Why punish pubs for the house-party spreaders?
I HEARD Micheál Martin talking about opening libraries, museums, hairdressers and sports facilities and non-essential shops. There was no mention of pubs.
The latest rise in Covid cases wasn’t caused by pubs. They were all closed. Keeping the pubs closed caused a rise in outdoor gatherings and house parties, fuelled with alcohol, which caused more people to catch the virus.
So why not open pubs and restaurants so people can drink in a safe environment, where customers obey the rules?
Give the hardworking publicans – who worked so hard and spent so much money to make their establishments as Covid-safe as possible – a chance to recoup their losses.
WT MURPHY, Co. Louth.
...FURTHER to my letter in Friday’s Mail calling for the reopening of hairdressers for the mental health of vaccinated older people and cancer patients, I was reminded of how out of touch our politicians are.
The recent thoughtless attempt at humour by Leo Varadkar when he announced that he would have to buy a hair trimmer caused immense anger among hairdressers. It showed the lack of understanding within our Government. Opening hairdressers is not a vanity notion such as, for instance, reopening nail bars. People who are older and also the sick are more than respectful of lockdown. We know that we can not afford to take risks.
However, the closure of our local hairdresser is akin to throwing the baby out with the bathwater. These small business people have invested years in training at a very low wage are now facing permanent closure. GRÁINNE KENNY,
Dún Laoghaire.
Vaccine cheats
THE CEO of the Limerick Northside Family Resource Centre should consider her position after she wrote to staff telling them they were entitled to vaccine which they were not, and then instructing them not to tell anyone because ‘there has been a political and media backlash against charity staff being vaccinated and the best thing to do is to avoid this if possible’.
There have to be consequences for people like Ciara Kane in positions of responsibility who encourage their staff to cheat the system.
DENIS DENNEHY, Dublin.
In need of a soother
LAST week, Deputy Alan Kelly said that Mícheál Martin would have to give ‘the performance of his lifetime’ when he was to address the nation about Covid19 restrictions. The Taoiseach gave a measured and statesmanlike speech, but Deputy Kelly gave his ‘performance of a lifetime’ in the Dáil last week himself.
So much so, I was going to rush to Leinster House with a Liga biscuit and his soother, but I am restricted to five kilometres.
AIDAN WHITE, Shannon.
Blooming early
THE Cherry Blossom festival in Japan has started early this year, in fact the earliest ever since 812 when the event was first recorded.
The festival signals the traditional sign of the start of spring. The start of spring is determined by nature and not by a calendar and nature knows that climate change is real and not just an occasional odd result.
Since nature and scientists have recognised the effects of climate change, why are there still so many that doubt it?
Of course, the benefit might be that when it eventually starts to happen at Christmastime it will be easier for people to use their
Christmas holiday break to go and see it.
DENNIS FITZGERALD, by email.
Cruel pet fashion
IT WAS so sad to read about the health problems of dogs who are bred to have fashionable flat faces (Mail).
There is also the issue of other dogs being aggressive because they can’t ‘read’ them.
These flat-faced dogs have a limited range of expressions, weird-sounding breathing and no tail to speak of. For the average normal dog, it’s like being confronted by an alien.
One of my flat-coated retrievers has a real fear of these dogs and barks ferociously at any that approach him.
Flat-coats are prone to cancer due to breeding from a small gene pool, but at least they look like a proper dog.
The Kennel Club has a big role to play in addressing these serious health issues.
Sadly, the vast sums that change hands for damaged animals seem to overcome any moral or ethical considerations. ANTOINETTE FOERS, by email.