Stop telling the British what to do over Brexit
LEO Varadkar says ‘relations are frayed between Éire and the UK because of Brexit’. And whose fault is that, Leo? Wait. I can answer that. It’s because our Taoiseach and Tánaiste have not shut up with dictating to Britain since their referendum on Brexit became a democratic result.
Instead, Leo’s government, on behalf of the undemocratic EU, has been throwing shapes and going on like we are totally in charge of the UK administration and its decisions.
Leo and Simon Coveney are an embarrassment with their floundering about in the face of Britsh democracy which adheres to the will of its citizens. Grow up, lads. ROBERT SULLIVAN,
Bantry, Co. Cork.
We need debate
AFTER being ridiculed in some media circles, it seems somewhat unexpected that Peter Casey’s remarks regarding Travellers, who only make up less than 1% of the population, brought his poll ratings from 1% to almost 25% of the total vote.
In reality, he did not add much else to the debate but his comments struck a chord with the general public.
Peter Casey has provided an opening for debate on Traveller issues and their place in society.
And it ought to be incumbent now more than ever that the Travelling community, elected representatives and all stakeholders come together and show leadership and focus on those issues with a view to addressing the situation that pertains for the betterment of society.
Such a process would take time to reap positive benefits but if it does not happen, now that the flame for debate has been lit, the situation will continue to fester and the problems and distrust will just escalate. CHRISTY KELLY, Templeglantine, Co. Limerick.
Mistaken beliefs
SINN Féin’s attempt to defend its involvement in the countless murders committed by the IRA continues.
This is the 25th anniversary of the Shankill Road bombing, described by Sinn Féin as a tragic mistake. How can one plant a bomb in a fish shop and not expect to kill people?
Perhaps the mistake they refer to is when the two IRA members entered the shop disguised as delivery men and carrying a bomb it detonated prematurely, killing one of them? TONY MORIARTY, Harold’s Cross, Dublin 6w.
No more cover-ups
REGARDING cervical cancer, now it emerges that 208 patients were affected of whom 17 have died by the HSE’s blunders.
The vast majority of them did not know after they were given the all-clear after the misreadings, which is a total scandal and sounds horrifying to say the least.
But what is most troubling of all in these cases is that so much was covered up.
Given what Vicky Phelan was put through, it would be unthinkable for 200 other families to be dragged through the courts for compensation also. This has to come outside the courts.
Simon Harris was absolutely right to come out and express his lack of confidence in the management of CervicalCheck.
We do not ever want this scandal and cover-ups to happen again in this country. NOEL HARRINGTON,
Kinsale, Co. Cork.
Plastic peril
HAVE nine out of ten people really been inspired to change our shopping habits to avoid plastic and packaging that can’t be recycled, as has been reported?
A few days ago, I took part in a river clean-up with six others. In four kayaks and two open canoes, armed with sacks, grabbers, gloves and hand cleanser, we targeted a short stretch of our local river.
We set off from our club and planned to clean up a five-mile stretch.
However, by the time we had paddled just two miles, we had filled all our sacks and the open canoes. We will have to make another trip to complete the final three miles.
One of our younger members, Joe McDermott, 17, is researching single-use plastic as a school project, so we counted all the bottles, drinks containers and food trays we had fished out of the river. There were 134 items from that short stretch of the river.
We also filled lots of sacks with glass, cans, plastic carrier bags, balls and a garden chair. The motor scooter we found on the riverbed was too large and heavy to retrieve!
We were all appalled by the amount of rubbish we collected – most of it plastic. Why are people using this lovely river as a dustbin? J. CHAMBERLIN, address supplied. ...ON A recent visit to the supermarket, I was putting my shopping in the boot of the car when I stopped and looked at all the plastic wrapping.
I felt so angry that I ripped it all off, took the packaging back into the store and handed it to customer services. I told them I didn’t want it and they needed to find another way of wrapping goods, or sell them loose. GLENNIS TAYLOR,
address supplied.