Sean Fleming, Fianna Fáil public expenditure spokesperson, was right to use the word ‘reckless’ at the Dáil Public Accounts Committee when discussing the National Children’s Hospital project (Irish Examiner, October 24).

Further to Zoe Lawlor’s letter (Letters, October 24), the main question the Government should be asking is whether or not money it has pledged will all be used for the good of Gazans.

This week’s Unicef report reveals shocking and frankly shameful data for Ireland. We knew that during the recession the number of children living in poverty increased, but this report shows just how huge a step backwards we have taken.

Seán O’Riordan’s article ‘Oireachtas grilling due over plan to close court’ (Irish Examiner, October 24) highlights a worrying trend in West Cork.

Once again the ordinary folks are getting hit in the pocket with the news that fares on public transport are to be increased yet again by as much as 28% in some cases.

In the wake of the Maíria Cahill affair, the Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin called for a cross-border commission to be established to examine how Sinn Féin and the IRA dealt with abuse cases during the Troubles. Mr Martin said “allegations of a cover-up demand a wider response”.

Victoria White’s rant on the ‘evils’ of infant formula [Irish Examiner, October 23] contains a breathtaking claim.

In recent days the Opera House hosted the Ellen Kent Opera Company’s production of Rigoletto. As an opera fan I was a little surprised that the Opera House was not full.

“Water, like religion and ideology, has the power to move millions of people” —Mikhail Gorbachev”

With respect to Dolan O’Hagan (‘Political point scoring does a disservice to Máiria Cahill’, October 22) nobody doubts what Derry was like in the 1980s but most of the destruction of the city and its social order was wrought by the Provos.