Danny hasn’t fleshed out his meat argument
KERRY TD Danny Healy-Rae has accused Leo Varadkar of ‘betraying Irish farmers’ because the Taoiseach recently said that he had cut down on his red meat consumption (Mail, Wednesday).
Danny, who can sometimes be caught up the creek without a paddle, also bizarrely claimed that ‘those who support a vegetarian lifestyle never worked hard.’
With daft statements like that, you get the impression Danny’s now stranded up the creek without a boat never mind a paddle. Couldn’t he be accused of betraying Irish farmers who grow vegetables? Continuing with his pro-beef/anti-veg tirade, he then claimed the best way to revive yourself after a hard day’s work was to have ‘a good feed of meat.’
Last summer, Danny was pictured snoozing at Croke Park during the All-Ireland hurling final. Becoming exhausted while watching hurling was hardly a good way to prove eating plenty of meat gives you more energy than eating vegetables!
GER CARSON, Co. Donegal.
Brexit solutions
A BRITISH prime minister called an open referendum for the British people to decide if they should stay in or leave the EU.
The result showed the majority democratically made a decision that they wanted out of the EU. The government pledged to honour the result.
However, political parties and their members ignored the electorate’s decision, instead deciding to create obstacles to prevent Britain leaving the EU.
The Conservatives chose Theresa May and other cabinet ministers, to lead Britain out of the EU for whatever reason. May became the only person negotiating Britain’s departure, or imaginary departure, with several high-ranking EU members. Not an ideal way to conduct such an onerous task.
After more than two years Britain is no further forward in the process of leaving the EU, and an impasse has now been created. I find it most ironic that Mrs May is now looking for help from the other political parties including Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party.
Can I suggest to Theresa May, that her best option is to continue as she has done for the last two years until the time arrives for Britain to legally leave the EU on a no-deal arrangement where she can then put the blame on all political parties in the hope of saving her some face. HARRY STEPHENSON,
Kircubbin, Co. Down. ...THE EU keeps going on about how they support Ireland and the peace process with respect to the border with the North. If this is the case, I have the answer to any trade problems over the border in the advent of a Brexit no deal.
All the EU would need to do is to allow the Republic to strike a lone free trade deal with Britain. I am sure the British government would be keen on this.
Of course if, as I suspect, the EU is only using the border question as an excuse to get whatever they can out of Britain then they won’t offer this compromise. We shall have to wait and see.
JIM CRIPPS, Newtownbutler, Co. Fermanagh.
Silence isn’t golden
FROM the classic The Sound Of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel, written in 1964, we see some modern parallels that could apply to modern politics and our leaders.
‘Hello darkness, my old friend, I’ve come to talk with you again’ – mostly because no-one else will talk to me. A number of politicians have found themselves more and more isolated either by their own efforts or due to those who would have to talk to them. A message that has value will be heard.
In the US, the State of the Union address is likely to be postponed after Speaker Nancy Pelosi raised the issue of security, as most of the services have been shut down. In the UK, the parliament supported the prime minister but not what she was trying to achieve.
From the perspective of the voting public, it is more ‘People talking without speaking. People hearing without listening’ as their leaders take their own path without listening to their constituencies. Unless people are following there is no leading. DENNIS FITZGERALD,
Melbourne, Australia.