McDonald deserves a chance at governing
PERHAPS, as your front page on Saturday declared, ‘It’s Time A Woman Ran the Country’ (Mary Lou McDonald).
I have no difficulty with that. Not because she is a woman, although she has proved herself in public debate in Dáil Éireann in a manner that Chaucer’s Wife of Bath might well have relished and his Pardoner might have approved.
And I am not unduly impressed by Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, not even in the film version with Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon, although I have recently watched it twice under house arrest in Dublin 4.
But Sinn Féin has got the votes. For Mary Lou McDonald herself, 11,223 first-preference votes in Dublin Central. It is an argument that Ian Paisley himself found convincing.
Not so, as yet, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
If we are to live in a parliamentary democracy, we must accept the will of the people. To refuse to do so is little better than political terrorism, if better at all. GERALD MORGAN,
by email.
Fake political tensions?
FINE Gael and Fianna Fáil are spreading rumours regarding the formation of a government.
Sometimes you get politicians who dig their feet into the sand and are not willing to listen to another opinion.
Are we expected to believe these ministers would deny themselves a basic salary of €96,189, plus substantial expenses, in the national interest?
Politicians have an acutely honed instinct for self-preservation. PAT O’CALLAGHAN,
Co. Cork.
Pay the over-66s
I THINK it’s total discrimination against the elderly by this caretaker Government that the selfemployed who are over 66 years of age were not allowed to receive the Covid-19 payment of €350 per week.
All the advertisements on TV, radio and the press clearly stated that all those who lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, including the selfemployed, would receive this payment.
Even the part-time students who were earning only €100 per week received this payment. Whoever made this decision must think that the State pension of €250 per week, to which we have contributed over many years and is not a hand-out, would cover the cost of the overheads of running a business.
I emailed Finance Minister Pascal Donohoe about this two months ago and he said he would pass my query on to the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection and get back to me when he had a detailed update. That was the last I heard from him.
I also emailed Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty about a month ago regarding this matter and I didn’t even receive an acknowledgement of the email.
I hope this decision can be reversed soon. MARTIN HENEGHAN,
by email.
Let’s toast the local pub
I DON’T agree with Brenda Power that the traditional pub should come to an end!
As Brenda pointed out (May 23) everything will change and I believe that it will be an improvement.
Yes, you couldn’t hear yourself talk and she rightly said those little bottles of wine from Chile for the ‘ladies’ are a no-go for me! Actually, I am an octogenarian and I particularly like pubs like the Strawberry Hall and the Roost in Maynooth. Both pubs serve glasses of good wine!
So hopefully the seating will be sorted and we can enjoy a trip there now and again. MAUREEN FULLAM,
by email.
Pensioners bite back
NOW that the Covid-19 crisis in hospitals is winding down, how soon will it be before the daily news of the hospital corridor trolley industry kicks back in?
And will politicians and medical staff continue to use the insulting term ‘cocooners’ for we over-70s as a matter of course?
They will soon tell us we are now ‘free’ to try and get back to a life where we are grudgingly respected and considered capable of thinking for ourselves.
Keep such lingo stuck in your throats when speaking to me, because there is always a bite in this old dog’s life, yet. ROBERT SULLIVAN,
Bantry, Co. Cork.