Letters: ‘Sensitivity readers' would do a lot better to focus their efforts on common sense

Irish Independent

a day ago

If the injustice-seekers get their way, we may soon be reading nothing but blank pages: Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew retitled Respectful Dialogue Between Equals, or Othello reduced to A Workplace Disagreement, Mediated by HR.
One shudders to think how Dickens would fare under the gaze of the modern sensitivity reader. Even Christy Moore might find himself in trouble – Lisdoonvarna would need a full equality, diversity and inclusion audit before the first verse.
I'm reminded of my time as a young teacher in the East End of London. I once held the door open for a slightly pompous vice-principal and was told: 'I don't need your permission to walk through this door.'
Only for the manners my mother instilled in me I might have replied in a language that shouldn't grace any pages.
Those old bedfellows, respect and common sense, deserve renewed attention.
Enda Cullen, Tullysaran Road, Armagh
GAA self-sabotage is clear recipe for the slow death of hurling as we know it
It's difficult not to conclude that the GAA is undertaking an exercise in self-sabotage in the extraordinary way it is demoting hurling in the sporting calendar.
As summer arrives and conditions are ideal for playing this unique sport, we are now deprived of seeing Clare, last year's All Ireland champions, and hurler of the year Shane O'Donnell, who had just returned to playing after injury.
Lee Chin, an outstanding player this season with Wexford, is also gone from the championship, as are Waterford, Offaly and Antrim. This is incomprehensible from a sporting, promotional and financial perspective.
Young children, who are the lifeblood of the GAA, cannot see their heroes, and the GAA loses that vital promoter of its game: 'If you cannot see it, you cannot be it.'
So there will be no opportunity for supporters to see their heroes until the league returns in nine months' time, in the depths of winter.
This is a recipe for the slow death of hurling and the increasing drift of children towards other, more visible sports and is a shocking indictment of GAA administration and the custodians who are asleep at the wheel.
Tomás Finn, Ballinasloe, Co Galway
We're right to condemn Israel's actions in Gaza, but what are we doing?
Responding to Sinn Féin in the Dáil, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe claimed Ireland has been vocal in calling for Israel to comply with international law; that we condemn the catastrophic humanitarian situation arising from Israel's war in Gaza; and that Ireland continues to push for action at an EU level.
This raises the questions of how many killings of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli army has Ireland prevented? How many children suff­ering hunger-related deaths have we saved? How many hospitals have we saved from Israeli destruction? How many aid trucks have we managed to get through the Israeli blockade?
Art Ó Laoghaire, Bray, Co Wicklow
Trump's record since his inauguration doesn't look too promising for future
President Donald Trump took office last January 20. Since then, the US has experienced the following:
Petrol and grocery prices are up. The stock market is down.
Russia and Ukraine are still at war. Israel and Hamas are still at war.
Inflation is still burdening US citizens. Recession odds are rocketing.
The Epstein client list is still not released.
It is said that past behaviour is the best predictor of future behaviour.
John O'Brien, Clonmel, Co Tipperary
Ireland seriously needs to consider its position when it comes to neutrality
Ireland's foreign policy must in the final analysis be determined by its strategic self-interest.
Unarmed neutrality and reliance on organisations such as the UN to safeguard international law while also availing of the de facto protection of Nato is one such option.
There is no denying that, along with our practical commitment to sometimes very robust peacekeeping and peace enforcement missions, such policy has served us well in the past.
However, given the total failure of the UN to prevent the Russian invasion of Ukraine, plus the US-backed Israeli takeover of Gaza, reliance by a small trade-dependent country on the strength of international law and the tolerance of its neighbours is unlikely to be a wise policy in changed geopolitical circumstances.
In the absence of an effective UN, unarmed, and a de facto Nato protec­torate, our ability to champion peace-building initiatives would be, at best, minimal.
Unwilling to join a much-weakened Nato and constitutionally prohibited from joining any EU common defence arrangement, Ireland needs to seriously consider its options.
It is clear that, along with our EU partners and the UK, we are not neutral in the current war between Ukraine and Russia.
Neither do we take a neutral view in respect of a Palestinian state, and have managed to influence our European partners into taking a more critical stance towards Israel's reprehensible actions in Gaza.
Located in the North Atlantic, we are dependent for trade and investment on the EU, UK and US. Our geographical and trade links are primarily with our nearest neighbours. It is with them that we should seek to co-operate in advancing our interests, including our own security, as well as international peace and security.
Given the failure of the UN, the weakening of the US commitment to Nato and our membership of the EU, it seems to me our interests lie in supporting greater European strategic autonomy, including defence and security co-operation,
Michael O'Dwyer, Clogheen, Co Cork
Please bring back the sun so we can get tucked into those choc ices of summer
As a follow-up to M O'Brien's letter ('Hopefully, we'll scoff choc ices again before summer's end', May 27), we await the return of the sun.
Whoever took it, please bring it back.