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Irish Times
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Letters to the Editor May 19th: On famine in Gaza, cars as weapons and scrapping Sevens Rugby
Famine in Gaza Sir, – Ireland and six other European countries' statement on May 16th calling on Israel to lift its Gaza blockade ( Ireland joins countries calling on Israel to lift Gaza blockade , News, May 17th) is far too little, too late. After over two months of what the statement describes as a 'man-made humanitarian catastrophe', in which Israel has blocked food, aid or medical supplies from reaching two million people now on the brink of famine, not to mention the 19 months of bombardment and over 53,000 deaths, only now are they calling for the world to 'assume the responsibility to stop this devastation'. The statement rightly notes that many Palestinians could starve to death in the coming weeks unless immediate action is taken, which asks the question of why it has taken 75 days for action, in the form of a mere statement, to be taken. CHRISTINE MAGUIRE, Beaumont, READ MORE Dublin 9. Sir, – Liam Herrick of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) wrote a balanced and prescient article ( Ireland says Israel is carrying out war crimes in Gaza. Now it must act , Opinion, May 14th). I think most people in this country feel angry and upset about the continuing inhuman treatment being meted out to the people of Gaza – men, women and, unforgivably, children. We and our Government must do more and urgently. I encourage everyone to read the article and do everything possible to support the objectives of the IHREC to stop the suffering and starvation. – Yours, etc, MICHAEL J HALL, Castleknock, Dublin 15. Scrapping sevens rugby Sir – The Irish Rugby Football Union decision to scrap the very successful s evens' programme is disgraceful, stupid and shortsighted. As an avid rugby supporter, having travelled all over the world following Irish rugby, I'm most disappointed with the decision, apparently citing funding costs as the main reason. How then can they justify spending very large fees on foreign players' short-term contracts for one particular province which would have gone a long way to fund the sevens' programme? It just doesn't make sense. Also, imagine if they cancelled the women's sevens' programme, all hell would break loose. I appeal to the powers in charge to revisit and reverse their decision for the betterment of Irish rugby. – Yours, etc, AUSTIN SAVAGE, Cualanor, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin. Castletown House Sir, – In 2013, I was a volunteer at the Big House Festival held over three days at Castletown House. It was a magical event, a celebration of all that was great about heritage, culture, music, drama, art and community in Ireland. The management of the house at the time stated that, in creating the concept for the festival, they wanted to fill the chasm they felt existed between the people of the town and 'the big house'. I listened to Minister Kevin 'Boxer' Moran on RTÉ's Morning Ireland today (May 16th). Having been born into Celbridge and lived a childhood in Castletown in the 1970s and 1980s, it was heartbreaking to hear the State itself further driving a wedge into the chasm reopened between the community and 'the big house'. While giving the staff of the Office of Public Works his '100 per cent' backing, the Minister failed to give credit to the tireless work of all community groups established since that time, as they strive to protect the integrity and heritage of Castletown. The State, through the OPW, has lost its long-established M4 vehicular access to their own land, and its car park, through poor management, ill-judged procurement decisions, and errors of omission in failing to secure retention of it. Narratives advanced to the contrary, that attempt to scapegoat community groups, merely divert attention from the OPW's failure to manage State property, and its purse, efficiently. The Minister and his team need to focus their expertise, effort and attention on strategic actions to regain the M4 access and utilise the collective expertise of community representatives. Contemporary landlords of the property of Irish citizens must appreciate, their role is no longer to dominate but to collaborate and communicate. – Yours, etc, JILL BARRETT, Rocklands, Celbridge, Co Kildare Restraining Trump Sir, – Diarmaid Ferriter's conclusion that US president Donald Trump 'is facing no table thumpers, at home or abroad' to restrain his policy excesses is open to question ( ' Was it for this that London endured the Blitz ' , Opinion, May 16th). On the same page Stephen Collins outlines how the US president's Liberation Day tariffs initiative was restrained – quietly and effectively – by Chinese president Xi Jinping ( Ireland should fully support the EU's response to Trump , Opinion, May 16th). Collins goes on to demonstrate that the EU has the commercial and political heft to engineer a similar tariff policy rethink on the US side. Ireland's long-term interests are indeed aligned with a more integrated European Union. – Yours, etc, JOHN NAUGHTON, The Gallops, Leopardstown, Dublin 18. Cars are weapons Sir, – Back in the 1960s, my father-in-law, at the tender age of 17, waited enthusiastically at the local driving school in York to embark on his first driving lesson. However, before he was even allowed to sit in the driving seat, the instructor told him to go around to the back of the car and push it. Predictably, this was something of a challenge, particularly given the size and weight of vehicles in those days. The instructor then said: 'Now lad, don't you forget that that is the weapon you are driving, and what damage you can do'. My father-in-law never forgot those wise words, and relayed them to his own children and grandchildren. – Yours, etc, STEPHEN YEO, Churchtown, Dublin 14. Sir, – I find it mind-boggling the number of zoom meetings I've attended where participants are driving a car whilst contemporaneously on a video call. No human being has the executive function to do both these tasks at the same time. You are neither at the meeting nor driving a car. Hang up. A car is a lethal weapon. – Yours, etc, Dr VINCENT WALL, St Luke's, Cork City Fighting Words Sir, – What a wonderful collection of Irish talent was featured in your Fighting Words magazine, which presented the literary prowess of the young of Ireland (Irish Times, May 14th). As a retired teacher of first- and third-level students, I feel it is essential that the attempts of our aspiring writers are published. There is nothing like concrete evidence to endorse the confidence and trust in these young contributors to continue to submit their work both in English and Irish. Submissions come from writers throughout the whole island. The youth advisory panel, composed of teenagers, notes that there is 'an automatic connection with people you have never met before because you bond over writing.' In today's digital world, which is screaming advice from all corners particularly to young people, how refreshing it is to read a young man Djamel White , recalling that during his formative years he joined Fighting Words. It was there that he observed 'at the centre of it are the stories and poems, but it is in the people where the magic lives.' Seamus Heaney once wrote: 'Between my finger and my thumb, The squat pen rests; snug as a gun.' Heaney knew that the act of writing holds power and significance, much like a weapon. That was his magic and it worked. – Yours, etc, BRENDA MORGAN, Howth, Co Dublin. Derelict property ownership Sir, – Mark O'Connell's views ( I have an appetite for irony but this is too rich even for me , Opinion, May 17th) that derelict property ownership is a form of antisocial behaviour is bang on To add insult to injury, sales of such properties, if it does happen, comes with a price where our estate agent friends happily proclaim that the building qualifies for the refurbishment grants and low and behold one finds the price reflects this. Here in Letterkenny, a number of such properties came on the market with prices that make it less than ideal for refurbishment to a suitable rated property. A cheap and cheerful refurb will inevitably follow providing substandard accommodation, thus perpetuating the cycle of neglect. The refurbishment grants have become an award for bad behaviour happily scooped up by the vendor, – Yours, etc JOHN O'CONNELL, Highfield, Loughnagin, Letterkenny, Co Donegal.
Irish Examiner
09-05-2025
- General
- Irish Examiner
Letters to the Editor: A positive thought ahead of Darkness into Light
It's heartening to see another Darkness into Light walk coming up on Saturday. It's said that almost everyone thinks of suicide as an option at some point. A seemingly overwhelming and irresistible despair forms, like a cloud blocking the light, you might say. But there's always a way out. It's at least worth asking for a second opinion because, as we know too well from how the world works, nothing is ever exactly how it seems. How many times has a problem seemed beyond the power of any force on Earth to resolve… and begun to look or sound a lot less daunting after just a chat with someone you trust, who is prepared to listen? A chink of light — a tiny flicker maybe — enters the darkness and, before too long, you find that whatever it was that cast the cruel shadow could be tackled after all. A favourite reason of my own for not quitting this life is the curious finding that a big majority of people who attempt suicide, and who report near-death experiences, are relieved they did not end their lives. Regardless of whether near-death experiences are visions of an afterlife or something else entirely, it's interesting that those fortunate people reckoned that life was, after all, better than a self-inflicted exit from this world. Apart from giving one's own life a chance, there's another reason not to 'end it all' and that's the way so many loved ones, and other people we don't even know, will be affected. To avoid hurting those people, it's better by far to talk to a friend, work colleague, or counsellor. It could be the best decision or the best day's work ever. Life is short enough as it is, I believe, and there's enough grieving. How much better just to talk to someone: Call a helpline if you don't want to share with someone you know. I don't mean to judge anyone who died by suicide, but just to say: If the choice is between leaving this world abruptly in a way that will bring nothing but heartache, and giving life another chance, then it's better to stay. You deserve to live. John Fitzgerald Callan, Co Kilkenny More work needed to transpose EU equality directives Since the adoption of the EU Race Equality Directive in 2000, all EU states have been required to designate a body or bodies for the promotion of equal treatment. The Irish designated body was initially the Equality Authority, which was later replaced by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC). It is a year this month since the EU adopted two new directives which provide a much stronger legal framework for the work of national equality bodies. These have to be transposed by June 2026, and so far we have seen little indication of what is planned in Ireland. The IHREC has recently said that it supports a full and ambitious transposition, which is very welcome. However, in writing to the Taoiseach and other ministers on the adoption of the directives, IHREC's main message was that they buttressed its case for extra resources for a range of other — mainly UN-related — human rights functions. This suggests a worrying lack of appreciation of the purpose of the new directives, which is to strengthen the application of equal treatment as defined in EU equality law. The underlying problem here has been noted many times since the Equality Authority and the Human Rights Commission were merged into IHREC in 2014. While the IHREC was supposed to carry forward and amplify the work of both bodies, the Equality Authority's central focus on implementing equality legislation was not adequately reflected in the new organisation's founding legislation, nor in its activities since. Addressing this problem will require legislative and organisational changes which can and should be addressed by Government and the Oireachtas in the transposition of the new directives. Laurence Bond Former director, IHREC, Raheny, Dublin Offshore wind In energy minister Darragh O'Brien's article (Offshore acceleration plan will be a game-changer for Ireland and our future economy, Irish Examiner, May 1), the push to do nearshore renewables with the evangelical zeal of a one-way ticket to energy heaven is worrying. In a side dig to anybody not agreeing to this plan as an obstructionist minority is a swipe at citizens who might care for the environment or even the methods of the Government and companies seeking to push through their goals without due consideration or care for the sensitive areas proposed in their plans. The Sustainable Windfarm Environmental Group SWEG has engaged with the NISA North Irish Sea Array Offshore Wind Farm project to seek better locations for their scheme — 22km offshore not 12km, and still in the Maritime Area Consent area and still within depths of 65m to 70m, suitable for fixed-bottom turbines. The special protection areas (SPAs), still not fully legislated for, provide the areas to protect wildlife in highly-sensitive breeding colonies such as Rockabill, Lambay, and the Skerries islands. The feeling is that the Government wishes to drag its heels on the enacting of SPAs whilst driving through windfarms in and close to existing SPAs, damaging foraging areas for terns, puffins, kittiwakes, brent geese, red-throated divers, cormorants, and species at risk of having devastating results of birdkill and displacement from their breeding areas. The powerful sonars operating over 200db will continue to hurt the hearing of harbour porpoises during surveying and pile-driving, thus causing an inability to forage and feed, thus causing death. The Government is pushing ill-conceived developer-led project areas close to shore for maximum profit without concern for biodiversity and wildlife. Shane Holland Skerries, Co Dublin Irish-US bonds Ireland's bond with the US is strong because of its Irish-American population. Few Irish families remain untouched by enforced emigration, due to war, famine, and unemployment or voluntary emigration in search of adventure and career advancement. My paternal great-grandfather, a Fenian, was hounded out of Ireland after the 1867 Fenian Rising and was welcomed in Boston by the large Irish community. Some of his children were born there. One of my aunts emigrated to New York in her teens, where she raised her family in the city she loved. One of my wife's sisters runs a business in the Big Apple and her uncle followed his sweetheart to San Francisco, where they settled. So my family has many relatives in the USA. Modern travel has allowed cousins on both sides of the Atlantic to regularly come and go. American presidents Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and especially John Fitzgerald Kennedy came to thank us for our relatives' contributions to American society. That's why we spent student summers in the USA, why we go back to visit, why we pray at the grave of JFK in Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia. Trump's protectionism can't be allowed to undermine the special bond between our countries. In the immortal words of JFK in the Dáil on June 28, 1963: 'Our two nations, divided by distance, have been united by history. No people ever believed more deeply in the cause of Irish freedom than the people of the USA. And no country contributed more to building my own than your sons and daughters.' God bless Irish Americans, and God save America. Billy Ryle Tralee, Co Kerry Provincial football championships The provincial football championships are far from dead. GAA president Jarlath Burns and the rest of the GAA hierarchy would do well to keep their hands off the great product we have in the West, up North, and hopefully here in the East as well. The 27,137 people who packed into Castlebar recently were treated to an exhibition of football and everything that makes our games special. The day was a credit to the GAA in Connacht. At half time, the jubilee team was honoured — a tradition that Croke Park could learn from in showing proper respect to our heroes of the past. A pipe band added colour and atmosphere, there was a dignified moment's silence for stalwarts of the game, the sun shone, and not a single dirty belt was thrown. It was an exemplar of what sport should be. That it was the biggest crowd at a ball sport in the West since 2014 only underscores the appetite that exists for live Gaelic football. People around me spoke of how there's now too much sport on television and how 'you can't beat the real thing'. I couldn't agree more. So, congratulations to Galway, commiserations to Mayo, and long may the JJ Nestor Cup be fought for with passion and pride. Seán Loftus Iona Road, Dublin 9 Read More Letters to the Editor: The State must stop being complacent on Gaza
Irish Times
07-05-2025
- General
- Irish Times
‘Substantial fall in monthly income': Would your household cope if a new father takes paternity leave?
Outside of maternity leave, there are 36 weeks' leave available to parents in the State in the first two years of a child's life. They can avail of a further 26 weeks each until their child is 12. Many families could really do with the time, but much of the leave is expiring untaken because mothers, and especially fathers it seems, just cannot afford to take it. Parents wanting to spend time with their children have to count the cost. Family-leave policies, such as paternity leave and parent's leave, are a good thing: it's good for parents, for children and for promoting equality of caring responsibilities which helps the gender pay gap. But take-up rates among men remain low, said a report published last month by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) and the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI). READ MORE In Ireland, two weeks of paternity leave is available to new parents (usually fathers) of children under six months. Nine weeks of parent's leave is available to each parent of children under two. Both benefits are paid at a flat rate of €289 a week as long as you have sufficient Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) payments. Some employers top up the payment to full salary, but not all. In addition, up to 26 weeks of unpaid parental leave is available to each parent as long as it is taken while the child is under the age of 12. Despite paternity leave being available in Ireland since 2016, only half of fathers take their entitlement to two weeks off. And even fewer – just a quarter – take the nine weeks of parent's leave, compared to a two-thirds take-up rate by women. One of the main reasons is that families often face a significant drop in income if they choose to take up this leave, said the IHREC/ESRI report titled Child-Related Leave: Usage and Implications for Gender Equality. Sampling births between 2019 and 2022, the report looked at those who took the two weeks' paternity leave. Higher-paid fathers, who were more likely to receive employer top-ups, took more paternity leave, the results showed. Conversely, the uptake of parents' leave by both fathers and mothers, available for up to nine weeks each, fell with lower earnings, This was likely a reflection of flat-rate payments affecting affordability, the report said. In couples where the mother was the higher earner, fathers were more likely to use parent's leave, whereas single parents were less likely to take it up. Forgoing salary, even for a period of weeks, to spend time with their children is a luxury many households just cannot afford to take. Crunch the numbers Many parents thinking of taking leave will have to crunch the numbers. Chartered Accountants Ireland tax experts provided a useful working example for this article in the shape of fictional couple, John and Mary. Before one even considers the potential cost of taking paternity leave or parent's leave, maternity leave will put some families under pressure. John and Mary are a married couple who had their first child last January. John earns €66,864 annually from his employment and Mary earns €43,680. They are jointly assessed and John is the assessable spouse. The couple's gross monthly income from earnings before the baby was €9,212. After PAYE, PRSI and USC, their net monthly income is €7,080. John has an assessable spouse effective tax rate of 24 per cent. Some employers will top up the state maternity payment of €289 a week to part or full salary, but Mary's employer does not. She is under the almost one-third of employees who started their maternity leave in 2021 who did not get their salaries topped up to the full amount by their employer. The statutory maternity payment is subject to income tax, too, though it is exempt for PRSI and USC. Mothers have a right to a further 16 weeks of leave after their paid maternity leave finishes, but there is no state payment. Photograph: iStock CSO figures for 2019 to 2022 showed accommodation and food services was the sector with the lowest rate of maternity benefit take-up while health and social work had the highest rates. While Mary is on maternity leave, John's effective tax rate on his monthly salary falls from 24 per cent to 22 per cent because the amount of his income subject to 20 per cent tax rate increases. The upshot is the family's household income is down by €1,705 a month. Their net income during Mary's maternity leave is €5,375. With a monthly mortgage repayment of €1,500, a car loan repayment of €450, as well as all the outgoings for groceries, utilities, motor fuel, car tax, vehicle insurance, private health insurance, GP visits, pharmacy expenses, mortgage protection, house insurance and everything else, their finances are tighter than usual. Paternity leave John is entitled to paternity leave from work for two weeks at some point in the first six months of his baby's life. As long as he has sufficient PRSI contributions, the State will pay paternity benefit of €289 a week. Those who are employed or self-employed are eligible. Spain leads Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries by offering 16 paid weeks. The leave in Ireland applies to same-sex couples too. Whether you are a father of a new baby, or the partner, spouse, civil partner or cohabitant of the mother of the baby, or the parent of a donor-conceived child, you are entitled to paternity benefit. The leave also applies to adoption. Farmers, forestry workers and people working in the fishing industry have the lowest take-up of paternity benefit; educators, health workers and civil servants – all public service roles – have the highest. Some employers will top the benefit up to your full salary, John's employer does not. In the month that John takes this two weeks' leave – and it must be during Mary's maternity leave – the family's household income is down again, to about €3,264. After the mortgage and car loan, this leaves the family with about €1,300 for all household expenses. It will take the family a few months to recover from the hit. It is little wonder that just half of fathers avail of this leave. Extended maternity leave Mary's maternity leave will finish in July. There is no available childcare place until November, so the couple need a solution. Mary has a statutory entitlement to further 16 weeks of maternity leave immediately after her paid maternity leave finishes. There is no state payment during this period, however. The family opts to avail of the extra four months' leave. Their household income now drops by €2,713 from the pre-baby position to a net monthly income of €4,367, Chartered Accountants Ireland calculations show. Mary should remember to get her employer to complete an application form for maternity leave PRSI credits when she returns to work. She will have automatically been given PRSI credits for the period of paid maternity leave. An alternative would be to take parent's leave. This entitles each parent to nine weeks leave during the first two years of their child's life. Those with sufficient PRSI contributions are entitled to parents' benefit of €289 a week. The income levels of mothers and fathers has been shown to reduce the likelihood of taking up this entitlement With a child born in January 2025, both parents will have to take their leave entitlement before January 2027. If Mary takes parent's leave, their household income will continue to be down by €1,705 a month as it was during Mary's paid maternity leave. Mary plans to go back to work in November once childcare is available. To aid Mary's transition back to work and their child's transition to childcare, this would arguably be a good time for John to take at least some of his nine-week entitlement to parent's leave. If Mary went back to work at the same time as John commenced parent's leave, paid at €289 per week, their net monthly household income would be down from a pre-baby figure of €7,080 to €4,079, a drop of €3,000. The impact of the bigger earner taking leave entitlements will be too much for many households to absorb. It was no surprise that take-up rates by fathers of parent's leave has continued to lag significantly behind that of mothers, the IHREC/ESRI report said. For children born in 2021, 26 per cent of fathers eligible and 69 per cent of mothers eligible availed of this leave, the report estimated. 'The income levels of mothers and fathers has been shown to reduce the likelihood of taking up this entitlement, again highlighting the issue of flat-rate benefit payments and lower general top-up rates for parent's benefit,' the report said. Parental leave Parental leave has a bit more elasticity to it. It enables both parents to take leave of up to 26 weeks for each child before their 12th birthday, or their 16th birthday in the case of a child with a disability. However, the catch is that this is unpaid. It can either be taken as one continuous period of leave, or in two separate blocks of at least six weeks each with a minimum gap of at least 10 weeks between each period. A good time to plan to take this could potentially be during school summer holidays. Each year school closures for midterm breaks in spring and autumn, two weeks at Easter and at Christmas and eight weeks in summer add up to about 14 weeks in total where parents must find a childcare solution. In a month that John is on unpaid parental leave, the family's net monthly income will drop to €2,821, Chartered Accountants Ireland figures show. This is unlikely to be sustainable for long. Staying out of paid work would have consequences for Mary too. Women who take time off work from the age 30 to 36 could be looking at a reduced pension pot of about €118,000 than if they had taken no break at all, says Irish Life , the biggest life and pensions provider in the State. Instead of taking parent leave in blocks, parents can break it down into working days or hours – if their employer agrees. For example, you can ask to take one day of parental leave a week until the entire 26-week allowance is used up. This might be a less financially punitive way to use it. Joint assessment For most married couples, it is generally more beneficial to be jointly assessed, but it does come down to personal circumstances, Chartered Accountants Ireland says. Married couples can opt to be assessed separately where each retains their usual allocation of tax credits and bands. The key benefit of joint or separate assessment (versus being assessed as a single person) is the option to transfer a certain portion of one partner's standard rate band as well as the option to transfer unused tax credits. 'When one partner goes on leave, this can produce a substantial tax saving,' Chartered Accountants Ireland says. 'Where both spouses are working, the non-assessable spouse can still earn up to €35,000 and remain subject to the standard rate of tax. 'Where statutory leave is taken and one spouse remains working, the couple will see a reduction in the overall tax they pay, but this will not offset the potentially substantial reduction in monthly income.' The impact on household income is clearly one reason for parents not taking their leave entitlements or why leave is not taken more equally by partners. Company culture can be a factor too. Taking parental or family leave is still regarded as 'career suicide' for men in some companies, an employers' conference in Dublin was told last month. 'Unless we start to fix that for men, we won't fix that for women either,' Kara McGann, head of head of skills and social policy at Ibec , told the organisation's annual employment law conference in Dublin. The research is clear: family leave is positive for both children and parents, and equality of caring responsibilities helps bridge the gender pay gap. But if parents cannot afford to claim their family leave entitlements, those benefits are untapped, too.
