Sir, – Finn McRedmond praises Ireland’s stability “encoded in the DNA of the political structure” and reminds us that “Ireland is blessed with boring politics” (’To the French, Germans and even the Brits, Ireland is blessed with boring politics”, Opinion & Analysis, December 19th). I’m not persuaded. Ireland’s entrenched conservativism, far from being a blessing, betrays a frozen democracy.
For many decades after the second World War, Italy was considered the most conservative country in Europe. Notwithstanding many and short-lived governments, and myriad prime ministers, all the coalitions were formed around one centre party, the Christian Democrats. This made Italy the most stable democracy in Europe. Yet the absence of any alternative government also raised suspicions of a malfunctioning democracy, democrazia bloccata (“blocked democracy”).
Everything changed in Italy with the end of the Cold War. Ireland, on the other hand, has remained stuck in the centre, taking over the baton of being the most conservative country in Europe. Two ideologically similar centre parties alternated in government, giving only a semblance of change. When this political deception was exposed and became untenable, the two centre parties joined forces in a power-sharing arrangement.
Where Finn McRedmond sees stability, there is only immobility. Political stagnation breeds clientelism, centrism underlies parochialism. A mature democracy is not afraid of a proper change of direction. Ireland’s democracy is not just frozen, and blocked, it is also immature. – Yours, etc,
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Dr VITTORIO BUFACCHI,
Department of Philosophy,
University College Cork.
A chara, – After sprinting frenziedly around their constituencies promising delivery on everything to anyone that would even accidentally glance in their direction, our newly elected TDs, after sitting for just one solitary day, have decided to act decisively and take the next 34 days off and not sit in the Dáil until January 22nd. Bah humbug! – Is mise,
JASON POWER,
Salthill,
Galway.
Sir, – The Dáil sat for one day after the general election which was held on November 29th, which itself was held after three weeks of an election campaign.
Now our overworked TDs (many of whom are first-time TDs who have yet to fully understand the role) swan off on holidays until January 22nd.
One day sitting in nearly three months is quite incredible.
This sort of behaviour does nothing to improve their standing in the eyes of the hard-pressed voter and will, in the eyes of the 40 per cent who didn’t vote, only prove to them that they were right not to bother.
In the light of the crises in housing and health, the holidays should, if anything, be shortened. – Yours, etc,
ANTAINE O’DUIBHIR,
Ranelagh,
Dublin 6.
Sir, – It seems likely that our two incoming leaders will agree to rotate in the office of taoiseach during the term of this Dáil, just like the consuls of Ancient Rome. The two Roman consuls elected annually rotated in office every month. Our leaders won’t adopt that practice, I’m sure. If they did, however, it would give new meaning to the term “spinning” when used in a political context. – Yours, etc,
FELIX M LARKIN,
Cabinteely,
Dublin 18.
Sir, – It is surely unacceptable that Kildare Street and associated streets are blocked off when the Dáil sits, even if it is a special occasion. We live in a a democracy with freedom of movement. This is happening far too often and surely needs to stop. It is an affront to democracy, and our rights of movement. – Yours, etc,
KEVIN NOLAN,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 16.
Unattainable climate targets
Sir, – Fintan O’Toole, in his somewhat overwrought article on Ireland’s pending failure to meet 2030 climate targets, demands fact-based scientific analysis (“We’re heading for the second biggest fiscal disaster in the history of the State”, Opinion & Analysis, December 17th).
It is well to acknowledge in any discussion on climate change, the irrefutable fact that Ireland’s contribution to global warming is but 0.1 per cent of the world total, according to the World Bank, the EU and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Unlike many of the larger industrialised countries, Ireland has no historical carbon footprint.
To put Ireland’s status in context, according to the German statistics portal, Statistica (www.statistica.com), remarkably none of the EU countries are on track to meet 2030 emissions targets.
Also, among the major polluters, China produces 9.9 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent per annum, while the US produces 4.4 billion tonnes and India 2.3 billion tonnes, dwarfing Ireland’s contribution.
Demand for coal continues to rise globally to 8.9 billion tonnes, largely driven by China and India opening new mines.
An ominous sign of things to come is that many investors are abandoning green environmental, social, and governance (ESG) funds.
The successive climate action plans of Irish governments have been produced in good faith by the best political and scientific minds in the country and yet the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) states that these plans, even if fully implemented, will only achieve 29 per cent of 2030 targets.
Despite these unpalatable facts, the Climate Change Action Council (CCAC), commentators and NGOs are urging the new government to spend multiple billions chasing unattainable and disruptive targets, in order to avoid paying unwarranted and grotesque amounts in fines and penalties.
It can be argued on the basis of current and projected lack of global progress, that the goals of the Paris Agreement in 2015, while absolutely necessary in terms of global warming, are regrettably unattainable and will be proven to be so in time.
The renowned Nobel laureate Michael Spence indeed cogently argues that greater progress would be achieved by more realistic, less stringent and achievable targets.
It is notable that Fintan O’Toole doesn’t mention the more pressing need that, according to the CCAC annual scoreboard, Ireland is hopelessly unprepared to cope with the immediate and pending destructive ravages of climate change rapidly coming our way, compliments of the G7 and G20 countries.
The ultimate survival of our cities, towns, coastal communities and infrastructure demands a paradigm shift to focus resources on urgent nationwide adaptation and resilience measures. – Yours, etc,
JOHN LEAHY,
Cork.
Joe Biden and death row
Sir, – The fact that US president Joe Biden has the opportunity to save the lives of 40 of his fellow citizens simply by signing some papers over the space of a few minutes shows how abhorrent the so-called justice system in the US is (Ian O’Donnell, “Joe Biden should pardon the 40 men on death row”, Opinion & Analysis, December 19th).
I am not a religious person and do not subscribe to any view that the only being that should take life is a deity, but the one value I will always hold steadfastly to is that the state should never put someone to death.
While I appreciate the strong arguments against the death penalty based on the possibility of wrongful conviction, in my mind we do not even need to go that far in order to oppose this most appalling state sanction against an individual.
The state is, at its core, tasked with protecting human life, not snuffing it out as an act of retribution. And that is what the death penalty is, it is the state acting in vengeance against an individual for an act they have been found guilty of committing.
The state must protect its people and where there is a violent individual who has been shown to be a danger, that individual should be kept away from the wider population and all efforts should be made to rehabilitate them and make them safe around the wider population again, if possible.
The last thing a state should ever do is commit a heinous act of violence against an individual in retribution for that individual’s own act of violence. Imposition of the death penalty is not justice, it is a moral and ethical wrong that can never be justified, no matter how many mental somersaults a state official performs.
Mr Biden has, even now, the opportunity to do this one positive act in his presidency. He should grab that opportunity with both hands and save even just these 40 lives. – Yours, etc,
TOMÁS HENEGHAN,
East Wall,
Dublin 3.
School absences and the pandemic
A chara, – The high levels of extended school absences in socially disadvantaged areas should not come as a surprise to anyone (“School attendance among pupils drops significantly since Covid-19 pandemic”, Education, December 19th).
The Covid-19 pandemic and the rather unique response to it in this country has magnified existing educational inequalities. The abrupt shift to remote learning left many families struggling to adapt and this struggle was especially pronounced in communities lacking adequate resources and support systems.
In Ireland, schools here were closed for more than 140 days in 2020 and 2021 – far longer than in many other countries. Comparatively, the average duration of school closures in Europe was about eight to 10 weeks. This disparity highlights the unique challenges now faced by Irish students who missed out on crucial “in-person” education. To address these challenges, it is imperative that policymakers prioritise targeted interventions aimed at bridging the educational gap. Rebuilding the social contract between parents and schools requires a concerted effort to ensure that all children, regardless of socio-economic status, have equal opportunities to succeed in their educational endeavours. – Yours, etc,
REAMONN O’LUAN,
Dublin 14.
Uisce Éireann and river pollution
Sir, – You report on yet another conviction against Uisce Éireann for pollution of one of our rivers (“Uisce Éireann fined €1,500 over discharge of treated effluent in Co Cork”, News, December 18th). This latest conviction and paltry fine of €1,500 for the pollution of the river Owenbaun in Co Cork was preceded recently by another conviction for a fish kill over 8km on the river Allow, another tributary of the river Blackwater.
The fine is this case was a pathetic €3,500.
This brings to 20 the total number of convictions of Uisce Éireann/Irish Water for pollution since 2015.
These small fines imposed on a State body are meaningless and there is no accountability within Uisce Éireann for these acts of pollution of vital salmon, trout and eel spawning rivers.
As a minimum, the full cost of the remedial costs to reinstate the rivers should be levied against Uisce Éireann, a reinstatement process that takes several years to happen. – Yours, etc,
KEVIN McDONNELL,
Berrings,
Co Cork.
Ramming PSNI patrol cars
Sir, – Further to Newton Emerson’s article “Why has ramming police cars become a trend in Northern Ireland?”, Opinion & Analysis, December 19th), if people seek to use cars to ram police vehicles in order to cause injury to police officers and put members of the public, as well as police, in danger, this surely and reasonably constitutes an attack with a deadly weapon.
As PSNI officers are routinely armed, surely they should be facilitated to robustly engage such people as might attack them with whatever means that they have available to them?
I suspect that this approach would work wonders for the statistics. – Yours, etc,
CHRISTOPHER V S DOYLE,
Broadway,
Wexford.
Switching jobs – figure it out
Sir, – Further to “People switching jobs earn more than those who stay, Central Bank finds” (Business, December 19th), it’s often pointed out that statistics only show association, rather than causation – whether people carrying umbrellas caused it to rain, or vice versa, the data would look similar. I wonder if the interpretation that individuals changing jobs enjoy higher salaries might be a case in point? Perhaps it’s that people change jobs when offered a higher salary? Few of us would move for a lower or even identical level of remuneration given the trouble involved. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN O’BRIEN,
Kinsale,
Co Cork.
A €100 fee at RIP.ie
Sir, – The funeral directors will of course add this €100 to their bill (plus VAT?) to the deceased family or next of kin.
Dying is one of the few industries that is recession-proof so, like tolls on motorways, can we expect the €100 to increase in line with inflation every year? – Is mise,
TOM McELLIGOTT,
Listowel,
Co Kerry.
Sir, – When I know that I am about to die, I will book my death notice in RIP.ie, but I won’t bother paying the fee. They can chase me for the fee after I’m gone. It will be the least of my worries. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN CULLEN,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 16.
Waiting in the wings
Sir, – I note that the Department of Defence has ordered a new government jet at a price tag of €53 million, plus VAT (News, December 19th). What is unknown at present is whether or not they will need a new jet shed to store it in and how many bike sheds this will cost. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN CULLEN,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 16.
Carrots and sprouts
Sir, – Patsy McGarry’s empathy for Kevin the Carrot (In a Word, December 16th) is commendable but perhaps it’s time for him to swap those animated vegetable ads for a book on animal emotions because while he may think carrots have feelings, we know turkeys definitely do. – Yours, etc,
LOUISA MOSS,
Dublin 7.
Sir, – Perhaps renaming Brussels sprouts as vegan cabbagettes might make them more palatable? – Yours, etc,
PATRICK O’BYRNE,
Phibsborough,
Dublin 7.