Ireland now a criminal safe house where victims ignored

A MAN who confessed that he tried to rape a woman had his conviction quashed because he admitted it before his lawyer arrived (Mail).

Once again, we see the law of this country helping the criminal and ignoring the victim. All a criminal has to do now is admit to his crime before his lawyer arrives and the gardaí cannot charge him.

Welcome to Ireland, the criminals’ safe house where they are protected and the victims ignored.

DAVID BURKE, Gorey, Co. Wexford.

Maori monarch’s role

AS a New Zealander, I’m aware that there is a lot of misconceptions about the Maori king (Mail).

His role is entirely ceremonial; he’s the figurehead of the ‘Kingitanga’ movement, to which only about ten per cent of New Zealand Maoris adhere.

He isn’t the leader of his tribe (the Waikato) though he has tried – unsuccessfully – to meddle in their affairs.

Like all New Zealand citizens, he’s a subject of the British crown. Sadly, this latest posturing over the visit of Prince William and Kate Middleton is yet another example of his cringeworthy behaviour.

It’s thought likely that he will be the last Maori ‘king’.

ANDREW PARSONS, Auckland, New Zealand.

‘Cult’ of climate change

THE original concept, James Lovelock’s Gaia theory, from which ‘global warming’ was developed, had some basis in reality.

However, the flaw in the idea was that it required a stable environment within which ‘balance’ could be maintained.

Clearly, the terrestrial climate is far from stable. Any species, by its very existence, alters the environment within which it exists.

It’s normally in the interests of that species that any such variation isn’t too extreme, but an attempt to eliminate that variation totally entails elimination of, or at least a serious reduction in the growth of, the species itself.

A median position, whereby tolerable variations can be accommodated, is essential to the continued existence of the species.

The real problem is that ‘ global warming’ has become a belief system – a religion rather than a science – borne out by the tendency to class those who question the theory as ‘deniers’ or ‘non-believers’.

Science is always about questions. Only a religion demands belief.

On the political front, far too many of those in positions of power have allowed themselves to be influenced by fashionable concepts and have staked too much of their reputation and power base on this acceptance.

Until we can undo that, we’re locked into a cult-like structure which may, in the long term, become highly damaging.

D CARTER, via email.

A vile ideology

THERE is nothing funny about communism. Unfortunately, the victims of this disease will never be able to testify in any court.

People seem to forget the Nazis were communists too: the National Socialist Workers’ Party. Socialist is the nice way of saying communist.

The score of killings from this vile ideology puts any other to shame; let’s have a look at some of the statistics: Mao Tse Tung: 68million. ‘Uncle’ Joe Stalin: roughly 40mil- lion, give or take a million or two.

Adolf Hitler: about 24million, mostly killed during World War II.

In more recent times, Pol Pot killed more of his people per capita than all the others put together.

Most of these killings were of their own people.

Compared with these monsters, Mussolini, Franco and the other fascist leaders in South America were nothing. In the Thirties, Stalin starved to death almost the entire population of Ukraine, normally known as the ‘ bread basket of Russia’.

Had Mussolini not been such an inept buffoon, the outcome of World War II might have been different.

The National Socialists may have won. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union was one of the biggest hoaxes ever.

Why do you think we have lost our sovereignty?

Because the communists took up residence in Brussels and Strasburg and slowly but surely are eroding our freedoms and our national identities.

Too late now, you voted twice for Lisbon.

Now we, the ordinary people, are reaping the whirlwind.

Communism is the biggest threat to freedom everywhere. BRENDAN AHEARNE,

Naas, Co. Kildare.