A phone call can mean so much when you live alone
STANDING in my kitchen in a panic due to a burst water pipe during the Status Red blizzard, I received a call from the charity Alone.
I am a pensioner, and a kind lady enquired if I was alright for food and medicine, and was I warm enough.
When I reassured her that I was blessed with my neighbours, one of whom was attending to my burst pipe, she gave me her phone number in case circumstances changed for me.
She made me promise to call if they did.
This warm call from this splendid charity shines a light on the importance of Alone.
Willie Bermingham must be looking down with pride. Thank you.
GRÁINNE KENNY, Co. Dublin. ...COLERIDGE’S immortal lines, ‘Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink’ have been replaced in Ireland by, ‘Snow, snow everywhere, reservoirs are on the blink’.
As an octogenarian, I now wonder if I am brain dead and, even worse, arithmetically stupid.
Here are the facts: snow (composed of water and ice) fell in huge amounts all over Ireland.
Snow, now melting into water, presents danger of flooding.
Previously, just as snow fell on houses, it also fell into reservoirs where it eventually became a supply of water (unless Irish Water had a canopy over every reservoir).
Now Irish Water has a water shortage caused by leaking pipes.
Leaking pipes are a never-ending problem, but excess water via snow is a 2018 phenomenon and should have increased the water content of reservoirs.
Amazingly, harvesting rain, scientifically treated and prepared for household use, other than drinking, is never proposed. So, also, the snowfall usage is ignored and now many areas have restricted use of water.
This water issue is serious but perhaps, on a lighter note, we may find all those missing Garda mobile phones on the floor of an empty reservoir, and then vital information might get to the Charleton Tribunal.
However, in Ireland, pigs never fly. JOHN KELLY, Dublin 3. ...WHILE the recent severe weather presented considerable difficulties for pedestrians due to large deposits of snow and ice on footpaths, they did, however, enjoy a reprieve from the constant nuisance of cyclists using their terrain.
This is an ever-increasing problem for people travelling on foot and shows no sign of abating.
AIDAN J WALSH, Dublin 12.
Bishops’ hypocrisy
AS a Catholic it pains me to point out what is wrong with the recent statement from the bishops of this country on the horrendous subject of abortion.
It is all very well to enter the debate expressing alarm at the High Court proceedings paving the way for law post-referendum, but it is in my living memory the way unbaptised newborns who died were denied burial in consecrated ground by the Catholic clergy.
It is in my living memory the way young unmarried women were treated when pregnant due to rape, incest, or being abandoned by feckless men.
Imprisoned, treated like dirt, and having their babies sold or buried in drains when they died, usually due to malnutrition or neglect.
Enough! GRÁINNE McMAHON, Co. Monaghan.
‘Sorry’ is not enough
RED C Research and Marketing has ‘apologised unreservedly’ for the failure of the Citizens’ Assembly to uphold the agreed methods for recruiting members.
The revelation concerning the recruitment of seven replacement members of the Assembly is a very worrying development.
Worrying, because the replacements were contacted by phone rather than door-to-door, and were identified as potential members through friends and family of the recruiter. This beggars belief.
Red C says this was an isolated incident. It makes one wonder how much control is exercised in ensuring proper administration and a fair and honest outcome.
An apology is always welcome, but is not a satisfactory response to this issue.
Why bother recruiting at all when I can ask a like-minded relative to fill the breach?
The topic is too serious and too important to be treated so casually.
JAMES DOYLE, Dublin 14.
Shame of dumpers
OUR roadside verges have become linear rubbish dumps. This year is the worst I’ve ever seen. It is a national disgrace that needs Government intervention.
How do you stop moronic drivers from dumping? A major campaign such as the smoking ban was successful because it highlighted how unhealthy and antisocial it was.
Roadside dumping is also antisocial and, like all forms of pollution, is unhealthy, especially to the environment and our wildlife.
It is a blot on our Irish nation and you can be sure the guilty morons will have the cheek to celebrate being Irish on St Patrick’s Day! JOHN MAC BRIAR, Co. Leitrim.