Fears of families who have loved ones in Middle East
MANY of us, who still see the birth of the infant as the central part of this holy season, may find it very difficult to look into the Christmas crib and not be disturbed by visions and shadows of building rubble and shards of bullet and bomb shrapnel blotting out the nativity scene.
However bothered we may be, there is among us a group who are inherently more heedful and continuously more anxious because of the volatility and awfulness of what is now happening in the Middle East.
Spare a thought this Christmas Eve for Defence Forces’ families who have spouses and partners, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters serving with the United Nations in that war-torn part of our world.
Those on UN deployment will be keenly aware of their nearest bunker so as to be safe from sporadic shelling and will be confident that their comrades have their backs at all times. However, the families at home will continuously be feeling more vulnerable, anxious and separated, and not just on Christmas morning.
Because of the dedication and professionalism of those abroad and the understanding and forbearance of their families at home, it may be easier on all of us to look at and revisit the message of the crib next year and in the following years.
Michael Gannon, Kilkenny City.
Cold comfort for sick
NEW research funded by the Irish Cancer Society reveals stark levels of energy poverty and hardship experienced by cancer patients receiving palliative care at home.
Patients with terminal cancer are dying in unheated homes due to high energy costs and a lack of financial support from the State, this research has shown.
Meanwhile, three in five palliative care nurses reported that households had difficulty paying bills like mortgage, rent and utility charges.
Other worrying findings reveal that nurses have reported dampness (64%), mould (50%) and condensation (70%) in the homes where they are delivering vital palliative care.
These conditions have a physical and psychological impact on these patients at the end of their lives.
This is Ireland’s unseen crisis. Avril Power, CEO of the Irish Cancer Society, said the very least we should be able to do in these circumstances is to provide someone with a terminal illness like cancer with some comfort. The charity is seeking the extension of the household benefits, fuel allowance and additional needs payments to all cancer payments.
Calls for more urgent targeted support for cancer patients have so far fallen on deaf ears in the Department of Health, on the grounds that there is ‘no hierarchy of illness’. This is cold comfort for terminally ill patients in the twilight of their lives, and for their distraught families.
Tom Towey, Cloonacool, Co. Sligo.
DUP lacks leadership
THE DUP’s blockade of the North’s executive over 18 months is a disgrace and is devastating news for people on waiting lists and workers awaiting pay claims. The DUP lacks leadership and courage. It is essential that the people of the North get the right financial package and this will only happen if the executive is up and running. This all about public sector workers getting a fair wage apart from holding up investment.
Noel Harrington, Kinsale, Co. Cork.
All wars are madness
A VERY good friend recently told me that he was born at the end of
the Second World War and had believed that was meant to be the end of all wars. He went on to say that he believed that there hasn’t been a day without a war somewhere.
One feels, sadly, that many of us will leave this world in a similar state to that in which we found it.
One would hope the following words of Pope Francis would touch the hearts of all global leaders in 2024: ‘Wars are always madness: all is lost in war, all is to be gained in peace’.
John O’Brien, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.
Give the gift of life
ATTENTION last-minute Christmas shoppers. Get yourself, your loved ones, your friends and anyone you know a gift that keeps on giving long after you are gone… a gift of a donor card.
The card is free but, when used, is priceless. To get one, just free text ‘Donor’ to 50050.
As Captain Picard would say: ‘Make it so.’
Kevin Devitte, Westport, Co. Mayo.