Give the gift of a love of books this Christmas
GROUCHO Marx, master of quick wit and caustic quip, said ‘outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend, inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.’ While a dog is a faithful companion, with a book in your hand you’re also in good company.
Groucho was already a keen reader when poverty forced him to quit school at 12 years. He overcame his lack of formal education by becoming well-read.
Recent literacy studies confirm that young Irish people are also keen readers. Great credit for Ireland’s love affair with books must go to the authors, who make a huge contribution to the Writers in School scheme.
Since Listowel’s Bryan McMahon first visited the Mercy School in Limerick in 1977, the year Groucho died, a million young people in 4,000 schools have reaped the benefits of this unique programme. These talented authors have inspired young people to read not only for information but also for pleasure.
Social media is all pervasive, but it’s hard to beat a good book. Reading exposes one to adventure, excitement, anticipation and knowledge. It stirs the imagination, arouses curiosity and inspires creativity.
Digital media and literature can co-exist but young people should always be encouraged to read a good book and, in the words of author Tom McCaughren, ‘discover the magic between its covers.’
Book shops throughout the country have an eclectic supply of books to suit all tastes. What more appropriate Christmas present can be given to a child than an introduction to the joy of reading with the gift of a book?
There is also an excellent public library service throughout the country where books to suit all tastes can be borrowed. Membership of the local library makes an ideal stocking filler and introduces the recipient to a lifelong love of reading. BILLY RYLE, Tralee, Co. Kerry.
Deadline exceeded
HAS it escaped our President Michael D Higgins attention that it is now December and he promised before and during the election that he would account in November for his annual allowance of €317,000 which still goes unaudited? Perhaps one of his team would remind him of his promise just in case he has a senior moment.
DENIS DENNEHY, Dublin.
Parking woes
THE recent reports regarding the demise of small towns is interesting but, in my opinion, they fail to address the issues facing potential customers.
Around this time every year, small towns try to lure potential shoppers with all kinds of attractive offers, including lovely festive music and Christmas lights. Sadly, when the customers arrive in the main shopping areas of these towns there is nowhere to legally park their cars.
The drivers lucky enough to find a parking place are time-restricted and face the prospect of incurring hefty fines should they get inadvertently delayed in the shops.
Traffic wardens perform thankless duties, preventing gridlock, with commendable efficiency.
That said, why would shoppers run the gauntlet, when they have big stores at the edges of these towns offering stress-free parking and great special offers without the hassle one associates with visits to the High Street?
EUGENE CASSIDY, Co. Cavan.
Penalty clause
REGARDING the article headlined ‘Call for special payment in cold weather’ (Irish Daily Mail, Friday), Sinn Féin TDs John Brady and Brian Stanley should take a look at the Fuel Allowance first.
Before I became a pensioner I lost my job and was on Jobseekers Allowance. During that time I received the fuel allowance. The day I became a pensioner I suddenly was not entitled to the Fuel Allowance and it was stopped.
How is it that one minute you are entitled to fuel allowance then the next you are not? I worked all my life and as soon as I become a pensioner I am penalised.
DAVID BURKE, Gorey, Co. Wexford.
Different class
FIONA Looney’s rose-tinted view of school (Wednesday, Irish Daily Mail) is I’m afraid very far removed from the modern-day reality of life in many primary school classrooms.
Long gone are the days when a classroom full of children regardless of individual differences was regarded as a homogeneous group and treated as such.
These days it’s all differentiation, individualisation, personalisation and integration. All fine and dandy but too often I fear the reality is organised chaos.
Frequently the quiet studious child who has no need for any of the above gets short shrift. These children put up with a lot: constant disruption and interruption and a very truncated programme of work. Little wonder they end up in home schooling.
Classrooms these days are frequently too very noisy to the point where some children are stressed out by it all and prefer not to be there at all.
To top it all you have parents who care not a jot about any other child so long as their one and only is catered for in a very specific way. JOAN GRENNAN, Sligo.