Wishin’ and hopin’ for better things this year

SIR, Everyone wants to put the foot right when the New Year comes around. I particularly hope where we put the foot wrong in 2017 does not follow us into 2018.

I hope senior citizens get more respect this year. I hope they stop dying on trollies. I hope the crowd in Sligo who decide on pensions get their act together and start clearing their backlog. It’s not fair or right for us to have to choose between a bag of coal and a loaf of bread.

I hope this abortion referendum does not become the bloodletting it promises to be. I hope people on both sides understand that we do not want a countryside littered with the ghosts of dead fetuses. We want protection, but not for those who want to use abortion as a method of birth control.

I hope people stop drinking and driving and texting and driving and altogether stop doing all and sundry except driving when they are behind the wheel of a car that can kill someone else.

I hope Kerry farmers get the break they need from this ‘new government’. You will not find harder working people in this Republic.

I hope the young ones start reading again. Put the tablet and iPhone down for a time and dive into a good book. Discover what real imagination is.

I love Wishin’ and Hopin’ It’s my favorite Dusty Springfield song. I’d like to hear it played more on the radio.

Still n’ all, I’m wishin’ and hopin’ for a wonderful 2018 for all of you.

Sincerely,

Tom Cahill, Ballinskelligs.