We need to be better prepared for storms
STORMS seem to be coming with increasing frequency and are called names like a long-lost relative that suddenly turns up on your doorstep.
You are cautious of them but unsure of their actions and what effect they will have on you.
In Galway city, Storm Ophelia passed us by with the greatest talking point being thrill-seekers swimming at Blackrock.
Last week we had Storm Dylan which, although generating a bit of a breeze in the city, didn’t merit any mention on the RTÉ Six One News the following day because it caused no damage.
On Tuesday night we had Storm Eleanor which, despite warnings from Met Éireann, took us all by surprise, causing widespread flooding.
Surely there has to be a better system of warning people of possible damage, otherwise it becomes a case of people ignoring the boy who cried wolf too many times. TOMMY RODDY, Salthill, Galway.
Trump’s untruths
I WATCHED a report today by CNN about a file that The Washington Post has been keeping on Donald Trump since he was sworn into office on January 20, 2017.
The newspaper has kept an indepth record of everything he has claimed to have achieved as President.
Its findings show that in his first 347 days in office, he has made 1,950 misleading or outright false claims, the latest coming just this week when he claimed that American commercial airlines were accident-free in 2017, which he claimed was as a direct result of his actions. It transpires that American airlines have been accident-free for the past eight consecutive years.
I suppose that makes it 1,951 lies by Trump. What amazes me is that nobody confronts him with these facts. The figures show that Trump lies to the world 5.6 times a day. Surely that is not a sustainable situation. MARTIN STRINGER,
Co. Mayo.
Less violence, please!
I KNOW David Attenborough is regarded as a saint, but I am fed up of his programmes that seem only to show animals killing each other and his constant preaching about how mankind is destroying the world.
The camera work is superb, but I don’t want to see disturbing scenes, even though I know these things go on in the wild. I wish he would show more of the pleasant sides of nature.
I much preferred a recent TV series about Alaska with a wonderful mellow voice-over by actor Dougray Scott where there was no preaching or displays of killings.
MARY WEIDMAN, by email.
Lending scourge
I’M not surprised families are being forced to turn to legal moneylenders with astronomical interest rates to pay bills – but I can’t help but feel they would be better going cap-in-hand to anyone else.
I know people feel they have no choice but to use these services, and if that is the case, the Government needs to do more to promote its own lending schemes.
It’s a worrying trend to see these ‘payday loan’ companies on the rise in Ireland, as they are already very prominent in the UK and the source of much controversy.
One recent report stated that over 600,000 families in the UK are dependent on these short-term loans that put them in serious debt.
Back in 2012, Newcastle FC came in for severe criticism for signing a £24million sponsorship deal with short-term lender Wonga, with one MP describing the company as ‘legal loan sharks’.
If they got a foothold in the UK, there is no reason why they couldn’t do the same here.
What riles me most is some of the adverts you see for these companies on TV. They make it seem like this a very handy and reasonable service that they are offering – and that they are giving a helping hand to people in at a time when finances are seriously stretched.
Perhaps it is a useful service if you have the cash flow that allows you to pay back any loan quickly, without racking up huge fees.
But in the reality I would imagine most people end up paying through the nose for this ‘generosity’.
I’ve never had the misfortune to need to avail of these lenders but I can’t imagine the relationship between hard-pressed customers and hard-nosed lenders is anything other than very fraught. Let’s hope families here don’t get dependent on them like many are in the UK.
BRIAN O’RIORDAN, by email.
Selfish resolutions
NEW Year resolutions once meant you intended making changes for the better.
Now the focus seems to be on yourself: we want to lose weight, change the colour of our hair, have a boob job, ask the boss for a rise, try a new restaurant every month or get a better car. Perhaps our friends and family should make our resolutions for us.
They may have different ideas, such as visit your mum more often, don’t let your mobile phone come between you and your children, listen more and say less, do a good deed every day, be kinder and more forgiving.
These are the ways to get a better world. JANE ENTWISTLE, Chelmsford, Essex.