What next: a tax on odd socks and shoe laces?
IT is wonderful that, in April, our obesity problems will be greatly tackled when the sugar tax comes into effect. Like the tax on the humble plastic carrier bag, a bit of extra money makes the issues diminish once dosh flows into the Government coffers.
There must be many more nonessential items that would enhance the lives of citizens simply by us paying extra cash for stuff we can well do without.
Shoe laces, for example, are crying out for another tax to be levied on them because of the danger of tripping over an undone one, and would encourage careless folk to walk a bit more carefully in a lace-free pair – and what’s wrong with Velcro?
And what about relieving the guilt parents feel every morning when sending their children to school heavily over-burdened with weighty books which result in potential droopy shoulders and exhaustion, by imposing another modest tax during the school term? This could be suspended during the holidays.
There’s loads of low-hanging fruit in every household if the Revenue know where to look.
A tax on wearing odd-coloured socks a la Garret FitzGerald is another way to go – and why, oh why, have non-smokers and nondrinkers of alcohol been getting away with it for so long?
And there is only a tiny tax on gambling in this country... not a lot of people might know this, but sure where’s the harm?
It must obviously be a harmless pastime, unlike that extra halfspoon of sugar I enjoy on my cornflakes. Let us soldier on. ROBERT SULLIVAN, Co. Cork.
Appraising Adams
VINCENT Browne’s documentary on Gerry Adams was enlightening, and revealed that Mr Adams was, and is, an exceptionally gifted individual.
Adams, the politician, cannot be ignored as he has lifted Sinn Féin into government in the North, and made it an important third party here in the south.
Critics and devotees may recall the comment by Séamus Mallon that Gerry Adams was a ‘hard man to like and an even harder man to trust’.
To be liked and trusted would be great, but power attained and maintained for 40 years requires pragmatism and adaptability. Adams displayed these qualities in spades. JOHN P KELLY, Co. Dublin. ...ED Moloney’s attempt to dismiss the achievements of Gerry Adams (Mail, Saturday essay) is an exercise in self-delusion.
In a piece full of assertions, mostly not backed by facts, one thing stands out. In his haste to prove Mr Adams’s move into southern politics was a failure for the fortunes of Sinn Féin, he cites the one definite fact that the party went from one Dáil seat in 1997 to only 23 seats in 2016.
I suspect the present Labour Party wouldn’t agree with Ed’s definition of failure.
DECLAN MOORE, by email.
Education should be fun
THE dumbing down of education in this country is primarily due to the fact that fear and unnecessary pressure pervade the halls and classrooms of academia at all levels.
Students should be rewarded for their effort in the classroom, not by the threat of a failing grade.
In other words, education should be enjoyable and FUN, not threatening as it is now! VINCENT J. LAVERY,
Dublin.
Brexit tug-of-war
BREXIT negotiations are at a crucial point, in a kind of tug-of-war stand-off between the UK and the EU.
Once again, the signs are there that the British want to have their cake and eat it. Those who voted for Brexit should be biting their nails and most likely regret what they have done to their country, ignoring all the problems their government is now experiencing at the negotiating table and, indeed, the incalculable damage and loss the British people will suffer for their simplistic decision to get out of the EU family.
It is quite clear now that at the Brussels negotiations, the British are either failing to clearly spell out what they want, or insisting on the unattainable position of being in the Customs Union and Single Market, but not being subject to EU rules?
It is quite hard, as Michel Barnier indicated, to see this happening.
CONCETTO LA MALFA, Dublin.
McAleese and Church
APPARENTLY, there are objections to Mary McAleese speaking at the Voices of Faith Conference in Rome next month. This should not come as a surprise, as she is continually objecting to Church teaching.
If Gerry Adams or Mary Lou McDonald were invited to speak at the Fine Gael ard fheis, would Fine Gael members not be entitled to object?
DAVID KELLY, Dublin. ...THE controversy about Mary McAleese speaking at the Voices of Faith conference says everything you need to know about the ‘modern’ Catholic Church.
Are the Vatican’s Big Hats the only people on the planet who don’t see that Mary believes in the value of compassion and kindness – virtues the founder of Christianity espoused Himself?
DARREN MULLIGAN, Co. Sligo.