Latest news with #GavinReddin
Irish Times
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Letters to the Editor, May 27th: On housing, cycling and the decline of retail
Sir, – That Dublin could run out of capacity for new homes by 2028 because of a delayed sewage plant sounds like satire – but it's deadly serious. In the middle of a housing crisis, with rents through the roof and wages barely moving, we're now being told that even if we wanted to build, we might not be able to. This isn't just poor planning – it's State failure. The Greater Dublin Drainage project has been talked about for over two decades. In that time, entire cities have been built elsewhere. Here, we can't even get past the paperwork. People are running out of patience. You can't keep telling families to wait while the cost of living climbs and the promise of a home drifts further out of reach. Scarcity like this – when it's avoidable and clearly political doesn't just fuel frustration. It risks something deeper: a loss of faith in the system itself. If we don't get serious about delivery, don't be surprised when the politics start to get serious too. –Yours, etc, READ MORE GAVIN REDDIN, Swords, Co Dublin. Sir, – Not a day goes by without mention of Ireland's housing crisis – yet it only seems to get worse. It's hard to avoid the conclusion that our politicians either lack the will or the ability to fix it. I have some sympathy for them, because any meaningful solution would probably mean reducing the paper value of what many homeowners believe is their greatest asset. (I'll leave it to the economists and philosophers to explain the difference between cost and value.) Perhaps I can help by going back to first principles. What is a house? Well, in Ireland – much like Humpty Dumpty in Lewis Carroll's, 'Through the Looking Glass' - a house is whatever the planning officers say it is. And what they say it is will typically cost you €500,000 or more, and probably won't look very interesting. But here's the thing: it's not actually that difficult to build a perfectly good home for a fraction of that price. The problem is, such a home wouldn't satisfy the planning department's arbitrary rules and definitions. So what if we changed their job? What if the planning authorities stopped defining what a house must be, and instead focused on planning the services – the roads, water, power, waste, broadband – that are needed wherever people choose to live? Let the buyer decide what kind of house they want, and what they can afford. As for how to appease current homeowners who are worried about falling values ¨– I don't know. But I do know that there's an entire generation coming up that doesn't give a damn about propping up old property values. They just want somewhere to live. – Yours, etc, JOHN HOLSTEAD, Ventry, Co. Kerry Public spending and fiscal policy Sir, – The Central Bank's call for the exchequer to 'anchor' fiscal policy is probably long overdue (Saturday May 24th): Public expenditure has continued to exceed budgetary limits and targets, mainly as a result of an increase in current, and mainly recurring, expenditure, which taxpayers will be asked to finance in the event of a downturn. Meanwhile, investment in upgrading key infrastructure lags, not to mention housing. The Universal Social Charge (USC), introduced 17 years ago as a temporary measure, continues to levy incomes when the emergency it was designed to fund is long over. The disposition of nearly all parties to find new or increased expenditure programmes just because the exchequer is in surplus, has to stop. Instead what is needed is a root and branch review of existing expenditures to improve efficiency and eliminate waste. – Yours, etc, JOE LENIHAN, Collins Avenue, Dublin. On your bike Sir, – Joe Humphreys in his 'Unthinkable' piece ( 'Cyclists versus drivers: How to avoid road rage ' May 26th) suggests that 'taking a Zen approach could help motorists and cyclists to be less judgemental about each other' . All very well , however whilst cycling recently I was almost meeting my maker by a large SUV more suitable for the rocky mountains than suburban Dublin . As a cyclist I can assure your columnist there is no 'moral superiority ' merely the will to avoid injury or death on the roads . Sometimes rage is the only appropriate response. – Yours, etc, MIKE MORAN, Clontarf, Dublin 3. Sir, – Joe Humphries' article on the dangers of cyclists feeling morally superior to cars had the worthy aim of increasing mutual respect on roads, but he missed something. He didn't mention those who are neither in cars nor on bicycles. As a walker I rarely have a problem with cars; they mostly stay off pavements, stop at red lights and respect crossings. In contrast, cyclists often ignore all three with impunity, which is why pedestrians can no longer amble along the pavement in a relaxed fashion or trust the green man to provide a safe crossing. No doubt Humphries is the sort of responsible rider who stays off the pavement and always obeys traffic lights – in which case, well done he – but many cyclists don't obey the rules of the road, which is why pedestrians sometimes feel less affection for cyclists than they otherwise might. – Yours, etc, DAVID HARRIS, Coptic St, London. Joe Humphreys admits that as a cyclist, he sometimes experiences a sense of moral superiority . As a pedestrian of many years standing, I wonder if that superiority also applies to the cohort that cycle on footpaths? My most recent episode involved having to give way to a female cyclist on a footpath which ironically is parallel to a dedicated cycle lane. You couldn't make it up! –Yours, etc, FRANK J BYRNE, Glasnevin, Dublin 9. Inaction on Gaza Sir, –Una Mullally has accurately and eloquently identified 'the hypocrisy that drives people stone mad' when it comes to 'the lack of a concerted international effort to stop what Israel is doing in Gaza' (Why are Kneecap facing consequences when Israel is not? May 26th). But what if there is an even more uncomfortable explanation for such hypocrisy and inaction? What if the governments of European 'democracies' are actually complicit in Israel's alleged crimes? Israel enjoys privileged access to European markets under the EU-Israel Association Agreement (1995). Article Two of this Agreement renders its provisions dependent on 'respect for human rights and democratic principles', a respect long absent from Israel's treatment of Palestinians within Israel itself and in the territories that it occupies. The illegality of this occupation was reaffirmed by the International Court of Justice in July 2024. The EU has consistently resisted calls for the suspension of the Agreement, while certain European countries (Germany, Italy, Britain) have continued to export arms to Israel since the onset of its current campaign against Gaza. The Irish Government has turned a blind eye to the transit of arms to Israel through Irish airspace, allows the USAir Force to use Shannon Airport in furtherance of American support for Israel, and has failed to stop the Central Bank from selling Israeli war bonds across the EU. If European governments are truly complicit in Israel's alleged crimes while the majority of their citizens oppose them, this raises questions about the genuineness of what Michael McDowell has recently called 'Europe's model of enlightened liberal democracy'. Surely we cannot afford to leave such questions unanswered? – Yours, etc, RAYMOND DEANE, Primrose Avenue, Dublin 7. Sir, – Last weeks's statements of concern about Gaza, from some world powers and the EU are welcome. However, they do not lessen the impetus to enact Ireland's Occupied Territories Bill (OTB). The list of powerful nations included all the major external suppliers of bombs and weaponry used on Gaza's devastated territory. Each has already had the option of withholding supplies or using them as a lever for a ceasefire. In reality, mighty nations and power blocs are often bound by commercial and strategic interests, or alliances that can override the inhumanity of bombing starving children. Smaller countries can be less compromised. Against the background of a broken world order, the Tanaiste Simon Harris's commitment to, at last, enact the OTB offers hope. Properly enacted, it will be a peaceful but practical counterbalance for less powerful countries to employ. It focuses on objective illegality, rather than imposing blanket boycotts. Thus it will not involve blameless Israelis or citizens of other countries where the OTB might be deployed. The Occupied Territories Bill (2018), as proposed b y Senator Frances Black reads as a moderate. cohesive whole. Re-drafting, or even tinkering to placate, could render it ineffective. It has a potential to sanction any illegally occupied territory in the world. It is vital that this remains in the Bill, in a disordered world, where UN motions are ignored or vetoed, with impunity. The delaying of the OTB, over a five-year period when it offered a potential for peace in Palestine and Israel, is a matter of profound regret. This must not be compounded by further unnecessary delay or revision of its impact. – Yours etc PHILIP POWELL, Dublin. A bridge too far Sir, – David Raleigh ('Decades of 'daily frustration' over traffic end as Killaloe-Ballina bridge opens, May 23rd) notes that decades of frustration due to traffic congestion ended on May 22nd due to the opening of the new Brian Boru bridge over the river Shannon. He omits to mention the frustration that the official opening generated. At one o'clock on May 22nd it was announced that the bridge was open. Some of us were gullible enough to believe that this meant open to traffic. However, this did not happen until 5.30 pm. Ironically, the tailback on the approach road to the old bridge was three or four times its normal length while the politicians and those who were officially invited were congratulating themselves on the new bridge which was cordoned off on both sides. It was an exercise in political arrogance and hardly an example of bridge building. – Yours etc MARGARET LEE. Co Tipperary Not united on Man United Sir – Michael Walker's excellent piece on just how bad things are at Old Trafford ('Once people were desperate to join United; now United are just desperate', Sport, May 24th) made for sobering reading for the many Red Devils fans here. Yet, a powerful punch was pulled by not mentioning Scott McTominay. The poor judgment of letting the talismanic Scotsman go last summer should be reframed as outright lunacy after his key role in Napoli winning the Serie A title this term. He scored a dozen goals (no United player got into double figures in this season's Premier League) and was voted Serie A's MVP (Most Valuable Player). Shame on the United decision makers. –Yours etc BRIAN QUIGLEY, Dublin 9. Drowning the oceans Sir, – Last week I went to David Attenborough's latest film: Ocean. In my opinion, this film is vital viewing for us all as it reveals a level of marine/ oceanic destruction beyond anything the general public currently conceive. It highlights the immense contribution the ocean and its life make in the capture of carbon, and the production of oxygen, as well as providing food in this highly complex and extraordinary ecosystem. It shows clearly how our industrialised fishing and the methods this uses is contributing more to global warming and destruction of our planet than much of what we are doing on land. The film portrays the stark reality of the impact of our current highly industrialised fishing industry on our oceans and seas– throughout the globe including the deep seas and Antarctic areas which previously had been less exploited. It shows mega bottom trawlers drawing vast metal chain or beam based nets along the floors of the oceans. These sweep everything in their track into their nets in this dredging process. As the metal based nets work their way across the oceans' floors, metal claws dig into the oceans' beds, breaking their surfaces to extract as much as can be taken, regardless of whether what is dredged up will later be deemed marketable. It seems to be the crudest, most wasteful, and most destructive form of fishing imaginable. On land, these practices currently being conducted throughout our global marine waters might be compared to a legitimised and approved scorched earth policy. This type of fishing doesn't make sense as it is the antithesis of sustainable practice. The film tells us that currently approximately 3 per cent of the world's oceans are being preserved from exploitation. This is not adequate to save our oceans or ourselves. The film has been released in preparation for the UN's World Oceans Day in June which is campaigning for 30 per cent of the world's oceans to be preserved from exploitation. It seems to me that supporting this campaign and taking action to realise this level of preservation of our waters, is not only good for all on this earth, but on the most basic level supports human self-interest. I hope that we as an island nation play our part in the realisation of this goal. – Yours, etc, MARY O'BRIEN, College Road, Galway. Trump's tariffs Sir, – Donald Trump's extended tariff deadlines are almost as numerous as BAM's completion deadlines for the new national children's hospital. – Yours, etc, PAUL DELANEY, Dublin. Retail regeneration Sir, – As I walked through my local town-well, technically, Armagh is a city – I was struck by the sheer number of charity shops, hairdressers, and coffee outlets now dominating its streets. This isn't unique to Armagh; towns across the UK and Ireland are following the same dispiriting pattern. Meanwhile, traditional businesses like butchers, grocers, and independent pubs are quietly disappearing from our high streets. We must act to arrest this drift towards commercial monoculture. Local authorities could offer grants to improve shopfronts, providing incentives for entrepreneurs to take over vacant premises, and investing in broader streetscape revitalisation. They might also consider planning restrictions to prevent over-concentration of similar business types. A town centre should serve as the beating heart of commerce and community – not merely a corridor of caffeine and coiffure. Without intervention, we risk losing the diverse, vibrant high streets that make our towns distinctive and genuinely useful to residents. - Yours, etc, ENDA CULLEN, Armagh.
Irish Times
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Letters to the Editor, May 24th: On housing, skorts and the Shannon stopover
Sir, – Eoin Burke-Kennedy's recent article ('Why is the housing crisis Ireland's most enduring failure?', The Irish Times, May 23rd) lays bare the depth and longevity of Ireland's housing disaster, but also, perhaps unintentionally, exposes how limited the range of expert thinking on this issue continues to be. The analysis draws heavily on the usual economic voices: those who treat the housing crisis as a problem of investor confidence, regulatory friction, and misfired market incentives. But after 25 years of this framework dominating the conversation, are we not overdue a deeper re-evaluation? There are other perspectives – those who question whether housing should be a commodity at all, who argue for a non-market alternative, or who see high-density, State-built housing not as a last resort, but as a social good. Yet these voices remain marginalised, rarely quoted, and often dismissed as utopian. What we're facing isn't just a policy failure, it's an epistemic one. We have cornered ourselves into a narrow version of what counts as 'realistic,' even as that realism continues to fail us. READ MORE If the Government is to have any hope of restoring trust and delivering actual housing solutions, it needs to start listening beyond the usual suspects. – Yours, etc, GAVIN REDDIN, Swords, Co Dublin Tackling the rental crisis Sir, –It is very clear from Gerald Howlin's contribution, ( 'Renters forking out €2,000 per month are paying the price for water charges debacle', May 23rd, ) that those who occupy the centre-right political ground have not the slightest intention of addressing the housing crisis. The current housing crisis is the result of government policy to leave all housing provision entirely to the market. The crisis will begin to end when that policy is changed, and only then. The idea that introducing water charges or further 'broadening of the tax base' would play any part in solving the current debacle is nothing other than self-serving nonsense. It pours insult over injury for the many thousands whose lives are being crippled by the ongoing struggle to get and hold a roof over their heads. – Yours, etc, JIM O'SULLIVAN, Rathedmond, Co Sligo. Tips for visiting the Gray house Sir, – Frank McNally's 'Irishman's Diary' of Thursday May 22nd brought back fond memories of my own, happier, visit to Eileen Gray's Villa E.1027. Might I suggest that the next time he take the train? The ticket office, book store and meeting point for the guided tours is a converted container in the car park of the train station, the villa itself 100 meters further along the clifftop footpath. We were treated to a detailed, unhurried, English-language tour by a local, very well-informed student architect. Afterwards, continuing along the clifftop path with its spectacular views of the Med brought us to Avenue Virginie Heriot and the former Hotel Idéal Séjour where Yeats died, there's a memorial plaque. The graveyard is accessible after a steep climb through the old town. A helpful gardener pointed out the plaque recalling Yeats approximate tomb - the exact spot is lost forever. The graveyard also contains the (self-designed) grave of Le Corbusier, who, tragic irony or divine retribution, drowned in the bay below the Villa E.1027 which he had defaced. – Yours etc, PAUL O'KEEFFE, Co Tipperary. Sir, – I enjoyed the few minutes reading Frank McNally's befuddled attempt to find Eileen Gray's house by the sea in the south of France. It then just took another minute or so to look up Google to learn that Eileen was an Irish interior designer, furniture designer and architect who became a pioneer of the Modern Movement in architecture. I am sure we are meant to know such things. –Yours, etc, KEVIN MCLOUGHLIN, Ballina, Co Mayo Skorting the shorts issue Sir, – Now that the camogie girls have finally been allowed their God given right to wear what they choose, any chance the lads be afforded the same freedom? Paul Mescal in a skort in Cannes? –Yours, etc, FIONNUALA DUNNE, Sandycove, Co Dublin. Sir,¨ –I pick up The Irish Times every day in anticipation of headlines that declare the end of wars, the triumph of good over evil, and the long-overdue return of reason to a world spinning off its axis. Bearing in mind current global turmoil, I am usually disappointed. However, today I note that after 121 years, the Camogie Association are now allowing players the choice of wearing shorts or skorts. It might be just a tiny move to a more peaceful world, but at least it's a skort. – Yours, etc, GEOFF SCARGILL, Co Wicklow. Sir. –Well thanks to be to God the skorts debate has ended. You see it had me remembering back to the 1970s when we wore divided skirts on the basketball pitch to protect our modesty. I thought those days were long over and now thankfully they are gone again I can sleep better but how did that debate even start up? Now I'm wondering have we moved on at all. I need to stop wondering or the bags under my eyes from lack of sleep will explode. Yours, etc, BERNIE KIRWAN, Gorey, Co Wexford. Sir,– It is great that 98 per cent of delegates at a Special Congress of the Camogie Association voted to allow players to choose wearing shorts or skorts. The Association reminds me of golfers who know they are improving when they hit less spectators. – Yours, etc, DERMOT O'ROURKE, Lucan, Dublin. Fox hunting ban unnecessary Sir, – Notwithstanding one's views on the subject , Ruth Coppinger's proposed Bill to ban fox hunting in Ireland is probably unnecessary due to the fact that the introduction of motorways, the increasing urbanisation, the intensive nature of farming and the difficulty of getting insurance cover, means that hunting with a pack of hounds followed by 60 or 70 riders chasing a fox across the countryside is now nigh ( or neigh !) impossible . The much safer option is drag hunting where the pack of hounds followed by the self-same mounted followers follows a prearranged scent across a country well away from the dangers of motorways and away from horses hooves' damaging the increasing acreage of newly sown corn crops or the ever growing number of dairy paddocks . This will mean that the camaraderie of the hunting folk will still exist along with this country's long history of producing excellent horses and riders learning from jumping over still challenging obstacles but without the need to chase a fox . –Yours, etc , CHARLES SMYTH , Kells, Co Meath. Shannon and stopovers Sir, – There must be coordinated government action to prevent future uses of Shannon Airport by planes used for the extrajudicial transfer of individuals to a third country for imprisonment. As reported by Keith Duggan and Marie O'Halloran ( 'Flight carrying 'barbaric' deportees from US to Africa stopped at Shannon Airport', May 23rd): a plane carrying eight migrants from the US landed in Shannon en route to a detention facility in South Sudan. The Trump administration sent these eight individuals against the order of a federal judge, denying them their right to due process. By allowing the aircraft to stop at Shannon, the Irish Government is complicit in this action. Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Harris and Minister for Transport, Darragh O'Brien need to coordinate their departments to screen flights coming from the US and refuse clearance to any that are unlawfully trafficking individuals to third countries. Mr Harris cannot presume individuals on such flights are lawfully detained, as this is just the latest of many incidents of people being sent to foreign prisons without due process and against the orders of American courts. Dr Hidetaka Hirota previously wrote in this newspaper about the thousands of Irish migrants and their citizen relatives were forcibly and systematically expelled from the US according to similar policies to what we see today. Facilitating the trafficking of migrants from the US does no justice to our previous generations nor to the conscience of people in Ireland today who are concerned about the aggressive migration policy being pursued in the US. – Yours, etc, JAMES GILLER, Co Cork. Whither wetsuits? Sir, – There appears to be far fewer wetsuits in evidence on Irish beaches, compared to a decade ago. A sign of increasining national resilience, or of ocean heating? – Yours, etc, DR DAVID VAUGHAN, Mornington, Co Meath. Sir, – I can attest to your report of a marine 'heatwave' in Irish coastal waters. Instead of the usual four, it only took two hours this morning for my fingers to regain their feeling following my daily dip in Portmarnock. Hence this typed letter! – Yours etc, HUGH MC DONNELL, Dublin 9. Legal obligations and Gaza Sir –We, the undersigned, members of the legal profession and academy, are writing to express our deep concern at the Irish Government's continued failure to take the necessary steps to comply with its international legal obligations in relation to the crisis in Palestine. The daily atrocities in Gaza carry an appalling human toll and are being perpetrated by Israel in overt defiance of fundamental rules of international law and human rights. While we commend the Irish Government's support for and engagement with relevant international institutions, particularly international courts and United Nations bodies, including UNRWA, we consider that Ireland has fallen considerably short in meeting its own specific obligations under international law in the face of these persistent and indeed escalating abuses in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Under the 1949 Geneva Conventions, Ireland has a duty set out in Common Article 1 'to respect and ensure respect' for those treaties 'in all circumstances'. As a State party to the 1948 Genocide Convention, Ireland also has an obligation 'to prevent and to punish' the crime of genocide –- what has been described as 'the crime of crimes'. The State must take all reasonable legal, diplomatic and economic steps to achieve the cessation of such serious violations, accountability for those responsible, reparations for victims and compliance by Israel with international law. In its Advisory Opinion of July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories to be unlawful and held that it must be ended 'as rapidly as possible'. All States are obliged to neither recognise this presence as lawful nor to 'render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation' created by Israel's illegal presence. The United Nations General Assembly, by an overwhelming majority, adopted a resolution in September 2024 setting out how to give effect to the Advisory Opinion, as mandated by the Court. It called on States to ensure that their nationals, companies or governmental bodies do not recognise or provide aid or assistance to the unlawful situation, to cease the importation of products from unlawful Israeli settlements and to implement sanctions against both natural and legal persons engaging in the maintenance of Israel's unlawful presence in Palestine. Ireland co-sponsored and voted in favour of the resolution which quite specifically called on States to take steps 'to prevent trade or investment relations that assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation created by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory'. Successive Irish governments have delayed and prevaricated on what is known as the Occupied Territories Bill. We do not consider there to be any insurmountable legal obstacles, in either Irish, European or international law, preventing the adoption of legislation prohibiting the import of goods and services produced in the unlawful Israeli settlements in the West Bank. We consider this is the absolute minimum required from the State to comply with its international legal obligations and the holdings of the International Court of Justice. Anything less would be an abrogation of Ireland's long-standing commitment to international law and human rights. We call on the Irish Government to act urgently to adopt the necessary domestic legislation to give effect to its international obligations arising as a result of Israel's unlawful presence in Palestine and the continued commission of severe breaches of international law. Any existing legal advice on proposed legislation should be published in full. We remind the Irish Government that its obligations under international law, including those elaborated by the ICJ, require that it acts to ensure that international organisations of which it is a member, such as the European Union, do not render aid or assistance to the unlawful actions of Israel. Ireland must press with an even greater urgency to ensure that the EU-Israel Association Agreement is reviewed and necessary action taken based on its own terms and in light of relevant ICJ rulings. We demand the Irish Government review and report on existing trade and economic relations with Israel, including the issuing of bonds by the Central Bank, to ensure these do not contribute to recognising, aiding or assisting the unlawful situation created by the continued presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Finally, we call on Ireland to provide enhanced support to relevant international institutions, in particular those facing attacks and sanctions, such as the International Criminal Court and UNRWA. – Yours etc., PROF SHANE DARCY, Irish Centre for Human Rights, School of Law, Unversity of Galway IVANA BACIK TD Colm O'Dwyer SC PROF SIOBHÁN WILLS, Director of the Transitional Justice Institute, Ulster University EILIS BARRY, Chief executive, FLAC BARRA MCGRORY KC SC AONGHUS KELLY, International Lawyer PROF COLIN HARVEY, Queen's University Belfast JANE O'SULLIVAN, Solicitor, Community Law & Mediation MICHAEL O'HIGGINS SC The full list of signatories (around 350) is available at: Sir - The prime minister of Israel has accused the prime minister of the United Kingdom, and others, as being on the 'wrong side of humanity' for their views on providing aid to Palestinians. May I suggest that their being 'on the wrong side of humanity' is a matter of opinion. In the case of the prime minister of Israel and his colleagues it is a matter of fact that they are 'on the wrong side of humanity'. - Yours, etc, BILLY HANNIGAN, Dublin 12.
Irish Times
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Letters to the Editor, May 15th: On TikTok teachers, dereliction, power and money addicts
Sir, – I read your recent article on TikTok teachers with growing unease (' Meet the TikTok teachers – and their surprising predictions for the Leaving Cert ', Education, May 13th). While it is encouraging to see educators engaging students through popular platforms, this trend raises deeper questions about what we value in education and what we may be losing. The rise of exam-focused influencers, with their bite-sized hacks and algorithm-boosted predictions, reflects an increasingly transactional view of learning. It reduces education to short-term performance strategies, exam shortcuts and curated content designed for engagement rather than understanding. In doing so, it reinforces the already unhealthy obsession with grades while sidelining the kind of slow, reflective, critical thinking that education should foster. There's also something troubling about how the popularity of a teacher is now mediated through social media metrics. When pedagogical credibility becomes synonymous with likes and views, we risk replacing thoughtful educators with charismatic content creators. Antonio Gramsci reminded us that hegemony is not just maintained through force, but through culture – through what people come to accept as common sense. If we are not careful, a generation will come to believe that real learning is something that happens online in 30 seconds, and the purpose of education is to win the game of exams, not to understand the world. – Yours, etc, READ MORE GAVIN REDDIN, Swords, Co Dublin. Stark failings on infrastructure Sir, – Arthur Beesley and John McManus describe the failure to provide infrastructure in stark terms (May 14th). They cite Uisce Éireann and the Greater Dublin Drainage project, EirGrid, the passenger cap at Dublin Airport and the Ardee bypass, the National Maternity Hospital, social and affordable housing in Ringsend, wind farms and MetroLink. Both refer to the problems of planning as favourite culprits in this failure, particularly referring to individuals standing in the way of the common good. This has never been a real factor. With the exception of EirGrid, whose problems are of resources, the failure lies firmly with the leadership of the infrastructure providers, not with the citizens who occasionally attempt to hold their power to account. It would take too long to analyse all the examples cited, but looking at just two of the failures, the passenger cap was a condition of planning permission granted in 2007; the DAA had more than 15 years to address it but did not. Metro North was actually granted planning permission in 2011 and that permission was allowed to lapse. Effective leaders take responsibility for their actions and unite people with a shared vision, working together to overcome vested interests. Without gifted leadership, we would not have been able to tackle the financial crisis nor the pandemic. We would not have the IFSC and the Dublin docklands. Ardnacrusha was the gift of the leadership of a young Irish engineer in the 1930s. It's time that we stopped blaming the citizen for failure. The responsibility lies with the leaders of the infrastructure organisations, who should be capable of carrying out their tasks. – Yours, etc, ROBIN MANDAL, chair Dublin Democratic Planning Alliance, Blackrock, Co Dublin. Sir, – There is something profoundly wrong with Ireland. From the politically engineered housing crisis to the absurdly dysfunctional planning system, we seem incapable of delivering even the most basic public infrastructure, whether it's public or active transport, healthcare or community amenities. There is no political leadership or ambition, and there is no accountability. Every time I visit another European country, the contrast becomes starker, and the dysfunction at home even more glaring. We deserve so much better. – Yours, etc, OLA LØKKEN NORDRUM, Dublin 4. Money and power addicts Sir, – I agree with Prof Ian Robertson's piece about the pursuit of money shaping US politics and the love of money being an addiction (' Want to understand what money does to your brain? Look at this photo ', Opinion, May 11th). 'Money and power addicts readily dispense with values that they seemed to hold, so that they can feed their habit,' he writes. There is a great paradoxical lesson to learn with this understanding. Money and power addicts do not have power over the choices they make as the addiction has authority over them. They have, in fact, lost their power to the addiction. Paradoxically, money and power is their master rather than their servant. I live in hope that we become more aware of this lesson. Perhaps the world has taken the wrong road to the right place! – Yours, etc, ELAINE BYRNE, Ballinteer, Dublin 16. Scourge of dereliction A chara, – Does it not say it all when the lobbying body for the construction industry owns a derelict building that collapses in the centre of Dublin? (' Collapsed Victorian cottage in Ranelagh is owned by Construction Industry Federation ', News, May 12th.) The fact that a reported derelict building in a prime area, served by sustainable transport, services, schools, employment and social outlets can be allowed to occupy a site for so long is scandalous. When will this Government enforce and address dereliction in our existing urban centres and stem our unsustainable suburbanisation of the country? – Is mise le meas, COLM WALSH, Rathmines, Dublin 6. Catastrophe in Gaza Sir, – There are children dying every day in Gaza . These are children who should get to live, play, learn and grow up. Right now they are dying because Israel is choosing to starve them and the international community has decided to stand idly by. I cannot understand it. I cannot believe that the world's leaders can watch and continue to act as normal towards any nation who would treat humans in such a deplorable way. How abandoned and distraught must Palestinian people feel, to know that the world watches and does nothing? Where has our humanity gone? Words are not enough, real actions are needed by our leaders. – Yours, etc, GRAINNE FARRELL, Maynooth, Co Kildare. Sir, – Taoiseach Micheál Martin in recent statements on the catastrophe in Gaza has reiterated his call for the implementation of the 'two-state solution' (' Taoiseach Micheál Martin accuses Israel of war crime over blocking of aid entering Gaza ', News, May 6th). This is fine as political rhetoric but the Government appears to be in danger of wilfully ignoring Israel's repeated rejection in practice of the Palestinian right to self-determination. The 'two-state solution' was fundamentally undermined by Israel's actions many years before the current plan to 'conquer' Gaza. Has Israel ever taken the idea seriously? Since the Oslo Accords, Israel has continued to increase its colonial grip, building military and civil infrastructure, and allowing a massive influx of Israeli settlers on to Palestinian land. The Israeli state was busy changing the facts on the ground while the US and EU mumbled listlessly about the desired 'two-state solution'. Pretending otherwise is unhelpful and encourages the dangerous delusion that words alone can persuade Israel to stop what it is doing in Gaza and the West Bank. – Yours, etc, FINTAN LANE, Lucan, Co Dublin. Climate justice and art Sir, – I warmly welcome Sadhbh O'Neill's article on art and climate justice (' Art can communicate messages about our dying planet that are otherwise hard to hear ', Opinion, May 13th). It is heartening to see the power of art recognised, not just as a way to express emotion but to connect people to complex issues such as climate change. Here in Ballymun, we are seeing that notion in action through a project called Ballymun is Brilliant. This climate action project brings locals together through art, community events and shared ideas about building a fairer, greener future. Funded by the Government's Creative Climate Action Fund, the project helps people to feel more connected: to each other, to the place they live in, and to what is happening to the planet. What makes this project stand out is its commitment to inclusion, recognising that climate justice must make space for voices often left out of the conversation. – Yours, etc, NIAMH NÍ ICEADHA, Education coordinator, Global Action Plan, Axis Centre, Ballymun. Ireland's lack of priests Sir, – Fintan O'Toole's plumps for the populous solution of allowing priests to marry and the introduction of women priests (' Ireland is running out of priests. There is an obvious solution ', Opinion, May 13th). However, one straightforward solution would be for the Catholic hierarchy to invite young priests from developing countries, where vocations are abundant, to come and re-evangelise Catholic Ireland. Great things are happening with priestly vocations around the world. – Yours, etc, CORMAC MCCONNELL, Raheny, Dublin 5. Sir, – Just over 400 priests will be ordained from US seminaries this year. I'm sure we could spare a few to help shepherd Ireland, just as Ireland generously provided so many of her sons when the US was a mission field. I admit it will be a challenge to 'make Ireland Catholic again', especially among Fintan O'Toole and other 'heathens' (his word). But I reject the view that it's a lost cause. – Yours, etc, MARK HOLAN, Washington, DC, US. JFK and Pope Leo Sir, – I had the privilege of viewing the JFK Memorial in Eyre Square, Galway recently. This commemorated the visit of JFK to Galway on June 29th, 1963 on the back of his visit to see the ancestral home of his great grandparents in New Ross, Co Wexford. I remember as a 10 year old hearing his speech to the huge Galway crowds on TV (I was living in Scotland) and being inspired by his passion for all things Irish. Echoing JFK and his desire for peace between the great nuclear powers of the US and Russia, I find it poignant that Pope Leo XIV has appealed for 'no more war' and an end to the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Palestine and India and Pakistan in a message to world leaders during his first Sunday address at the Vatican. In JFK's 'A Strategy of Peace' speech at American University on June 10th, 1963 he stressed the utmost importance of all nations in conflict to work for dialogue, tolerance and compromise. The parallels between JFK and the new pope's quest for peace are striking. – Yours, etc, ANTHONY WILLS, Hertfordshire, UK. Playing the long game Sir – There is no doubt that Jim (JJ) Walsh played the long game, mastered the middle and now, after nearly 70 years, this unique and special Irish Times chess columnist, is making his final move by retiring. It is hard to believe that Mr Walsh has written close to 16,000 puzzles, outlasting grandmasters such as Bobby Fischer and Cold War tensions from his first column written in 1955. He surpassed the world record as the longest-serving chess columnist in 2016. At 93, Mr Walsh has shown how important mental stimulation improves one's brain function and can prevent the development of cognitive problems. The old adage of 'use it or lose it' is never more poignant than when making reference to one's brain. He is a role model for all older people, inspiring them to find ways of improving their brain function. As a clinician, I see clearly the value of reading, writing, doing crossword puzzles, bridge, chess, etc, when it comes to looking after the old grey matter. I would like to thank Mr Walsh for the joy that he brought so many readers over his many years as The Irish Times chess columnist. Wishing him the happiest and most relaxing retirement. – Yours, etc, JOHN O'BRIEN, Clinical psychotherapist, Clonmel, Co Tipperary. 'We should be kind' Sir, – Knowing that our time on earth is limited can motivate us, Joe Humphreys writes ('I tried an ancient cure for procrastination for a month. It was grim', Opinion, May 12th). This need not be a morbid preoccupation. Philip Larkin's poem, The Mower, addresses the subject in a cautionary and succinct way. The poem describes how a hedgehog has its final moments when the lawnmower blades cut into him. The poet reflects that he had seen this small animal only the previous day. The poem's closing lines are: 'We should be careful of each other, we should be kind/ While there is still time' – Yours, etc, NUALA GALLAGHER, Castleknock, Dublin 15. The joy of Fighting Words Sir, – Congratulations to all concerned with the publication of the Fighting Words supplement with yesterday's Irish Times. It was such a joy to read all the stories written by such special children and young adults. Thank you. – Yours, etc, LAURA O'MARA, Stillorgan, Co Dublin.
