12-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Letters: It's pity Joe Duffy didn't give credit to his hard-working background support staff
Joe Duffy did not mention any of his background team when discussing his departure from 'Liveline' on RTÉ's 'Late Late Show'
I was very disappointed with broadcaster Joe Duffy on Friday's RTÉ Late Late Show.
LiveLine is not a one-man show as he would like us to believe. No mention by him of his background team of phone-call vetters, researchers, sound technicians and others.
Hopefully, before going off air next month, he will give proper recognition to his hard-working background team.
Des McCormack, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14
Great to see politicians finally considering a ban on social media for teens
The Tánaiste Simon Harris recently looked at the possibility of introducing a social media ban here in Ireland for children who are under 16 years old.
I think it's an absolutely fantastic idea that we are now starting to talk about this serious issue.
Politicians have introduced this ban recently in Australia which will be implemented at the end of this year. The damage and abuse that's happening online due to the exposure to inappropriate content on social media is, to my mind, harrowing and distressing.
But one wonders how successful an Irish social media ban would be for the under-16s – a generation of people who are arguably more digitally literate than the people who will be introducing the ban.
I do believe that a social media ban is going to be potentially a hard thing to implement. We don't know how successful this ban is going to be in Australia, because it's not coming into force there until December 25.
We will have to watch and see and learn how this move pans out for them.
But I find it emboldening that we in this country are at least looking at this serious, highly charged and complex issue, as opposed to our legislators burying their heads in the sand.
John O'Brien, Clonmel, Co Tipperary
Many will be watching new Pope's handling of church scandal in Peru
Thankfully the new Pope, Leo XIV, promises to follow in the reforming steps of the late Pope Francis.
One of his first challenges will be how to confront the continuing fallout from the church sexual abuse scandal controversy in Peru, which he must be painfully aware of from his time as bishop of Sufar and apostolic administrator of Chiclayo in Peru.
Pope Francis did confront the powerful Peruvian-based Sodality for Christian Life for the physical and sexual abuse of its members by effectively dissolving it.
A more daunting challenge for the new Pope is how he deals with Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani, former Archbishop of Lima, and a member of the powerful traditionalist Opus Dei organisation who has been accused of the sexual abuse of at least one adolescent boy, which the cardinal has denied.
Pope Francis accepted his resignation as Archbishop of Lima but imposed several penal restrictions on him, which included forbidding him to return to Peru, which he has ignored, and from wearing the distinctive red robes and associated regalia of a cardinal.
In spite of these restrictions, he went to Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis.
And he publicly strutted around the Vatican in his cardinal's regalia at several public Vatican events attended by his fellow cardinals.
No action was taken against him. At a pre-conclave meeting of the assembled cardinals in Rome, it was agreed that clerical sex abuse must be one of the first challenges to be faced by the incoming pope.
Hopefully, Pope Leo XIV will face that challenge with courage and determination. Brendan Butler, Drumcondra, Dublin 9
People who still claim to suffer 'Catholic guilt' need to drop the victim complex
Édaein O'Connell resorts to that hackneyed canard of 'Catholic guilt' in her article ('You can take the girl out of church, but it's harder to take church out of the girl', Irish Independent, May, 10).
Nobody can make one feel guilty without one's consent, so let's abandon the helpless victim role.
Incidentally, I'm all in favour of guilt, irrespective of whether it's faith-based or not, if it stops people from bullying, stealing, drug-dealing, abusing children, murdering others, assaulting individuals, scamming others out of their money, damaging property, or committing perjury.
It seems to me that victims of criminal activity would be similarly enamoured of guilt if it stopped their perpetrators from committing any of the above.
Aileen Hooper, Stoneybatter, Dublin 7
The three world leaders may be in a daily battle, but only two are competing
On Friday, the former EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell received the Charles V European award from King Felipe of Spain.
Many European dignitaries attended the event.
In his acceptance speech, Mr Borrell said: 'The faces of history today are those of Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. None of them is European. I know them – well, I know them a bit – and I can assure you that of those three, two are more intelligent than the third. The thing is, the third one doesn't know it.'
It definitely was not Harry Lime of The Third Man film he spoke of.
Declan Foley, Melbourne, Australia
Lack of any international action against Israel a sad reflection on 'democracy'
Edward Hogan's letter asks 'Have we abandoned the Palestinians?' (Sunday Independent, May 11).
The leaders of the so-called free and democratic world continue to voice 'concern' and 'call for ceasefire'.
The Israeli government, meanwhile, ignores such calls.
It ignores international law and violates basic human rights. It destroys hospitals and schools. It kills first responders and denies access to basic food.
Many consider the Israeli government to be pursuing a policy of genocide against the Palestinian people.
Direct action was taken against president Vladimir Putin and many of his associates when Russia invaded Ukraine.
Yet not only has no action been taken against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but many countries continue to provide military aid to Israel for use against the Palestinian people.
I suggest it is a sad reflection on 'democracy'.
Michael Moriarty, Rochestown, Cork
