When will the penny drop with Fergus Finlay (Irish Examiner, February 10) that the Eighth Amendment is the only bulwark which protects Mná na hÉireann from the Supreme Achievement of Male Chauvinism?

Pat Rabbitte, TD, on Prime Time, said that people can protest, and they are allowed to protest, but they cannot voice their concerns.

How typically Irish. We are the country that created the situation that Greece, Spain, Portugal and Cyprus are now in, because we came up with the idea of a bank guarantee.

Freed from the constitutional constraints of the presidency, Mary McAleese, as a private citizen, rebuked Pope Francis for his qualified support for corporal punishment in the home, despite the Catholic Church being a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

I commend Clare Daly, TD, in attempting to amend the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill, to allow for terminations in cases of fatal-foetal abnormalities, and for doing so in a very male forum: ie, the Dáil. 

I refer to Billy Ryle’s letter ‘Drinkers will follow the pint at any price, be it to Heaven of Hell’ (Letters, February 11). 

The Paul Murphy, TD, arrest is a disgrace. Why was a member of the Oireachtas not afforded the courtesy of arrest by appointment, which was afforded to the Anglo Irish bankers?

Your article (‘One parent families facing benefits reduction’ 6 February) restates the government’s claims that their cutbacks coming in later this year will help mothers and fathers get back to work.

The Government’s attempt to curb the sale of cheap alcohol reminded me of one of the many stories my late father told me about the customers of a family pub in Tralee.

What is in the best interest of the consumer? He/she may be worse off, depending on what happens to slots at Heathrow and Gatwick.