young generation.
Using any “Band Aid” method of “solving” the scarcity of teaching staff problem will do more harm than good. Every young child knows very well when a “teacher” is incompetent. Their attention wanes, the noise level increases and, tragically, the child’s interest in the subject to be taught fades drastically, sometimes forever. The price is too high and is tragic, in my opinion. – Yours, etc,
BRENDA MORGAN,
Howth,
Co Dublin.
St Patrick’s Day in the White House
Sir, – While fretting about how Micheál Martin will fare in the Oval Office in the face of possible hostile questioning over our trade surplus, I’m wondering if there is not a simple answer?
They have a population of around 350 million while we have a population of around five million. That’s 70 US consumers for every Irish consumer.
How could we not have a trade surplus?
It might be over-simplistic but could be worth a try! – Yours, etc.,
JOHN LOMBARD,
Goatstown,
Dublin 14.
Sir,- Fintan O’Toole’s advice to our Taoiseach (“A cunning plan to bring St Patrick’s words to Trump”, Opinion, March 11th) on using St Patrick’s Confessions and Letter to Coroticus as a way to deal with Donald Trump is so apposite and gave me no end of comfort today. A lesson for us all perhaps. Go n’ardoidh an bother leat, a Micheál. – Yours, etc,
MARION WALSH,
Donnybrook,
Dublin 4.
Sir, – The world stands at a dangerous crossroads with the rise of authoritarianism and extremism and the Trump regime threatening the very foundations of democracy and global stability.
In just under three months, US president Donald Trump has taken actions that are devastating to humanity, resulting in a profound rollback on human rights, women’s rights, poverty eradication, climate action and the protection of civilians in conflict zones such as Gaza and Ukraine.
His deplorable suspension of overseas aid disproportionately affects the world’s most vulnerable populations, undermining decades of progress in areas such as health, education, and access to food.
The withdrawal from the Paris Agreement is a huge blow to global efforts to combat climate change, especially given that the US is one of the largest historical emitters of greenhouse gases.
His proposals to move the entire population of Gaza are illegal, immoral and dangerous. And the Trump administration’s actions to ban gender-affirming care and to put severe restrictions on reproductive rights is reprehensible.
This week the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and several Irish Cabinet Ministers travel to the US for St Patrick’s Day celebrations. This year the visits must be used to make clear that the Irish people are not supportive of the dangerous and concerning shifts in US policy which threaten human rights and undermine huge advancements made over decades.
The moment we are now living in demands courage. We have a voice, and that voice needs to be heard. – Yours, etc,
KAROL BALFE,
CEO, ActionAid Ireland,
Parnell Square,
Dublin 1.
