Real threat being posed to existence is nuclear
I APPLAUD the timely article by Max Hastings warning that there is more danger of nuclear conflict today than at any time since World War II (Mail).
The bellicose confrontation between North Korea and the US continues, with the possibility of it resulting in a nuclear war.
Yet people seem more concerned with calls to restrict fuel emissions in the distant future.
It’s time to get real: the threat to our planet is on our doorstep.
ALEX JENNINGS, Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex.
Now that’s a sport
THE All–Ireland Hurling Final puts soccer to shame.
From the distance of a week, the magnitude of this year’s AllIreland Hurling Final is now dawning on me. Speaking to a fellow fan just after the Liam MacCarthy Cup was lifted by David Burke, I told him, ‘That match would put English soccer to shame’ and he agreed.
Consider, a team of amateur sportsmen playing with blood, sweat and tears issuing forth from every fibre of their being; ready to take up their hurl and lay down their lives for the cause of Gaillimh and for their magnificent manager, Micheál Donoghue.
The line from Colin Fahy’s A Song For Galway, ‘Take pride in your county, it’s where you come from’ expresses exactly the nature of the commitment that drove these great Galway players over the line in their quest for a first All-Ireland in 29 years. A tribal sport played by Tribesmen with its ultimate prize this year won by Tribesmen now residing peacefully on the shores of Galway Bay in the City of the Tribes.
And the twin spirits of Tony Keady and Niall Donohue presiding over it all… What power, what poignancy, what poetry.
English soccer – with all the diva, prima donna antics of your footballers – hang your heads in shame. As the autumn leaves fall in increasing numbers, the Galway Tribesmen have taught us much, not just about sport, but about life itself… MÁIRTÍN MacCUMHAILL,
Stranorlar, Co, Donegal.
Solar activity perhaps?
AS I watched the RTÉ One News on Friday evening, with the main story telling of an abundance of storms in the Caribbean, I was somewhat surprised RTÉ had not paraded out any of their two best climate change ‘alarmists’ (George and Duncan) to further admonish Irish farmers and motorists for causing the hurricanes in that part of the world.
It was surely a good opportunity lost by those guys to castigate the Irish people for our flippant attitude to their ongoing warnings about Ireland’s share of ‘humanity-created’ climate change (which they had previously termed ‘global warming’).
At the end of the same Six One News, the presenter invited viewers to look for Aurora Borealis in the skies over Ireland that night.
Now, as the Northern Lights are indeed a feature of solar activity, and indeed several top stories of the previous days warned us about ‘monster solar flares’ and ‘massive sunspots’ from ‘Ol’ Sol’, might not the proliferation of bad storms in the Northern Hemisphere be more likely to have been indirectly caused by an ‘overactive sun’?
TOM BALDWIN, Midleton, Co. Cork.
Power cuts
ON A tank of fuel, my Fiesta 1.4 diesel travels 400 miles, carrying four people plus luggage, with the air con, lights, windscreen wipers and radio going.
Can the equivalent electric car do this? When it can, I’ll consider getting one. ALEC TELFORD, Darlington, Co. Durham.
Tackle rogue landlords
REVELATIONS that rogue landlords are cashing in on the rental crisis is just sickening.
Vulnerable tenants who do not know their rights should go for help at the citizens’ advice centres who are of great help to people gripped by fear at being hit with huge cash demands for accommodation.
This activity should be reported and authorities must get the resources they need to go after these people who are abusing the system, and bring them before the courts as quick as possible and give them huge fines and, if necessary, lock them up for a long time. NOEL HARRINGTON, Kinsale, Co. Cork.
Hook is misunderstood
I THINK everyone is taking George Hook’s comment out of context. He did not say the victim referred to should take the blame for the rape.
He quite rightly said the lowlife perpetrator should get prison. He also said ‘no’ should mean ‘no’.
But I do have to agree with him on his point that we need to be more responsible when out for a night’s enjoyment and try not to put ourselves in danger.
Evil is lurking around every corner and we must take great care to protect ourselves. MARGARET GLEESON, via email.
PC alternative?
IN relation to Fiona Looney’s column on having to throw out good textbooks, surely in 2017 no books at all should be needed. Why isn’t the cheaper alternative of online material being used?
PEADAR BRACKEN, Dublin 2.