Why the EU should not be trying to pacify UK
IT’S really frustrating to hear the DUP leadership stating that the EU proposals for the Northern Protocol ‘fall short of the fundamental changes needed’.
I find it particularly galling to learn the EU has now come back with new proposals, in the hope of somehow pacifying and propitiating the UK.
It’s inconceivable the EU should be now entertaining the UK, considering the latter is now endeavouring to renege on a deal to which both parties signed up.
It’s bewildering that the EU would allow the UK to dictate how it wants things to be.
I would wager the vast preponderance of business leaders in the North think that the protocol has actually exceeded their expectations. DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson does not seem to have the pragmatic approach of these business leaders.
I find the DUP’s stupidity to be truly bottomless because no republican forced them to embrace Brexit and partition the Union. Democratic unionists weren’t, like so many settlers of the British empire, abandoned by the Tory metropolis when the
price of maintaining the colonial rule grew too high.
Rather, they egged Tory England on as it went berserk.
It’s obvious the EU and the US will not accept a border on the island of Ireland, and similarly the DUP, supported by the Tories, will not support a border in the Irish Sea which the DUP believe will cut unionists off from the rest of the UK, and in their minds forces
them to the integrate with the Irish Republic and the EU,
I feel the DUP has betrayed the best interests of its cause and country by allowing itself to become a puppet in the political
game that’s keeping the UK Tory administration relevant and in power. In the end, it’s my contention that we are obliged to
honour a deal that was ostensibly signed up to in good faith.
It’s also my opinion that I would now leave the Tories and the DUP to rant as much as they want.
I would encourage the EU to get on with the business of running the union, remembering that the UK made its own bed – and my response is simply: ‘Let them deal with it themselves.’
JOHN O’BRIEN, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.
Church’s decline
‘THE Church is dying on its feet in this country – Just nine men starting to study for priesthood in 2021’
by Helen Bruce (Mail, October 14) is a very fine analysis of the threats and opportunities facing Irish Christianity. I was a militant atheist until age 35 when a family tragedy caused me to explore the strong evidences for faith.
Almost 20 years later, I was ordained as a Church of Ireland evangelist, but the abuses I
witnessed when preparing for ordination were shocking.
It felt as if trainees on the programme had minimal protection against bullying, harassment, confidentiality breaches or vigilante justice.
Pre-retirement, I worked in medicine for almost 30 years, where robust protections prevented bullying of hospital or GP trainees.
A midweek meet-up with a group of convinced Christians, has proven a great substitute for the cold formality of a Sunday service. The absence of paid performers, or a collection plate, is welcome.
Is the contraction of mainstream denominations (often obsessed with money, clergy and buildings) a good and a necessary thing?
JT HARDY, by email.
The real heroes
DURING the lockdowns, Irish and British ‘celebrities’ were never off the TV, telling us how like the rest of us plebs they were.
The unshaven famous men gave the impression they were really brave in the face of impossible odds, yet vowed to carry on.
The women showed us their undyed hair and un-manicured
hands, and just like the men, had a determination to keep their face
out there, lest we forget their heroic services to humankind.
I remain forever grateful to the stars of film and TV above my own mundane life, which is nowhere as important, obviously.. ROBERT SULLIVAN,
Bantry, Co. Cork.
Time for climate action
IT appears the Queen of England
is not happy with the leaders who ‘talk but don’t do’.
The upcoming Glasgow COP26 climate summit is an opportunity
to examine the looming danger of climate change, find a solution and implement it but in reality it could just end up as a talkfest.
Several world leaders are not even likely to attend.
Oh, for the days when a royal invitation was always accepted, and the British regent could punish any of those who even thought of dissenting. DENNIS FITZGERALD,
Melbourne Australia.
We need answers
AT the meeting of finance ministers in Washington last Thursday, it was said that many governments are thinking of starting to manufacture products that were once produced elsewhere.
The pandemic showed how dependent we are on critical items. Is it possible to know what our government will do on this issue, or will that never come to light due its byzantine way of dealing with life-and-death matters? PAUL DORAN,
Dublin 22.