Nurses a whole lot more deserving than our TDs
ANYONE with any sense should realise that the nurses’ complaints are really genuine and relate much more to patient care than wages.
Any Dáil member who disagrees with the nurses should think of the following. The requirements to become a member of Dáil Éireann are (a) be an Irish citizen (b) be 21 years of age (c) you must not be disqualified from election to the Dáil.
To become a nurse you need to be well educated and study for a number of years to get a degree while struggling and surviving on handouts from parents.
There are no educational requirements to be a TD – all you need is to be popular and have plenty of influential friends. Any self-respecting nurse would have no problem walking into Dáil Éireann, taking a seat and become involved in debates and discussions without acting like a spoiled child ranting and raving at the opposition.
Now, on the other hand, apart from a few medically trained TDs, how many other TDs in the Dáil could don a nurse’s uniform walk into a hospital and tend to the sick and dying? Taking into consideration the above, who do you think deserves a wage increase?
Seamus Broderick, Cobh, Co. Cork.
…I SUPPORT the nurses in their fight for better pay and conditions. But I am also thinking about the healthcare assistants who work very hard. And they, too, have to be qualified.
All healthcare assistants that I know have at least a level-five qualification. No one is talking about them and how poorly they are paid. They, too, should be appreciated for the great work that they do. Maureen Lowndes, Geashill Co. Offaly.
Move the hospital
EVEN at this delayed stage, the site of the national children’s hospital should be relocated in the interest of future Irish children and their parents and families, to the more suitable Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown, Dublin 15.
The focus should be on what is best for the health of the children.
Margaret Walshe, Dublin 15.
Backstop balance
MINISTER Simon Coveney’s comparison of Britain’s attitude to Brexit negotiations in a recent interview as like someone who says: ‘Give me what I want or I’ll jump out the window.’
If I may coin a related analogy: The British see the so-called backstop as bars being put on that same window, through which the UK might never escape.
The status of the Irish backstop will require the agreement of all parties for its future removal. Surely it would be impossible to get such universal approval?
Tom Baldwin, Midleton, Co. Cork.
Cycling on paths
WHILE walking in my home town a few days ago, I witnessed an act of kindness. Two young pedestrians moved over to allow an older woman riding a bicycle on the footpath a little more space.
Seriously though, people persistently pedalling on paths is an irritating problem here and it is probably the same in other urban areas up and down the country. It is a sad situation that footpath users, especially older folk, are risking their limbs when walking there.
It is even more annoying that when some of the offenders are chastised, the response can be words of abuse.
Many years ago, people cycling at night without lights were summoned to appear in courts and now it would be in the interest of many if some of those pedalling on footpaths faced similar sanctions.
Shay Coogan, Navan, Co Meath.
FAI finances
BEFORE the Government accedes to the request from the FAI for up to €5m from the Government to finance improvements at the Aviva Stadium ahead of the Euro 2020 games to be staged here, perhaps it might account for the whereabouts of the €5m given by Sepp Blatter and Fifa officials to the FAI in order to stop any Irish legal action over the Thierry Henry handball incident.
Despite decades of attracting huge attendances at international football fixtures, which in turn generated massive revenue for the FAI, little was done to secure exclusive national and provincial stadiums for Irish soccer.
Furthermore, the FAI, which benefited to the tune €191m of taxpayers’ money that was channelled into the FAI/IRFU Aviva Stadium, appears to have no problem finding the money to pay its chief executive in excess of €350,000 per year. Tom Cooper, Templeogue, Dublin 6w.
A lovely Irish trait
I HOPE we never lose our habit of saying thank you to our bus drivers as we alight. It’s a lovely trait.
I had a funny thought recently about driverless buses when they arrive, and it’s this: When we arrive at our destination without an incident, will our ‘thank you’ change to ‘thank God’?
Joan Dowling, Blackrock, Co. Dublin.