Welcome reminder of Catholics’ good work
AT a time when it’s trendy (in a vulgar and cheap kind of way) to denigrate and sneer at all aspects of Catholicism, it’s gratifying to read about the positive aspects of one’s faith.
The news story (Mail, Friday) about Sr Orla Treacy is a case in point. Sr Orla’s work, in education in South Sudan, is a testament to all that is good about the Catholic faith. Selfless work on behalf of others. While it is right that those religious people who betrayed their vows, by abuse of those in their care, are held to account, it is important to remember that the vast majority of religious, both missionaries and others, lead exemplary lives.
For example, orders such as the Medical Missionaries of Mary (based in Drogheda) have been carrying out similar work to Sr Orla since the 1940s.
Congratulations to Sr Orla, and well done to the US administration for recognising her contribution to humanity.
ERIC CONWAY, by email.
Water waste
FROM Paris Fashion Week comes a piece of money-wasting silliness, and it’s not a dress.
A fashion water bottle, if there is such a thing, created by Evian and others went on sale for around €42 and suddenly there were 4,000 people on a waiting list for it.
Even the branding of ‘rainbow inside’ seems odd given the cleanest water is clear and generally any colour is a sign of pollution.
There is no rule that people can’t waste their money on any stupid item, and given some of the recent purchases in the art world, there seems to be no limit as to how much can be spent. But the question arises as to how the money could be spent more sensibly or even given to charities.
The real concern is not just wasting money on a water bottle but how water is undervalued given that it truly is a vital need in life. There are so many people who have little access to water and especially to clean water.
A quick check online gives a list of charities that build water projects in Africa. One of those mentioned can supply water to two people for €42, a convenient value for comparison. Surely this is the best way to spend the money rather than for a vanity plastic bottle. Let’s supply water to those who need it rather than those who think they will look better carrying it around. DENNIS FITZGERALD,
Melbourne, Australia.
A woman’s work?
I NOTE that, in advertising its brand, one of the main food chains doesn’t believe in the spirit of celebrating International Women’s Day. Its TV advert shows the woman of the house singing the praises of the substantial grocery cost saving she has made by changing to that alternative supplier – yer man, sitting comfortably on his lazy couch, waves a crowd of children in to be fed.
Does he rise from his comfort to assist in providing the meal? Not at all. He sees fit to allow the Lady to continue doing all the work. So much for the example depicted, and their ideal of equality.
DENIS O’HIGGINS, Monaghan.
Brexit solution
DURING a discussion with a friend, he said that ‘never have so few (the DUP, Boris, etc) caused so much mayhem to Britain.
His solution is for Britain to return the six counties to the Irish Republic and then the Good Friday Agreement could still be honoured. I disagree and see that a second Brexit referendum should be held, but only for the people who did not vote in the last one. I assume all data from the first referendum has not yet been destroyed.
This would allow the British to nail their wishes to the mast and sail off into the sunset.
J POWER, by email.
Life sentence? Hardly
WE Irish must be the most stupid and most tolerant people on Planet Earth putting up with a judicial system that has a malfunctioning Department of Justice.
When accompanied by sentences that are kindly, benign and totally criminal-friendly, then one can see that Ireland has problems. The recent trial of a criminal with 25 previous convictions, who killed 90-year-old Paddy Lyons, is a typical example of Irish law.
Ross Outram was correctly sentenced to life – but even Mr Magoo knows this is a meaningless term in Irish law. One can see endless appeals for early release, certain parole for good behaviour and the possibility of Outram roaming the streets in a number of years.
In Glasgow, the killer of a Cork nurse had his case heard in four months and the judge sentenced him to 24 years without parole. A definite, unambiguous punishment with time to be spent in prison, giving victims of his crime a certain peace of mind, singularly lacking to victims’ in Ireland
The family seeking answers and an impossible search for truth in the Hawe family tragedy should in some ways be glad that Hawe committed suicide. Certainly if standing trial they may have got some truths, but it is certain his sentence would have been ‘life’.
Now life, Irish-style, is arbitrary and uncertain and devoid of specifics. It amounts to accommodation and food for a number of years, where a clever and calculating murderer can get early parole if he is a model prisoner. JOHN P. KELLY, Clontarf, Dublin.