Bono’s not to blame for our big problems
SO Michael McGrath, Fianna Fáil finance spokesman, says the health service crisis is down to Bono and the likes not paying their due taxes in Ireland (Irish Daily Mail, Wednesday).
That is a huge relief to me. I was always under the impression it was down to the hundreds of millions of euro wasted on installation of water meters, electronic voting machines and their subsequent storage costs, spineless tribunals and the real gem – Eircodes. Remember them. I’ll sleep better tonight, Michael.
JIM REYNOLDS, Dublin 15.
He’s come up Trumps
AS A Trump voter living in Ireland on the first anniversary of a momentous election, I would like to give DJT an A+ on his first 12 months in office.
The American people took back their democracy by placing the issues of economy and immigration to the fore. Consumer confidence is at a 17-year high while GDP is growing at a 3% clip – double Obama’s 1.5% average.
In terms of immigration I doubt even those most determined to hate him would accuse him of being weak on this issue.
In an Irish context, I am deeply troubled by Irish senator Aodhán Ó Ríordáin’s attempts to single out Irish-Americans for exercising their democratic right in voting for whoever they wish as opposed to voting for his own personal preference. The senator’s narrow view of US politics is an islander’s perception that is decades past its sell-by date and steeped in mythology rather than reality.
JOE CAULFIELD, Offaly.
Act of kindness
YOU might like to know about a kind act at the Irish Daily Mail FAI Cup Final last Sunday. I brought my grandson Cormac, aged six, to the match. He had been at the two previous FAI Cup Finals (2015 and 2016) with me, and I was allowed to lift Cormac over the turnstiles on both of those occasions.
On this occasion (probably because Cormac had grown), a steward told me I needed a ticket for the boy, as ‘due to health and safety regulations all attendees must be recorded passing through the turnstiles’.
She said I could get a ticket at a booth of the Aviva Stadium entry gates.
I went and showed them my own ticket – for my seat and the area of the stadium.
The man at the office printed out a new electronic ticket for my grandson, with the same area being indicated on the ticket as was on my ticket.
When I opened my wallet to pay whatever was asked the ticket office guy replied: ‘No charge, Sir.’ I thanked him profusely.
I was astounded at this kind act by the FAI. I will never forget this kindness on their part. TOM BALDWIN, Midleton, Co. Cork.
Don’t hound Patel
NO-ONE could miss the extent of the coverage on television and in the newspapers given to the resignation of Priti Patel, the UK international development secretary, because she visited officials in Israel during a recent private holiday there.
Having lived and worked there as a chef in the Hilton hotel in Tel Aviv for ten years, I can understand Priti’s interest in this unique and fascinating country that the world’s media seems to hate. I myself fed the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a round of peace talks with then British PM Tony Blair in the Presidential Suite of the hotel under much security. Ms Patel is criticised for not visiting Gaza and the West Bank Palestinians, but she clearly was on a visit to Israel.
What is wrong with showing an