Kellie a real credit to her country and community
IT CERTAINLY was a joy to be Irish on the day that Kellie Harrington became an Olympic champion.
She has brought immense pride to her family, her community of Portland Row, and to her country.
Kellie is such an unassuming down-to-earth human being that it makes it so easy for people to admire and love what she has now achieved.
She is unquestionably a role model to all of our young people.
Her determination to come back after losing the first round to totally outbox her opponent in rounds two and three was world class.
To turn it around like that showed that she is a warrior with unyielding and unflappable belief in herself.
It’s a richly deserved Olympic gold for this humble superhero and class act.
I have to say that she is every inch an Olympian.
Congratulations to you, Kellie, on your amazing achievement. JOHN O’BRIEN,
Co. Tipperary.
I FELT so sorry for our modern pentathlete Natalya Coyle who was in line to win a medal but was allocated a show-jumping horse who amassed so many faults it put her out of contention.
The horse she drew wouldn’t even be put under a plough. There’s certainly a case for competitors to be allowed to bring over their own horses. PÀDRAIG Ó DONNCHA,
by email. ...THE Olympics are over, and they have been a great example of what fellowship can achieve, even though they should have been cancelled due to the Covid pandemic.
There have been some great performances and numerous records broken but the highlight of the past weeks was surely the joint gold result of Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi and Mutaz Barshim of Qatar in the high jump. They could have continued on until there was a single winner but their decision to share the victory rather than depriving the other person showed an attitude that the world needs to see more of.
So many of the world’s countries are battling Covid and although many are sharing resources some are still in dire circumstances. This is one time when the world needs to be as one and only then will we earn our gold prize of freedom from the pandemic.
The Paralympics running in a couple of weeks should also provide many inspiring results. Look for the good that these examples can provide. DENNIS FITZGERALD,
by email.
The case for Latin
LATIN and Greek are the languages of some of the most important works of literature in Western civilisation. Virgil, Cicero, Aquinas all wrote in Latin.
Latin is also the language of science and the legal system. The great medieval scientists, such as Roger Bacon and William of Ockham, wrote in Latin, as indeed did the much later Isaac Newton.
It gives an ideal grounding in the elements, structure and rules of all languages. About two-thirds of the words in modern English have Latin roots.
In this context it is interesting that UK Education Secretary Gavin Williamson is injecting significant funds into a programme at secondary schools to encourage the learning of Latin.
Until recent times of course, Latin was the language of the liturgy of the Catholic Church. It was substantially downgraded in the 1960s. However, Pope Benedict XVI gave it a significant boost during his Papacy.
It is sad now to see that the current Papacy appears to have taken against this development. It’s ironic that a secular politician in the UK sees the benefit of the language, while the Catholic Church, long the preserver of Latin, adopts such a negative attitude. ERIC CONWAY,
by email.
Respect the Protocol
IT is striking that individuals who backed the Brexit campaign are in complete denial over the Northern
Ireland Protocol. This was not the work of Northern nationalists, and definitely not the work of the Irish Government, despite the many claims of some loyalists.
It was introduced as part of the withdrawal agreement negotiated between Boris Johnson and the EU and Mr Johnson and the EU are unlikely to be influenced by those in balaclavas who wave flags and set fire to banners on the Shankill Road.
Those who flout the law and set out to instigate confrontations with other traditions during a highly sensitive time must face the consequences of their own actions and accept the law as it stands.
NOEL HARRINGTON, Co. Cork.
Covid risk is a riddle
RIDDLE me this. Does science really say that Covid transmissibility is low when the party gathered are, for instance, up to 200 politicians, but that ‘lives are put at risk’, as Health Minister Stephen Donnelly might say, when the gathering is a First Communion or wedding party? Asking for a friend. MARGARET HICKEY,
Blarney.