€10m for a plane? Now? You can’t be serious, Leo
REPORTS at the weekend claimed Leo Varadkar is eyeing the purchase of €10million military transport plane.
The justification for it is as flawed as the case for a large multi-role naval ship.
The €10million cost cited is the minimum purchase price of the Hercules C-130, but like the children’s hospital debacle, the eventual costs involved could be many multiples thereof.
Why squander such a large amount of money when we have far more pressing needs to be financed? Due to servicing and maintenance downtime, two such aircraft would be needed to ensure 24/7/365 availability. This immediately doubles the cost to over €20million before other costs, such as spare parts, recruitment, etc.
Cathal Berry TD, former Army officer, believes the fact the Defence Forces don’t have their own military transport aircraft reflects very poorly on the country, and that it is very embarrassing that Ireland is ‘hitch-hiking’ on German and Spanish aircraft to get our soldiers out of Mali.
It reflects far more poorly on our country to have so many homeless, poor health services and crippling national debt. By the time these two planes are purchased and operational, the temporary needs that exist at present will hopefully have passed, and anyway it is far cheaper to hire commercial aircraft to do such very occasional tasks than to have large transport aircraft sitting idle for most of every year.
EDWARD HORGAN, Limerick.
We need to live again
SO, how long do you want to live your life in fear, two metres apart from family, friends, and neighbours? Until it’s ‘safe’?
And when might that be, exactly? When fear reigns, madness prevails. So, what if Covid-19 is here to stay? And what happens when the next epidemic or pandemic occurs?
Yes, it’s possible it could be a hundred years from now. Or next year. Or next month.
Our grandparents came through the First World War, the Spanish flu, a War of Independence, a Civil War, the Great Depression, the ‘Emergency’ (World War Two), polio, TB, and lost children in infancy... but they carried on with life, because they understood that this is what must be done. This generation now needs to grow a pair and carry on with life, and I mean LIFE, not some sterile, fearful existence two metres apart from the rest of humanity.
PETER KEATING, Charleville, Co. Cork.
Profits drive response
WITH the global diabetes pandemic we haven’t seen drastic measures employed by governments in the banning of cane sugar and limits to carbohydrate content in brand foods, for example. With the increase in road deaths linked to car usage many decades ago we saw a greater emphasis on public education programmes, but governments around the world didn’t close roads or ban driving until safety measures were introduced. Now with Covid-19, emergency measures have been introduced worldwide and we seem to be waiting for the mandatory vaccine to be introduced globally. The difference in responses I believe is profits. The potential of vaccinating 7.8billion people (first round) will generate billions of dollars for pharmaceutical companies.
Banning sugar or driving didn’t have the potential for generating the profits needed for emergency measures to be introduced by the world’s corporate-leaning, profitdriven governments.
LOUIS SHAWCROSS, Hillsborough, Co. Down.
Corrie still compelling
I AGREE with some criticism of Coronation Street that it’s lost its light-hearted side and its plots can be depressing. But some of the serious storylines are excellent, such as the domestic abuse involving Geoff and Yasmeen.
My main gripe is that this soap has a cast of thousands. Certain characters are involved in a story for four or five weeks, then they disappear, never to be seen or even mentioned again, which would be unusual for such a small community. Instead of bringing in new characters, it would be better
What do YOU think?
if the creators concentrated on the regulars in the Street.
G. COOPER, by email. ...WHETHER or not grim storylines make bad TV is a matter of opinion, but they certainly don’t make it unwatchable.
Corrie has certainly changed a great deal since the Sixties, and of course this won’t appeal to everyone. But the days of banter in the local market and laughter in the pub have descended into darker times simply because the writers and producers need to keep things interesting. And what’s interesting and compelling doesn’t always make us smile. E. LAMPLOUGH,
by email.
And finally...
LAST Friday, leaving Westport to go to my dialysis treatment in Castlebar, I saw something I haven’t seen in over three months: a hitch-hiker. With blue rubber gloves and a blue mask on, he was hitching, and he had an empty Aldi bag at the time.
Five hours later, driving back to Westport after dialysis, I saw the same person with blue gloves and a blue mask, but a full Aldi bag. Is normal coming back?
KEVIN DEVITTE, Westport, Co. Mayo.