Snitching on neighbours won’t fix our water crisis
WE the taxpayers pay a government to look after our interests always and they are not doing it.
So the critical aspect of conservation in the management of our water supply is now to be implemented by citizen snitching on citizen over hosepipes and nothing about losing 40% of our water through leaking pipes.
This is a totally watered-down, glued-together government who are ill-prepared for any emergency the weather can throw at them.
After all, we can thank the dictatorial attitude of Fine Gael’s Phil Hogan who scrapped the town councils which used to represent the people very well, and tried to introduce charges for one of our most precious resources.
He got his answer from the people who hit the street and caused the leader of Fianna Fáil, Micheál Martin, to do a U-turn.
Power to the people sends a strong message to any government. NOEL HARRINGTON,
Kinsale, Co. Cork.
Pensioners won’t forget
LISTENING to Brendan Howlin talking to Ivan Yates on Newstalk this week, Brendan was claiming that the Labour Party would more than double the amount of seats they hold in the next Dáil.
I assume he is not counting on getting votes from the pensioners who had their State pensions reduced by Joan Burton, by changing the qualifying conditions, those who had their private pensions reduced by Michael Noonan, or from those who saw Joan Burton increase the eligibility age to get the State pension from 65 to 66 the last time they were in power with Fine Gael.
Some of us still remember what Labour did when in power the last time, Brendan. We are not all passed on yet.
DENIS DENNEHY, Dublin.
Siri-ous concerns
THERE is an amusing clip of a British politician, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, giving a presentation about Syria when he is ‘heckled’ by Siri on his phone. ‘I found something on the web for Syria,’ the voice of the Apple iPhone is heard to say. ‘Syrian democratic forces supported by premonition.’
It’s a quick lesson on making sure your phone is on silent – but is there more of concern?
Obviously, Siri can hear you but who else can?
From what is written in many papers there are ways of ‘hacking’ phones and probably hearing what is being said. I am not worried if people can hear my boring conversations but then I am not the UK defence secretary who surely holds private discussions with colleagues and allies. Private may become public.
The world of spying has moved on from breaking into someone’s office and leaving a bug in the flowerpot. The possibility of tapping a phone that will be carried into and out of every politician’s and military leader’s meeting is bound to be considered by our foes and friends. Whose phone do we want to listen to – I can think of a long list of people that I don’t want to listen to as I already hear too much from them. DENNIS FITZGERALD,
By email.
Tragic racing loss
I WAS very sorry to hear the sad news that William Dunlop had been killed in a practice run at a race event in Skerries. His father, Robert, was killed during a practice run at a race event in 2008. And, of course his legendary uncle, Joey, died in a race in Estonia in 2000. The Dunlops have given so much to the world of racing. My sympathies to the family
TIM COLLINS, Dublin 6.
Time to reduce our debt
AS we approach the stage of a buoyant economy should we not be using the excess tax receipts to reduce our ever-expanding National Debt of €200billion plus? A commitment to reduce it to €150billion by 2030 would show prudence and maturity. Doing so would also relieve a lot of inflationary pressure which may lead us again to an uncompetitive economy. Or must we revisit the high emigration and unemployment lessons of the past before we gain the wisdom? PATRICK NOONE,
Dublin 16.
Barter beats Brexit
IN the event of Theresa May’s [Brexit] proposal failing to see a successful outcome, could it be possible we might do a deal outside the EU rules, such as a ‘barter’ type exchange of agricultural produce, akin to the days when a basket of organic eggs gave you back sugar and tea, etc. This would eliminate a lot of the control yielded by EU customs duty.
The 15km buffer zone on the border proposed by the UK is a trans-boundary impact-less freemarket zone with some existing EU rules but more of our own rules. It’s a proposal that may be scoffed at, but at least it may have some practical application in the context of a ‘soft-border’ Brexit.
Perhaps the secret of success for the future lies more in the traditional customs of the past, to barter trade, rather than the present unfettered economic globalisation caused by world trade deals that are threatening world economic security and peace development
IAN HESTER, Co. Roscommon.