Being tough is laudable Leo, but it will cost us
WHILE we all praise Leo Varadkar’s tough stance on the Brexit and Irish border issues, there is one aspect of all of this that I struggle to understand: Leo has made it abundantly clear that in the event of no resolution of the border question, and without an agreed and binding backstop, the Government will veto any further trade negotiations between the UK and the EU.
But surely all that will achieve is the hard Brexit that a number of the UK’s conservatives want anyway and, in that case, there will definitely be a hard border?
Then we will have the unhappy situation where we have successfully forced our closest trading partner into a complete divorce from the EU, thereby increasing the cost of living for families, losing a major part of our exports and, potentially, crippling our agricultural industry.
It would also, I imagine, do the world of good for Anglo-Irish relations!
Being tough is all very well but, in this case, it might just have very unpleasant consequences. ANTHONY MANSER,
Co. Waterford.
No to ‘Adams’s Day’
I READ, with utter dismay, the letter from James Wood suggesting that we should rename St Patrick’s Day Gerry Adams’s Day. What a preposterous thought. Maybe Mr Woods should seek the views of Jean McConville’s children and all the relations of the innocent victims whose blood was spilt at the hands of the vile organisation that he was associated with, and was an apologist for, for decades.
BRENDAN O’BRIEN, Dublin 24.
Liam and Libya
ON last Friday’s Late Late Show, Ryan Tubridy interviewed actor Liam Cunningham, who was going to be the Dublin St Patrick’s Day Parade Grand Marshall the next day.
Ryan referred to the humanitarian work Liam has been involved with for a number of years around the world.
In the course of discussing this humanitarian work, Liam referred to how the West has wrecked Libya! Strangely, Ryan did not pursue this, by asking Liam what he meant by saying that the West wrecked Libya. Perhaps, someone might ask Liam Cunningham what he meant. PETER KENNEDY, Dublin 13.
Honour our anthem
WHAT have people got against our National Anthem?
Every time we play a rugby match, win lose or draw, someone has a letter published suggesting we get rid of it and proposes the alternative Ireland’s Call as a substitute for it.
Ireland’s Call is a nice tune, but Amhrán na bhFiann is our National Anthem. What’s wrong with it? Is it too Irish for them?
In fact there’s nothing wrong with it, and it has been enjoyed by Irish men and women for generations and this is still acknowl- edged by a great number of people in Ireland today. So why the need to replace it?
Generations of Irishmen have grown up with Amhrán na bhFiann and feel patriotic and proud when they hear it sung.
It is a lovely song with a stirring melody. Those who want to abolish it should witness the tears in the eyes of our diaspora in the USA, Canada and Australia and elsewhere when they hear it sung by thousands of sports crowds while watching a match abroad.
As a perfect example of a proud nation singing their anthem, just watch and listen to the French, both players and supporters.
There was a time when everyone stood to attention after a performance in a cinema or theatre and waited with respect until the end of our anthem before leaving the premises.
Unfortunately this is long gone now and is a pity.
As for the words, these are part of our history and should be honoured the same as the anthems of other countries are. JIM BELL, Co. Waterford.
Pulpit hypocrisy
I AM not a religious person, as I view religion, along with politics, as having primary responsible for the slaughter of humanity that is carried out on a global scale.
Prominent personnel of both these two factions of our society have been exposed, then protected and covered up, by their religious/political godfathers, for the horrendous crime of sexual child abuse that they committed.
To date, I cannot recall any one of them, religious or political, that has been charged, convicted and imprisoned, for their revolting criminality, that has undoubtedly embarrassed the decent ambassadors of their professions and inflicted shame on humanity itself.
Sadly this has been carried out continuously for years, so much that I fail to understand, how these religious/political leaders, still have the audacity to stand up on any pulpit or political platform, knowing that they speak with a blind eye and a forked-tongue.
If the human race ever wants a society worth living in, then it needs to ensure that those religious/political leaders who commit crimes, particularly sexual crimes on children, together with their protectors must be severely punished if they are found guilty. HARRY STEPHENSON, Co. Down.