Sir, – It is easy these days to look out at the world and to feel despondent.
Indeed when one looks at the major issues of our world, including the Middle East, Ukraine, climate change, far right politics, misinformation, etc, it is easy to understand why people feel despondent.
It is all the more important therefore that we here in Ireland recognise the wonderful country we live in and that we are grateful for our good fortune in living here.
Ireland is far from perfect, and a teacher’s report would probably say “could do better”, but we must look at the positives and not always the negatives. Ireland is a peaceful democracy.
RM Block
We have the right to vote and to express our opinions. In the political arena we have not experienced the shift to the right and the ultra nationalist politics of the far right.
Our Opposition parties are, by and large, constructive with none suggesting radical or extreme shifts, to the right or left.
We are at peace and we need to stay at peace. There are no missiles or drones flying over our heads and our cities are not being bombarded.
Our climate is moderate with no major floods or cyclones or extremes of temperature, and we need to do our bit on the world stage to keep our climate, and the global climate, as it is.
We have a health service which, while under pressure and deficient in many ways, is still far ahead of the global average, and we have a social welfare system which does its best to support those who need it and those most in need.
We have an educated and computer literate workforce and we are seen as a good place to invest in, and as a nation we are prosperous and we need to use that prosperity well both for ourselves and those less fortunate around the world.
We produce sporting greats including Katie Taylor, Rachel Blackmore and Rory McIlroy and we celebrate them. We are the home of Guinness, U2, River Dance and Father Ted and we have a sense of humour second to none.
I am sure there are many other reasons why we should be grateful, so let’s reflect on them and be sure that we are grateful for all of them and for the wonderful country we live in. – Yours, etc,
GARY DOYLE,
Straffan,
Co Kildare,
Sir, – With reference to Peter Elst’s letter (October 8th) Ireland is certainly one of the most democratic countries in the world by any metric.
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index 2024, about 6.6 per cent of the world’s population has the benefit of a fully democratic government.
This figure does not include the United States or France so the criteria are fairly rigorous.
However it does include countries with unelected heads of state such as Japan, Spain and the UK.
Excluding those countries with monarchies and/or questionably democratic first past the post systems of elections, the figure reduces to less than 2.5 per cent of the world’s population being represented by a fully democratic government and an elected head of state.
Ireland has one of the most transparent and egalitarian electoral systems in existence.
While not perfect it is more democratic than others representing 97.5 per cent of the world’s population. – Yours, etc,
TOM GELLETLIE,
Newrath Bridge,
Wicklow.
Psychotherapists controversy
Sir, – What good nws. Therapists won’t have to undergo personal therapy while in training as it may include emotional distress for students.
I imagine surgeons will be delighted to avoid training as the sight of blood may cause them emotional distress. As for trainee pilots having to experience the stress of a first solo flight, forget it, too emotional.
Seriously, though, as a retired psychotherapist with thousands of hours of client time, the personal therapy that I underwent in training proved an essential ingredient for the challenging and delicate work encountered with clients.
Carl Jung encapsulated the importance of personal therapy: “Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people”. – Yours, etc,
RICHARD BURY,
Ashford,
Co Wicklow.
Women and medical studies
Sir, – The fact that people can look at the same information and draw completely opposite conclusions comes to mind reading Clare Moriarty’s column on the lack of inclusion of women in medical studies (“Why are women still treated as a statistical anomaly in health research?” October 10th).
Her view that something “as routine as cardiology is tainted by the tendency to think that men’s bodies represent all” is hard to support. For over 40 years in Ireland most medical students and graduates have been female. These doctors are unlikely to be prejudiced against themselves. Ultimately it may be more a reflection of the pragmatic mechanics of medical trials.
Most doctors undertaking a medical study would, if possible, enrol all available patients. Two precursors to commencement, however, are obtaining ethical approval and insurance against adverse outcomes.
It is asked on ethical documents whether pregnant patients will be included. If even the potential for this exists, the risks rise.
It is essentially inevitable that a medical research trial entails some of the patients, usually half, not getting the optimal treatment, if we assume treatments are being compared. The exposure of a foetus (who cannot consent to a study) to a randomised, novel and potentially harmful drug entails a risk that is ultimately unquantifiable. The effects may not show up for years.
It might be more defensible to say, unpalatable as it reads, that treatments are often trialled on volunteering males prior to more widespread use. The result is often interpreted as general evidence of superiority of the more effective treatment.
Finally, it’s worth noting that, despite Ms Moriarty’s observation that women’s health wasn’t allocated specific resources in the budget, they do in Ireland on average live about four years longer.
It is remarkable how little focus this difference receives. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN O’BRIEN,
Kinsale,
Co Cork.
An inconvenient truth
Sir, – It is disheartening, if not alarming, to see Minister for Climate, Energy, the Environment and Transport Darragh O’Brien dismiss the work of the Climate Change Advisory Council and the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council as “back of the envelope stuff” (October 9th).
These bodies’ joint report was peer-reviewed, detailed and serious – hardly the scribblings of amateurs.
The Minister’s rejection of inconvenient evidence has more in common with Trumpian politics than with responsible governance.
To deride expert analysis in this way undermines public trust in the institutions that are meant to inform climate policy.
It is the same anti-intellectual impulse that drives people to question scientific evidence – whether about paracetamol or about the planet’s warming atmosphere.
There is also a clear conflict of interest in one person holding both the climate and transport portfolios.
The two require different, and at times opposing, policy considerations. In Luxembourg, for example, all public transport has been made free to accelerate climate progress.
In Ireland, the same Minister now speaks of increasing fares, a move that runs directly counter to any serious transport decarbonisation strategy.
In a week when Fianna Fáil has demonstrated a striking lack of judgment in other areas, it is worrying to see the same absence of wisdom applied to climate policy. If Ireland is to meet its legal and moral obligations, it will require more than this. – Yours, etc,
PAUL O’SHEA,
Planet Before Profit CLG,
Shankill,
Dublin 18.
Sir, – The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (IFAC) and Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) calculate Ireland risks fines and costs of ¤8 billion to €26 billion for missing its emission targets by 2030.
Darragh O’Brien dismissively calls these calculations back of the envelope stuff.
Mr O’ Brien still appears to believe it was reasonable in late November 2024 to expect 40,000 houses to be built by the end of 2024.
I suggest IFAC and CCAC have some credibility unlike Mr O’Brien. – Yours, etc,
NEIL KELLY,
Castletroy,
Limerick.
Wishes for the presidency
Sir, – All I want for Christmas is a president who can host garden parties, greet ambassadors and dignitaries to our country on our behalf.
A president who can call her Council of State together if a matter of State arises.
A president who can represent the nation at both happy and tragic times.
I don’t want or expect our president to sort world peace. It’s not in their command.
I would like another Michael D or Mary McAleese, who represented us for 14 years each on all occasions, both great and sad.
A president who you knew was there but not intrusive of our society.
Our president in my opinion should be a “Mammy” or “Daddy” of our nation.
There for when things are going well to offer congratulations and a “Well done”, and also a familiar face in times of grief.
Politics should not feature. – Yours, etc,
JANET TAYLOR,
Dublin 14.
Sir, – Surely Fianna Fáil should have shown more backbone and provided cover for Jim Gavin. He made a messy error 16 years ago and failed to address it properly since.
Back in 2009, during the financial crash, many people faced immense pressures; Mr Gavin among them.
He has acknowledged the mistake as out of character and taken steps to rectify it. His real lapse was not confronting it sooner.
But who among us has not erred? And surely an error, even now, can be addressed and forgiven.
Mr Gavin’s public achievements are substantial. He led Dublin to five All-Ireland titles in a row and championed an entertaining brand of football when defensive tactics were in vogue.
Later, as head of the GAA’s rules committee, he helped revive the game’s vibrant spectacle.
Fianna Fáil might have shown more patience to see if this issue could have been handled differently. Instead, we are left with a contest that feels safe but lacklustre.
Jim Gavin departs with the same quiet dignity with which he served – though one wonders if an uninspired race might yet spark a real protest vote. – Yours, etc,
DONAL BUCKLEY (Kerryman),
Glasthule,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – If only Andy Farrell played GAA and promised to learn Irish. Now that would be a game changer. – Yours, etc,
EUGENE FORDE ,
Co Kildare.
Ceasefire and Gaza
Sir, – John Bergin writes (Letters, October 10th) that peace in Gaza has taken place because of the work of Donald Trump’s administration. What took him so long?
Last week has shown that he could’ve ordered Netanyahu to stop the genocide as soon as he took office. Perhaps I’m cynical, but I imagine that Netanyahu overplayed his hand when he bombed Qatar, a country where Trump is reported to have potential financial interests, and whose rulers gifted him a private jet.
As with everything Trump does, there must be an advantage for him. – Yours, etc,
DANNY BOYD,
Belfast.
Sir, – Am I the only person who does not trust Israeli president Binyamin Netanyahu to actually go ahead with this ceasefire once Israel gets the Israeli hostages back? – Yours, etc,
VERNA
McGEACHIN,
Antiparos,
Cyclades,
Greece.
Disability and the budget
Sir, – Budget 2026 leaves disabled people worse off than last year.
In 2025 once-off supports including a €400 disability cost-of-living payment, €300 fuel and €300 living alone lump sums, €200 electricity credits, and double week social welfare bonuses added up to about €1,614 for a single adult living alone on the Disability Allowance.
All of these have now disappeared in Budget 2026.
The €10 weekly rise in Disability Allowance and ¤5 increase in Fuel Allowance add up to just €660 annually, close to a third of what has been taken away, and with an increase on carbon tax it wipes out the increase in fuel allowance.
For households already facing higher costs for heating, transport and medical needs, this is a serious cut in real terms.
While Minister Hildegarde Naughton has secured a 20 per cent uplift in funding for disability services, Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers and Minister for Social Protection Daragh Calleary must answer why disabled people are being left behind in the midst of record budget surpluses.
The long-promised cost of disability payment, backed by years of evidence and advocacy, has again been deferred.
Both Ministers have shown little grasp of the urgency facing disabled households.
Each winter of delay forces people into impossible choices between food, heat and participation in community life.
The Government must start to understand that while there is a huge need for investment in services, there is a real and immediate need to address the extra cost of disability experienced by people with disabilities on a daily basis, many of whom do not use services.
This budget should never have been an either/or budget.
A Government that claims to uphold the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities cannot justify making those with the least bear the greatest loss. – Yours, etc,
JOAN CARTHY,
Manager,
National Advocacy,
Dublin 3.
Hospitality VAT and the budget
Sir, – It is amazing that the Government has caved in to the pressure from the hospitality industry by reducing the VAT rate applicable to them.
Whereas there is no doubt that costs have increased in this sector the reality is that there are far too many restaurants, cafes and coffee shops around for the market to bear.
In any other industry where there are too many suppliers for the demand, the inevitable consequence is that some go to the wall.
Why should the public purse be used to subsidise an oversupply in the hospitality sector? – Yours, etc,
TONY GREANY,
Mornington,
Co Meath.
