Letters to the Editor, June 14th: On young people in nursing homes, attacks on Iran and Greta Thunberg

Irish Times

15 hours ago

Sir, –The recent RTÉ Investigates exposé on Irish nursing homes made for harrowing viewing.
But behind the headlines lies an even more invisible reality: the quiet, routine institutionalisation of younger people – including those with conditions like Early Onset Parkinson's – into facilities designed for people decades older.
I'm not only the co-founder of Early Onset Parkinson's Disease Ireland, but someone who has lived with Parkinson's for 13 years. I've met too many people in their 30s, 40s and 50s with neurodegenerative conditions who have been placed in nursing homes simply because there is nowhere else for them to go.
Today in Ireland, 1,249 people under 65 years live in nursing homes. One of them is a 47-year-old man with Early Onset Parkinson's, surrounded by residents three and four decades older than him. This isn't because he needs round-the-clock care – it's because our system has failed to develop any alternative.
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This practice isn't just inappropriate; it's profoundly damaging. People with conditions like EOPD need tailored supports: physiotherapy, neurological care, and exercise programmes that are critical to slowing disease progression and preserving independence.
Most nursing homes are not equipped to offer any of these. Instead, these individuals face isolation, accelerated decline, and the emotional toll of being removed from their peers, their communities, and their sense of self.
The Ombudsman's 2021 Wasted Lives report exposed the systemic failures driving this crisis. It found that many younger people were placed in nursing homes without full consultation or understanding of the long-term implications, particularly under the Fair Deal scheme. One young man, Francis, was told his stay would be temporary; he's been there for nine years. Another, Alex, entered a home at 34 after a brain injury. He told investigators: 'If I thought it was for life, I would drive my chair off a bridge.'
The 2024 update to Wasted Lives offered no comfort: every month, 32 more people under 65 are admitted to nursing homes – that's more than one person every day.
We don't even have accurate data on how many of these people are living with Parkinson's. Without data, we can't quantify the problem, let alone solve it.
This must change. We are calling on the Government to act now. It should collect and publish national data on younger people in nursing homes, their diagnoses and needs.
It should develop age-appropriate, community-based supported living options; create clear pathways to transition out of inappropriate care and reform the Fair Deal scheme to ensure full, informed consent.
In addition, the Government should guarantee access to multidisciplinary care and therapies tailored to younger adults.
This is not just a healthcare issue; it is a human rights issue. These are not statistics. They are teachers, artists, musicians, parents – people with lives worth living.
We must ask ourselves: what kind of care system do we want to be known for? One that hides people away or one that sees them, values them, and supports them to live with dignity?
It's time for Ireland to choose. – Yours, etc,
JOE CONDON,
Director of Early Onset
Parkinson's Disease Ireland,
Dublin.
Israel's attack on Iran
Sir, – The Israeli government knows no limits in flouting international law .
By attacking Iran's nuclear plants and facilities it has brought the Middle East to the brink of an all-out war in the region.
It has shattered and undermined the ongoing diplomatic US-Iranian talks to end the Iranian nuclear build-up impasse and by its illegal actions has invited retaliatory action by Iran.
This time the international community must act swiftly to bring the Israeli government to justice . – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN BUTLER,
Drumcondra,
Dublin.
Sir, – I wonder, now that the Dáil defeated the motion to end the Central Bank's facilitation of the sale of Israeli war bonds (85 to 71), if the Israeli government will restaff its embassy in Dublin, and if perhaps the government of Iran will ask its staff to leave for the time being? – Yours, etc,
MYRIAM ROMMERS-
MAC CIONNAITH,
Letterkenny,
Co Donegal.
Riots in the North
Sir, – Recent events in Ballymena can be seen in a wider historical context. Members of my generation from the Belfast nationalist community will note that burning people out of their homes is not a new thing in Northern Ireland.
The details of the present situation of course reveal new and complex motivations but the mindset of the individuals who indulge in such reprehensible behaviour is not new.
It speaks of a siege mentality that fears the 'other', it reveals a narrow interpretation of community and it feeds off misinformation. It is sectarian and racist in nature and it is fed by certain politicians who gain leverage from simplistic sloganeering.
It targets the vulnerable in the name of perverted jingoistic politics and it gains traction by defining unacceptable rituals as 'culture' where, for example, the burning of effigies is seen as a festive activity.
This, for many of us, has always been unacceptable – the step from burning flags and posters to burning houses with people inside, is not a huge one – but in the present context of global politics with the growing influence of neo-fascistic elements on the far right, it is disturbing indeed.
We need to call it out for what it is in essence – part of a continuum in a certain strand of the politics of Northern Ireland which is exclusive, uninterested in compromise and dependent on 19th-century notions of supremacy, privilege and power.
Those days are fading fast of course, but some people (a tiny minority it must be said), badly led by their politicians, still refuse to accept that we now live in a pluralistic, multinational, multi-ethnic society that aspires to tolerance and acceptance. – Yours, etc,
DAVID ATCHESON,
Co Wicklow.
Text message fraud
Sir, – Ireland risks becoming the weak link among English speaking countries in its exposure to fraudulent text messages (
'Text scammers in ComReg's sights as it implements SMS registry for businesses'
, June 12th). The financial services industry shares the welcome for the new SenderID Registry by ComReg.
Unfortunately, this will block only one method for fraudsters, who will continue to send fraudulent text messages from random mobile phone numbers.
Most of your readers will have experienced receiving these fraudulent text messages pretending to be from a genuine company or State agency. The only intervention that can prevent these types of fake messages is an SMS scam filter, that operates much the same way as your email spam filter.
ComReg has highlighted that Ireland is out of step with other English speaking countries in not having an SMS scam filter and it is also already in place in some EU Member States.
The telecoms industry requires supporting legislation to introduce this solution in Ireland.
Without which Irish consumers will continue to be uniquely exposed to criminals targeting them through their phones. – Yours, etc,
NICOLA SADLIER,
Head of Fraud,
Bank of Ireland,
Baggot Street,
Dublin.
Different views on Greta Thunberg
Sir, – Finn McRedmond begins her column by stating, as if fact, not opinion, that 'there is little to like about Greta Thunberg'. ('
Greta Thunberg is hard to like, but don't dismiss her,
' June 12th).
She then proceeds to eviscerate Ms Thunberg with personal insults such being 'elevated beyond her rhetorical means'. Rather than belittle the efforts of Thunberg to bring attention to the climate and biodiversity crises, which are real things despite Ms McRedmond's delusions, she might be better placed using her journalistic nous to explore further the underlying motivations for Greta's pessimism.
On that point Ms McRedmond might like to know that rate of extinction of species in the last 100 years, which has rapidly accelerated in recent decades as we destroy ecosystems for economic growth, is higher than those in most of the previous mass extinction events.
Climate activists such as Just stop Oil see that lack of urgency and the lip service being paid to this crisis by governments and vested interests. They also see how the general population has been rendered apathetic by a tech-induced stupor so feel compelled to create impactful 'publicity stunts' in order to grab their attention.
Ultimately, we are the consumers and the voters, and we can drive change but only if we are motivated.
People like Greta Thunberg are prepared to take the vitriol of our online world to bring attention to existential crises and global injustice, while many commentators prefer to judge them based on their own prejudices.
I know where my admiration lies. – Yours, etc,
BARRY WALSH,
Blackrock,
Cork.
Sir, –Would Finn McRedmond be commenting on Greta Thunberg using terms such as 'little to like, ghoulish, the enviable self-assurance', if Greta were of the male gender?
Is this article not evidence that gender bias and stereotypes around female likeableness and confidence are still in practice in 2025.
To my mind, Greta Thunberg demonstrates great courage in the face of unwarranted criticism based solely on her age and gender. – Yours, etc,
MAUREEN O'SULLIVAN,
Bantry,
Co Cork.
Sir, – Finn McRedmond's flippant article does your newspaper no service. With supporters like McRedmond, Thunberg doesn't need enemies. – Yours, etc,
SHEA CARROLL,
Dublin 8.
Paediatric consultants
Sir, –Dr Tom O'Dowd's letter (June 11th) raises important issues about the culture and future of paediatric care in Ireland.
While we see aspects of the situation differently, we share a common goal: ensuring the best possible care and outcomes for children and their families.
Paediatricians across the country are driven by a deep commitment to their young patients, often going above and beyond in complex and challenging environments.
The care we provide is grounded in compassion, teamwork and the highest clinical standards.
Where concerns about culture or governance have arisen, many paediatric consultants have been proactive in raising issues and seeking improvements to protect patients and uphold professional standards.
With the opening of the new national children's hospital on the horizon, there is a strong and shared desire among consultants to work collaboratively across teams and disciplines.
Thus, the suggestion by Dr O'Dowd that paediatricians from the three existing paediatric hospitals will not be interested in working productively together at the new national children's hospital is completely at odds with our shared goal.
For us, this project is the culmination of decades of work and hope for what we can deliver for children.
It represents a transformative opportunity to deliver world-class paediatric care, and we are focused on building a positive, inclusive and forward-looking culture as the one team, working together for the children and families we are privileged to serve.
We are looking forward to playing our part in ensuring that the new hospital becomes a centre of excellence defined not just by its infrastructure, but by the spirit of partnership and patient-centred care that underpins everything we do. – Yours, etc,
DR GABRIELLE COLLERAN,
President of the Irish Hospital
Consultants Association,
DR SUZANNE CROWE,
President of the Medical Council,
(plus 196 others ).
Sir, – Brian Ahern's letter (June 12th) regarding the correct way to address consultants reminds me of when I was working in a hospital in Cork in the 1980s where a duo of consultants were known respectively as he who thinks he's God and he who knows he is. – Yours etc.
TONY WOOL,
Cork.
The problem with rent controls
Sir, – What a pity yet another 'property academic' has chosen to ignore the factual realities of rent control. (
'This is a housing strategy written by Flann O'Brien,'
June 13th).
In his opinion piece, Dr Sirr states confidently that 'the private sector will not solve our housing problems'. That may be true, but it makes a far faster contribution to solution than the public sector, which appears paralysed at the thought of building anything, anywhere.
Whatever his view of private sector housing provision, the fact stands unchallenged that, prior to the big financial crash, accommodation availability was high, and rents were low. Yes, the banks took unacceptable risks in lending, but the private sector provided the stock.
Today, after 15 years of relentless increases in taxes and regulation and despite record rents and house prices, almost no one is willing to build. All incentives to building housing have gone. The new landlords are employers, who cannot get workers unless they provide accommodation.
Dr Sirr would do well to heed the words of Swedish economist (and socialist) Assar Lindbeck who asserted in his book The Political Economy of the New Left: An Outsider's View (1971) '… rent control appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city-except for bombing'.
Nine years of rent controls in Ireland have self-evidently failed to do anything other than decimate the availability of housing. Government is to be commended, not criticised, for belatedly facing reality. – Yours, etc,
NEIL MCDONNELL,
Isme chief executive,
Dublin.
Sir, – Neville Scargill (Letters, June 12th) feels, as a property investor, hard done by. Was/is he not aware that such investments are always risky? – Yours, etc,
TOM KELLY,
Dublin 7.
Courtesy on public transport
Sir, – I was particularly interested in the issue raised by your correspondents, that of 'the lack of courtesy on public transport (Letters, June 13th).
I live in London, am in my 70s and retired. Courtesy still reigns on the transport network. Though on occasion I think I look pretty fit (as in healthy!), passengers here on tubes and trains aren't taken in.
I'm offered seats and while I'm grateful to people much younger than I, I often feel they need the rest far more than I do given the daily slog they have to suffer.
On the free travel pass, my wife and I think it's terrific. Why ? As we're now in the care business (looking after our grandchildren!), it defrays the additional cost of increased travel and we're much indebted to Ken Livingstone, a former London mayor, whose idea it was. – Yours, etc,
ALASTAIR CONAN,
Coulsdon,
England.