The word ‘marriage’ is derived from the Latin ‘matrimonium’, meaning ‘mother’ and ‘motherhood’, which imply fatherhood and children. 

The ‘Dear Mr. Bread’ letter directed to Declan Ryan (Irish Examiner, April 23) once again highlights the questionable appointments made by ministers in hiring ‘advisors’,‘personal assistants’ and ‘private secretaries’.

On behalf of myself and the business people of Kinsale we must object to the closure of our public toilets for most of the year while toilets elsewhere in West Cork, like Courtmacsherry and Timoleague stay open all the year round.

When I was a teenager, most of my musical tastes were different from those of my parents, but there was one act we all loved. That was Tommy Makem and Liam Clancy.

Was it not strange and neglectful that the script of Micheál Martin’s leader’s speech to the Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis did not contain any references to either of the two referendum proposals that the electorate will consider on May 22?

Having read through your reports on the Siteserv controversy (Irish Examiner, April 24) — which seems to consist of little more than a ‘pass-the-parcel’ exercise by the central players — I was left with that familiar sense that ministers in Irish governments carry responsibility for nothing and are accountable to no-one.

What extraordinary times we live in. On April 24, the anniversary of the outbreak of the 1916 Rising, Michael D Higgins, the President of the Irish Republic, who occupies his office as a direct result of that pivotal event in our history, was busy in far off Turkey remembering members of the British army — the sworn enemies of those who fought for Irish freedom.

‘Nexus’ is an extraordinarily good name for the current banking probe.

Following a recent article describing ‘a tea’ served in a hospital to a daughter of a television producer as ‘disgraceful’, I would like to tell you my experience at Cork’s Victoria/South Infirmary.

The record of Irishmen who fought at Gallipoli in 1915 has been remembered with respect by nationalists and republicans.