Sir, – I’m writing to welcome the recent column by Breda O’Brien “What is the justice system for if we don’t believe in rehabilitation?” (October 12th).
The Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) hears from people on a regular basis who experience the stigma of having a conviction long after they have served their sentence.
Research we published in 2024 on employers’ attitudes to hiring people with convictions was entitled “The Secondary Punishment” because very often, on leaving prison, people experience a multitude of barriers when trying to move on with their lives.
This ranges from being refused home or car insurance, not being able to find stable employment or accommodation to holding back from volunteering with your child’s sports team because of the reaction you might face when you pre-empt the Garda vetting and disclose your past.
RM Block
The recent media discussion around employing people with convictions provides an opportunity to have a meaningful and mature conversation on the supports people need as they navigate their rehabilitation and reintegration journey.
Behind the headlines are real people who are trying to turn their lives around. While the news cycle moves on, they and their families are often left to pick up the pieces.
There is broad agreement that employment plays a significant role in reintegration. In fact, current government policy sets out clear commitments in the Building Pathways Together Strategy to increase recruitment opportunities and long-term secure employment retention for individuals with criminal convictions.
However, to successfully implement the strategic commitments will require a whole-of-government approach.
Missing from the current discussion is the fact that legislation was proposed in 2018 to expand the spent convictions regime and help more people to overcome some of the barriers in their way.
Senator Lynn Ruane’s Private Members Bill, the Criminal Justice (Rehabilitative Periods) Bill 2018 passed all stages in the Seanad in 2021 and received cross-party support.
We would hope to see this progressed in the Dáil sooner rather than later, and while it will not resolve or remove all of the barriers, it would be a positive step forward.
The focus in Ms O’Brien’s article on rehabilitation as well as the need for alternatives to custody rather than prison expansion represents both a pragmatic and evidence-informed approach.
If we want to see people truly succeed and move on from their past, then as a society we need to take meaningful steps to support them in that journey.
Persistent barriers to social reintegration should be removed, not reinforced. – Yours, etc,
SAOIRSE BRADY,
Executive director,
Irish Penal Reform Trust,
Dublin.
Presidential ballot paper
Sir, – It is difficult to understand the decision by Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage James Browne to keep Jim Gavin’s name on the ballot paper for the upcoming
presidential election on October 24th.
The Minister has broad powers under section 164 of the Electoral Act, 1992, to make an adaptation or modification in respect of the conduct of a presidential election, when it appears that there is an emergency or special difficulty. Such a decision is referred to as a “special difficulty order” and is implemented by way of statutory instrument.
Fifteen such special difficulty orders have been implemented since 1979, and the powers have been exercised in respect of a number of different situations.
They range from issues such as allowing postal votes to be delivered other than by means of post during the 1979 European and local elections, in circumstances where An Post staff were on strike for 18 weeks in 1979, to a decision in 2021 to allow voters to be added to a supplemental postal vote registrar during the Covid-19 pandemic – in circumstances where the pandemic prevented them from voting in person in the Dublin Bay South byelection.
In the present case, the fact that a candidate, who withdrew from the election on October 5th, will still appear on the ballot paper on October 24th undoubtedly creates a special difficulty for the conduct of this presidential election.
A number of hypothetical scenarios could develop, ranging from Mr Gavin winning the election, however unlikely, to his transfers electing a specific candidate.
Ultimately however, the fundamental issue is that the ballot paper should not contain the name of a person who is not putting themselves forward for election.
The only reason that has emerged to justify the Minister’s decision not to issue a special difficulty order is that such an order would cause separate problems in relation to the first postal ballots which have already been sent out to students studying away from home, people working abroad on voting day and some people with disabilities. This reason does not stand up to scrutiny.
An analysis of the 15 previous special difficulty orders implemented since 1979 suggests the Minister can utilise his powers in a very specific and unique manner.
The Minister could therefore make an order amending the ballot paper to remove Jim Gavin and also make a further order allowing supplemental postal ballots to be sent to the categories of people outlined above to reflect this amendment.
If reissuing postal ballots at this stage creates a logistical issue, the Minister could also make an order that states that where a postal vote indicates a first preference for Jim Gavin and a second preference for another candidate, the second preference shall be taken as a first preference for the purposes of the presidential election.
With less than 10 days until polling, the sooner this decision is taken the better. – Yours, etc,
CHRIS OONAN,
Killester,
Dublin 5.
The duties of a president
Sir, – Recent coverage surrounding Catherine Connolly, such as former TD Brian Leddin’s Opinion piece yesterday, have focused on Connolly’s suitability to be president due to her opinions being at variance with the Government parties. The logical outcome of such an expression is that only candidates who agree with the government of the day are suitable for Áras an Uachtaráin – a laughable conjecture in a democratic country.
The president will have to conduct the duties of the office impartially but they are not required to be aligned with current policy.
Since the election of Mary Robinson, a shift has occurred in Irish politics. The president embodies the values of the nation and serves as a soft-power check on government, as befits the only politician directly elected by voters.
If Catherine Connolly is elected, she will be elected by a majority. If the Government are uncomfortable with opinions like hers in Áras an Uachtaráin, then they are uncomfortable with democracy. – Yours, etc,
STIOFÁN Ó BRIAIN,
Raghnallach,
Dublin 6
Sir, – It is strange that Una Mullally, as a political commentator, appears to know so little about the life and values of someone who has been in public life as long as Heather Humphreys (“Connolly is quietly and effectively connecting with people,” October 13th).
But perhaps not surprising, as she writes from inside a bubble in which social media ratings are paramount, journalists doing their investigative and interrogative jobs are crudely lumped together as “mainstream media” (very Trumpian, that), and a provocative comment by Ivan Yates is characterised as representing Fine Gael campaign strategy, with which Yates has no involvement.
Her column was another disheartening contribution to a dispiriting campaign in which a left-wing voter has nowhere to go. – Yours, etc,
DAVID McKENNA,
Dublin 8.
Sir, – A united Ireland, bringing together different societies, by its very nature must be pluralist.
Thus, it strikes me as the irony of ironies that those with the loudest voices calling for a referendum on unity don’t seem to be embracing the candidate in the presidential election most likely to reassure northern unionists that their identity will be valued post unification.
Indeed, the very factors that would signify our determination to embrace the unionist community – the family traditions of Heather Humphreys and the membership of her relatives of Orange institutions – seem to be seen by some as negatives.
Do we want a united Ireland, which means embracing one million citizens whose identity contrasts with our own, or not? –Yours, etc,
DAVID CLARKE,
Edinburgh.
Pig in a poke
Sir, – I write to express my disgust at Kevin Kilbane’s article in Saturday’s Irish Times Sports Supplement. He just can’t wait to get the poor unfortunate Heimer Hallgrímsson out of the country as soon as possible (“Hallgrímsson should go if we don’t get three points over two games”).
What Kevin fails to acknowledge is that Hallgrímsson was sold a pig in a poke when he decided to take the job as Irish soccer head coach. He was expected to make silk purses out of sows’ ears.
The players available to him are earnest triers, not quite at the level to be successful at international football and to play in a World Cup. The talent is on the way but not there yet. – Yours, etc,
ITA O’HANLON,
Raheny,
Dublin 5.
Peace in the Middle East
Sir, – The ceasefire in Gaza was long overdue and must be welcomed without reservation. However, it is remarkable to see sensible people applaud US president Donald Trump for his role.
It is plain that Mr Trump belatedly called a halt to this catastrophe because it was interfering with other geopolitical and commercial interests in the Middle East, and there is no evidence that he has the wellbeing of Palestinian people in his mind.
In his meandering but telling speech to the Israeli parliament, Donald Trump never mentioned the suffering of civilians in Gaza, but indecently declared a righteous victory for the US and Israel. He paused at one point to exult: “And what a victory it’s been, right? What a victory it’s been.”
Moreover, his remarks on the direct US role in the conflict were particularly disturbing. “We make the best weapons in the world,” he boasted, “and we’ve got a lot of them. And we’ve given a lot to Israel, frankly. Bibi Netanyahu] would call me so many times, can you get me this weapon? Some of them I never heard of, Bibi, and I made them. But we’d get them here, wouldn’t we? And they are the best. But you used them well.”
He then went on to claim that it was the deployment of these weapons that “ultimately led to peace”.
Recent figures put the death toll in Gaza at above 68,000, including nearly 20,000 innocent children, roughly 217 journalists and media workers, and more than 224 aid workers. Many more civilians lost limbs. Palestinians are currently digging out even more bodies from underneath the rubble of their devastated towns and cities.
Mr Trump also called on the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, to help Binyamin Netanyahu with the corruption charges he is currently facing: “I have an idea Mr President, why don’t you give him a pardon? Cigars and champagne – who the hell cares about it?”
There was no mention of international law, or of justice and self-determination for Palestinians. Donald Trump and Binyamin Netanyahu are sticking to the crude doctrine that might is right. – Yours, etc,
FINTAN LANE,
Lucan,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – This premature victory lap by US president Donald Trump reminds me of another American president, Woodrow Wilson, sailing triumphantly to Versailles in 1919 with his 14 (not 20) Points.
After the Old World dinosaurs had their way, though, we got a disastrous Treaty, and the second World War.
So, hold the applause. – Yours, etc,
JOHN McNAMARA,
Dublin 4.
Upgrading the rail system
Sir, – I refer to your articles “Irish Rail’s upgrade plans will widen Dublin commuter belt,” (October 13th) and indeed the article “Imagine if Ireland could lay rail tracks as quickly as it builds roads,” on October 9th, by Brian Caulfield, a true expert in the field.
Writing from The Netherlands, this is what “Going Dutch” truly means – efficient countrywide train travel transport. I applaud Irish Rail.
This is what Ireland needs, giving true ease to meet friends and family, go to a concert and of course work. This is simple and a game changer. Let’s use what we have (railway tracks and lovely country towns) now, while simultaneously upgrading for the future (electrification).
This will really build communities sustainably.
All aboard TDs and take note, it’s not such a long way to progress in this country after all. – Yours, etc,
CONALL HOLOHAN,
(formerly Co Tipperary)
The Netherlands.
A lot on his Plato
Sir, – I write to salute Joe Humphreys on his fine celebration of the great achievement of David Horan in his recently published translation of the works of Plato (“Unthinkable: I’m a columnist. Am I part of the problem?” October 13th).
It is indeed a mighty achievement, and puts Ireland very much on the map in the area of Platonic studies.
As regards Joe’s most perceptive remarks about the importance of fostering Socratic dialogue, I would only add that all Socrates asked of his interlocutors was that they respond honestly to his questions, as only thus can one hope to attain to true insights on important moral issues. There is all too little of that evident in public discourse these days, sadly. – Yours, etc,
JOHN DILLON,
Regius Professor of Greek,
(Emeritus),
Trinity College Dublin.
Hurling praise
Sir, – Great to see young Antrim hurler with his eyes on the ball, weight back on his right foot and camán firmly gripped in his right hand (Front page photograph, October 13th).
Old style hurling is alive and well in the Glens. – Yours, etc,
TIM O’NEILL,
Dublin 14.
Letter therapy
Sir, – Brian Cullen asks: Do I need therapy with regard to writing his 1,000th letter to your newspaper (Letters, October 13th).
The answer is simple – writing letters to The Irish Times is therapy. I have been writing letters to your newspaper for the past 15 years or so.
I have always found the experience to be very therapeutic and cathartic. Nothing compares to picking up the newspaper on the morning of publication and reading one’s own words. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN McDEVITT,
Co Donegal.
Sir, – I laughed reading Brian Cullen’s letter this morning. I can totally understand that feeling of elation, when published, and utter devastation when your letter doesn’t make the cut. – Yours, etc,
DEE DELANY,
Dublin 5.
Sir, – Regarding Brian Cullen’s millennial masterpieces and the fallout therefrom, would it be interesting to have a quarterly selection of rejected letters (in the interests of equity and political correctness) for your readers’ perusal? – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL J COLLINS,
Co Limerick.
Bearing fruit
Sir, – I agree with John Deaton (Letters, October 13th) about growing our own apple trees. We see orange and lemon trees in streets, parks and public places in other countries and people can enjoy the free fruit.
Fruit trees would be much more beneficial than others. Cherry blossom, for example, is lovely but only provides blossoms for a short period, but no edible cherries.
If every new development planted apple trees, think of the health benefits. Even if we can’t persuade Dublin City Council to sponsor an apple growing scheme, we should go ahead with it ourselves. – Yours, etc,
SHEILA DEEGAN,
Dublin 3.
