Without structural change to the way we govern this country the result of the coming election will just mean ‘more of the same’ with both inner-party and inter-party fingerpointing and oneupmanship resulting in yet another crony-oriented, self-serving power base placing vested interests above the common good whilst delivering incompetent and unfocused governance to the detriment of the people.

Your front page article (Irish Examiner, August 17) quoting the Fine Gael chief whip Paul Kehoe as saying that Phil Hogan won’t apologise for the Irish Water debacle since former Fianna Fáil ministers have also not apologised for their mistakes, sounds childish in the extreme.

It is not clear yet who was responsible for yesterday’s bombing in Bangkok but it would not be surprising if Islamic extremists admitted it or were identified as the culprits in the outrage which left at least 27 people dead and many more injured. At least three foreigners died.

AS plans to mark the centenary of 1916 are developed, might it be worth considering something that might leave a lasting legacy and say something worthwhile about the Ireland that has evolved over the last century?

Considering RTÉ have been telling us we are in election mode, maybe we should reflect on what our Government has achieved to date.

In regards to a letter from Myles Duffy on August 15, I beg to differ with the views expressed therein. Describing the planned State funeral as a ‘politically inspired propaganda stunt with an eye to getting out the local vote in the general election’ is way off the mark. 

THE recent article by Niall Murray, under the heading ‘Concern at youth jobless figures’, is depressing news for many of our young people. 

AS a frontline organisation and independent law centre which has supported 19 victims of trafficking in the past year, the Immigrant Council of Ireland welcomes the commitment of the Minister for Justice, Frances Fitzgerald, to prioritising the Sexual Offences Bill in the coming Oireachtas term (‘Minister to proceed with plan to criminalise sex buyers’, Irish Examiner, August 14).

In regards to recent headlines about low-fat diet being better for fat loss than low carb, this experiment is faulty in two respects. A figure of 29% carb is lowish carb but it is not less than 10% carb, which is what a proper low-carb diet is.

The execution of Thomas Kent on May 9, 1916, was a crude exercise in propaganda, far removed from the moral force of the scales of justice, on the part of Major General JG Maxwell, the military governor at a time when the civil governance of the country was in a state of chaotic dissolution.