So who was really behind the attack on Capitol Hill?
I DO not think that I was the only person on the planet to be amazed to see what happened in the American seat of power in Washington DC.
The lack of protection given to the people running the country was something which I don’t think would have happened in even the most backward country anywhere in the world. It was curious, given the level of security that was there for other demonstrations.
The first thought that came to mind when I saw what was happening was that the head of security was asleep or out of town for the day.
Then I thought, who would benefit most from what happened? None other than Mr Biden and his Democratic Party.
How would this happen? Simply by inserting an agent provocateur among the demonstrators to cause as much trouble as they could. It is now up to the powers that be to find how this could be allowed to happen in the most powerful country in the world, and if they don’t, then the world, and in particular the new president, are in big trouble.
PAUL PRICE, Dublin 22.
Time to fade out, Trump
RECOGNITION s ometimes happens easily. Twitter shut down @realDonaldTrump for obvious reasons and soon realised the same misguided voice was speaking via @TeamTrump and closed that too, although of course that was an easy one to spot.
The next search is for the names of those who invaded the Capitol building. The use of computer facial recognition is becoming more common, although in this case the community has been helping, as very few of the people were hiding, but rather drawing as much attention to themselves as possible.
The need for recognition has been a rallying call for them and their president.
Although, from media coverage, it seems they were mostly white males, their leader and inspiration was not really white but rather an orange coloured male who was easy to identify, although many hope that he will fade into obscurity quickly.
DENNIS FITZGERALD, by email.
Roll out the vaccine
NOW that horrendous 2020 is behind us, is there any truth in the rumour that 2021 might not be up to much itself?
It hasn’t started well, and the certainty that seemed to be there on December 31 had disappeared even before the damp squibs had died down. Could it be that the life span of a virus is not simply determined by optimism, no matter how real or imaginary?
Short of swamping the country with the various vaccines, is there another way to rekindle the trust in those politicians who have promised so much?
We must do the vital paperwork first, while awaiting the EU to send us our share of the jab, before ‘ safely’ rolling it out, say our political leaders.
But how does one ‘ unsafely’ administer a choice of life-saving antidotes without the silly words of caution the Taoiseach, for example, is given to?
Is it too soon to look to 2022 as the year when, with all the T’s crossed and the other l ads dotted, we will safely move a step forward towards health, or do we easily hurry it up a good bit, starting yesterday? ROBERT SULLIVAN,
Bantry.
We lose out again
UNDER the EU Commission’s allocation of the coronavirus vaccines, based on population, Ireland receives 1.1%.
Pity that same principle did not apply during the bank bailouts, when Ireland got lumbered with 40% of the debt. It’s just another case of heads you win, tails we lose. JOHN-PATRICK BELL, Co. Leitrim.
Gardaí must stand up
I’M appalled that our gardaí allowed a big crowd of mourners, at least 50 according to reports and photographs, walk behind the hearse bearing former Real IRA leader, Michael McKevitt, last week, while the law-abiding public of this country are told daily to restrict gatherings.
This sends a message to me that the Gardaí are simply afraid of these people, and as a citizen of this State, I and many, many others couldn’t attend funerals in the last year of friends, relatives and neighbours because of these pandemic restrictions.
This is simply just not good enough. Maybe we should all join the IRA, and have as many as we like at funerals etc, while the gardaí stand around with their hands in their pockets. Roll on the next election. VAL DAVIS,
Co. Cork.