Sir, – Caroline Farrell writes of her new electric SUV and how smug she feels, knowing she is no longer contributing to air pollution that causes respiratory illnesses, stroke, lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, asthma and COPD – all because her car is “emission free” (Letters, August 23rd). She says she is on the “right side of motoring history”.
If this letter was meant to be ironic, it was lost on me.
It seems worthwhile to list some of the environmental impacts of cars: particulate matter from tires and brake discs; land destroyed by roads and parking; road salt; the manufacturing and disposal of materials; injuries and deaths of animals and people; and tailpipe emissions, to name but a few negative effects.
Of these, only tailpipe emissions are eliminated by switching from a fossil-fuel vehicle to an electric SUV. As such, the claim about not contributing to negative health effects is wrong. And let’s not forget that SUVs are more dangerous to vulnerable road users than smaller cars.
RM Block
The electric car industry isn’t out to save the world, they just want to make profit.
The future of transport is not cars – electric or otherwise. – Yours etc,
Dr OLA LØKKEN NORDRUM,
Beggars Bush,
Dublin 4.
Removing the ‘triple lock’
Sir, – The remarks of Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill in respect of the “triple-lock” mechanism warrant discussion, as they illustrate the illogical basis of the Government’s position (“Michael Collins’s legacy honoured by sending Irish troops on peacekeeping missions, says Carroll MacNeill”, News, August 24th).
Firstly, there exists no provision in international law for the establishment of peacekeeping missions that are not sanctioned by – or that do not support the implementation of – a UN resolution.
Secondly, the Minister’s critique of the UN Security Council for not sanctioning a peacekeeping mission since 2014 is a valid one. This critique rings hollow, however, when one considers that the Defence Forces were forced to withdraw, in 2023, from the last UN peacekeeping mission we joined – UNDOF in 2013 – specifically due to the Defence Forces’ lack of overseas capacity.
If there are further UN peacekeeping, or non-UN “peacekeeping”, missions then who exactly is the Government going to deploy; given successive Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil ministers for defence have presided over the erosion of the Defence Forces’ capabilities?
There is another, more fundamental issue at play. The seemingly endless display of countries – including the US and Russia – acting unilaterally has undoubtedly made the world a less safe, less stable and more chaotic place in recent years.
However, in seeking to resile from the UN and its processes – however imperfect – the Government is, in its own small way, also acting to “go it alone”, further undermining the multilateral, rules-based international order that must prevail to – as the UN Charter states – “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”. – Is mise,
Cllr JOE LYNCH,
Sinn Féin,
Ballincollig,
Cork.
Running for president
Sir, – Regarding Diarmaid Ferriter’s opinion piece on the upcoming presidential election, I can only stand chastised when he calls me out on my assertion during my recent press conference that local authorities have an “obligation under the Constitution” to nominate non-party candidates (“Inevitability in presidential elections of over-promising and under-reading of the Constitution”, Opinion, August 22nd).
I should have said that councillors have a constitutional prerogative to do so and I urge them to robustly exercise that right, which only arises at most every seven years, to help ensure a full, free and fair election, decided by the will of the people in the ballot box and not solely offering candidates selected in the corridors of Leinster House.
Prof Ferriter writes that “it is hardly unreasonable to expect aspirants to the office to read the Constitution”.
To that point I am relying on Article 12.2.2 in seeking the support of not less than four councils to nominate me on to the ballot.
As per Article 12.2.4, as I have turned 36 this Sunday, I have reached the minimum qualifying age of 35 set out in the Constitution and therefore eligible for election.
I take heart from Prof Ferriter’s fascinating insights to the 1966 presidential election when Fine Gael leader Liam Cosgrave urged that “youth and its aims should be given a chance” when rallying support for the then 49-year-old Thomas F O’ Higgins. And from his reference to Vincent Browne’s suggestion in 1966 as a 21-year-old journalist, to “mobilise the prestige of the office” around themes such as inequality and poverty; “this aspect of the presidency could well be more important than the constitutional one”.
Ferriter continues: “This is broadly what happened in the long-term; one of the favoured phrases of Mary Robinson was ‘there are no inevitable victims’”.
I am all the more disappointed, therefore, that no mention is afforded to the key constitutional basis of my platform, even though it was emblazoned for all to see on the screen at my press conference on August 14th. It appears to have been lost in the din of how dare a thirtysomething non-party candidate deign to contest a presidential election.
Article 45.2.1. of the Constitution states: “That the citizens (all of whom, men and women equally, have the right to an adequate means of livelihood) may through their occupations find the means of making reasonable provision for their domestic needs.”
I have studied the Constitution and in today’s currency it clearly sets out a social contract, enshrined in Bunreacht na hÉireann, that if you work hard you should have a fair chance of affording a home of your own, a roof over your head, a home to go to, a place of your own, at the end of the day.
I respectfully suggest that this remains a worthy cause for the president, to champion and pursue, for as Ms Robinson put it, “there are no inevitable victims”.
I continue to pursue my presidential nomination from the country’s councillors as set out under Article 12.2.2. – Yours, etc,
GARETH SHERIDAN,
Stillorgan,
Dublin.
E-bikes and e-scooters
Sir, – Dr Raymond Carson, a consultant at the National Rehabilitation University Hospital in Dublin, writes about e-scooters causing life-changing injuries (“E-scooter crashes: As a doctor, it breaks my heart to see such life-changing injuries”, Opinion, August 4th).
I recently witnessed the aftermath of a hit-and-run incident between an e-scooter and a pedestrian, where a woman was injured.
I also witness, on a daily basis, e-scooters and big-wheeled motorised bicycles travelling at breakneck speed and in exceed of urban speed limits.
It is way past time that legislation was passed requiring owners to carry number plates and third-party insurance like other motor vehicles. In the event of a traffic incident it should be the licensed owner of the vehicle who shoulders full responsibility regardless of who is using the vehicle (unless they can prove that someone else was driving and were covered by their insurance policy).
A series of speed cameras set up at different locations is also needed to ensure that e-scooters and high-speed motorised bicycles comply with the rules of the road and to ensure that pedestrians and other vulnerable road users are protected from life-changing injuries. – Yours, etc,
GILLIAN ALKEN,
Ranelagh,
Dublin 6.
No need to cull badgers
Sir, – Richard Nairn is right: badgers are far from the villains they are made out to be (“In defence of badgers: far from being aggressive, they welcome lodgers”, Weekend, August 23rd).
Yet the Department of Agriculture continues to cull thousands each year even though postmortems show that more than 80 per cent are free from TB. This is not science, it is slaughter. Vaccination offers a humane and effective alternative. It is time to end the cull. – Yours, etc,
RICHENDA GARLAND,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 16.
Ireland’s got talent
Sir, – I read Brian Caulfield’s opinion piece with great interest (“Ireland keeps coming up short in its support for indigenous industry”, August 21st). Ireland continues to offer its own entrepreneurs little support and well-intentioned State schemes are weighed down by complexity, leaving founders and early investors under-incentivised.
By contrast, Silicon Valley thrived not through state planning but through a culture that embraced risk, attracted ambitious immigrant talent and – most importantly – shared equity. Ownership created loyalty, reinvestment and a flywheel of innovation. It is no coincidence that Stripe was established in California rather than Dublin.
Ireland already has enviable strengths: world-class education, global talent and a culture richer than pure profit seeking. What is missing are incentives that make risk worthwhile. Sweden shows how thoughtful equity and capital gains policies can change behaviour.
As Charlie Munger put it: “You get what you reward for. If you want ants to come, you put sugar on the floor.”
Ireland has the talent. Now it must put down the sugar. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL DENNIS,
San Francisco,
California.
Human League experience
Sir, – At the recent Human League concert in Collins Barracks, Dublin, I was dismayed when members of the audience headed for the bar, turned to their phones or left early when the band performed anything other than what people recalled from Top of the Pops.
Concerts are now treated like Spotify playlists: grab the hit, skip the rest. Yet the Human League were never just about Don’t You Want Me. The Human League experience includes songs like Heart Like a Wheel and One Man in My Heart (sung superbly by Susan Ann Sulley to a largely disinterested audience).
Being Boiled (their best song in my opinion) was performed brilliantly by Phil Oakey and the band with all the menace and power as the original. Yet big sections of the crowd were already at the exits.
Turning up for “big ones” is like heading to Croke Park for the All-Ireland and cheering only goals and not points. The main event is not just the singalong chorus, but the craft of the complete event.
Open your heart, please, to the entire performance. – Yours, etc,
CHLOÉ BERNARD,
Dublin 7.
Ragwort on the farm
Sir, – Frank McNally refers to the Irish for ragwort as “buachalán buí” (An Irish Diary, August 21st).
Growing up on a farm in north Kerry and weeding prodigious amounts of it, we always knew it as the “gheosadán”.
Several searches to find the origin of this word have been fruitless, although it is mentioned in the wonderful book The Story of Ballyheigue by Bryan MacMahon. – Your, etc,
DÓNAL CASEY,
West Leederville,
Western Australia.
Suicide prevention
Sir, – I found it distressing to learn that Pieta is cutting jobs as part of plans to restructure the organisation (“Suicide-prevention charity Pieta seeks to cut €3 million amid ‘unsustainable’ financial position”, News, August 23rd).
The charity said it is experiencing significant financial pressures due to rising costs of care, the cost-of-living crisis and fundraising difficulties.
The Government must step up and support this much-needed charity providing support to those at risk. – Yours, etc,
JOHN O’BRIEN,
Clinical psychotherapist,
Clonmel,
Co Tipperary.
Pounds and ounces
Sir, – In response to Rodney Devitt (Letters, August 23rd) on the use of Fahrenheit figures in the Weather Watch section, it is worth noting that Ireland officially switched to the Metric system in the early 1970s though most of us have been a long time turning. We still measure our height in feet and inches, our distances in miles, and our pub drinks in pints. And when the weight of a newborn baby is given in kilograms, most of us, young and old, will ask: “what’s that in pounds and ounces?” – Yours, etc,
MAEVE EDWARDS,
Bray,
Co Wicklow.
Yes is enough
Sir, – Dympna Considine bemoans the use of the expression “100 per cent” as an affirmative response in preference to the word “yes” (Letters, August 23rd).
I share her regret, though I reserve my deepest chagrin for an even more grotesque specimen of this so-called positivity: “110 per cent.”
Not only does it trample grammar with hobnailed boots, it also cheerfully bludgeons every law of mathematics, logic and common sense. To hear it is to witness language and arithmetic simultaneously mugged. If people must give 110 per cent, they should at least save the extra 10 for remedial maths. – Yours, etc,
GEOFF SCARGILL,
Bray,
Co Wicklow.
