Care for living animals rather than flogging a dead horse

WHAT a load of rubbish we had to listen to all week about a dead horse. What great sin did Gordon Elliott commit by sitting on a horse that had collapsed and died.

Horses die all the time and are delivered unceremoniously to factories to be converted into dog food. The media and the horsey people should be more worried about the health of animals that are alive.

Horses are left out during the winter months to fend for themselves. Some of them even have foals with them. Some have little food and no shelter from the weather from November to April. Some of them barely survive and a percentage of them die from starvation.

The media should concentrate more on living animals that are being mistreated, rather than wasting their time feeding us BS.

Eamonn Burke, Portlaoise, Co. Laois. …THIS week horse trainer Gordon Elliott faced the wrath of animal lovers after a picture of him emerged sitting on a deceased horse.

Elliott, in a moment of unqualified stupidity, revealed just how important horses are to him when they have ceased to be financially profitable or useful. Dobbin’s revenge indeed?

Vincent O’Connell, New Ross, Co. Wexford.

Misplaced priorities

IN LIGHT of Nicola Byrne’s article (MoS, Feb. 28) I am baffled by the logic regarding what is important for children and what we are allowed to purchase for them.

They are heading back to school but we are deprived of shoe shops to purchase necessary footwear. Who wants the hassle of buying online and sending back shoes that don’t fit over and over?

We can go to a burger shop and buy them any amount of fast food, which in my opinion does not have much nutritional value for them.

I know what my priorities would be if I had young children. Do our rulers leave their brains on the

pillow the days they set out some restrictions?

Debbie Carroll, Dublin 13.

Good neighbours

I AM very pleased to see that we are to join with the UK in a joint bid to host the World Cup in 2030.

At this point, whether the bid ultimately succeeds or not is of secondary importance.

Against the background of continuing Brexit discord and thinly veiled ‘vaccination jingoism’, getting involved in a project like this has immense potential for resetting our relationships with our UK neighbours.

The fact that this project may also help to defer consideration, even in the short term should the bid fail, of a ‘Border Poll’, an obvious and fractious bone of contention, will be an added bonus.

Michael Gannon,

Kilkenny city.

Re-run referendums

THE incompetence and irresponsible behaviour of politicians, both in the UK and EU, has inflicted intolerable hardship on the entire population, and additionally created widespread havoc throughout the business community in all regions of the UK, in particular Northern Ireland, and in the Republic.

Any politician with just 1mg of intelligence must recognise that a referendum that does not achieve a majority in favour of 75%, or more, is both unfair and unjust to far too many people.

For example, consider the hurt inflicted on over 16 million UK citizens by the result of the

Brexit referendum held in the UK when 17,410,742 voted to leave the EU while nearly as many, 16,141,241 voted to remain, a margin of just 1,269,501 votes. The electorate on both islands is now more informed and should understand the damage Brexit has caused to our economic wellbeing. In the best interests of both islands, the Brexit referendum should be re-run.

However, fair-minded politicians must have the courage and determination to immediately introduce legislation ensuring that referendums truly reflect the wishes of an acceptable majority of the electorate.

These should at least include the following:

(a) for a referendum to pass there must be a 75% majority.

(b) for a referendum to be valid there must be an 80% turnout

(c) a fine (£50 in the UK/€50 in the Republic) should be imposed on those who fail to vote.

I would be impressed if the Government, rather than engaging in mud slinging, would be first to set the example to our British friends by declaring that all referendums held during the last 50 years that did not meet the new standards be re-run.

Dublin 14.