SF’s stance on pension age is welcome... but unions failed us

I WAS delighted to see that Sinn Féin has pledged to pay the State pension at the age of 65 if elected – well done them.

The sad thing is that the raising of the retirement age to 66 in 2014 should have been stopped dead in its tracks by the trade unions, so the unions have failed their members and the country miserably.

The only defence any country has against bad government are the trade unions, who also have a responsibility to the community at large, and not just their members. Trade unions should not be politically motivated; they should be working to improve their members’ working conditions and wages, and also take an interest in social conditions.

They can influence bad government by calling general strikes, for the betterment of our society.

It is time trade union members had a good hard look at what the union leaders are doing. They should think hard about what they want their unions to do for them and the community, and elect people who will do that.

JOHN FAIR, Castlebar, Co. Mayo.

Labour’s hypocrisy

BY their past actions, we should judge them. Brendan Howlin and Alan Kelly of the Labour Party have both said pensions are a redline issue for them if they have the balance of power in the next government.

They had the balance of power the last time they were in government with Fine Gael, and in 2012 the then minister for social protection Joan Burton changed the qualifying criteria for the State pension, reducing it for tens of thousands of pensioners by around €30 per week.

This was the cause of many pensioners who rented their homes falling behind with their payments when rents soared, or even losing their homes altogether over the past eight years, and there was not a word from Labour about reversing this cut while they were trying to reverse cuts for public service workers, etc. Their newfound concern for pensioners is not going to fool many of them.

DENIS DENNEHY, Dublin.

Live your best life

AN Australian developer has produced an app that allows people to upload a photo of someone else and match it with other photos of people and their location. Police in America have already tested it and used it to arrest one person.

The introduction of cameras on mobile phones has led to millions of photos being taken and far too many being put online.

The Instagrammers and influencers may not realise that by default the location is embedded into their photos. They might be pleased as this would confirm they actually were there, although the photos of their home and children also show where they are.

The technology that allows facial recognition is under attack from privacy advocates, but why? If you have done nothing wrong, then you have nothing to hide, although the reality is that some people err in their life choices. People should be happy to be known and seen, although not obsessively. Live a good life and be seen doing it. DENNIS FITZGERALD, Melbourne, Australia.

Waste of tax money

AS A Canadian, I’m disgusted our prime minister Justin Trudeau has the nerve to consider contributing even one cent of taxpayer money to protect Prince

Harry and Meghan Markle.

We have a pipeline that Trudeau threw hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ dollars into, but shows no signs of being built.

Consequently western Canada is in economic straits. A punitive carbon tax has raised the price of goods and services.

I am struggling to make ends meet, so why should I pay to protect this self-absorbed pair? And they aren’t even Canadian. JEANETTE McKENZIE,

Canada.