My glass is half full.

Your newspaper’s coverage of the elections in the South was very good. But you had no coverage of the North’s elections.

Following the near annihilation of the Labour Party and the substantial losses suffered by Fine Gael in the recent elections we have heard commentator after commentator on the national media identify water charges, stealth taxes, medical cards, etc, as the reasons for the collapse.

Labour got what they deserved, FG should have got the same and SF/Ind/others capitalised from unhappy voters.

So, according to Enda, nobody could object to Alan Shatter giving his severance package of €70,000 to the Jack and Jill Foundation.

No doubt the cash windfall of the region of €70,000 donated to the Jack and Jill foundation by former Justice Minister Alan Shatter will be of significant assistance to this worthy charity.

The decision of former Justice Minister Alan Shatter to "donate" €70,000 from the taxpayer (his severance pay, inflated by incentives for charities) to his local Jack & Jill charity is obscene.

As a nation we appear to be excellent at subscribing to all manner of African drought, refugees, and victims of war, etc, but terribly remiss at the plight of our needy at home, such as the current escalation of the homelessness crisis.

I can remember a Leaving Cert student telling me, a first year, how he had been kicked out of a nightclub, where he was brought down a nearby alleyway and given a few slaps by the bouncers.

Our newly-elected councillors and MEPs have a duty to show political leadership on the issue of human trafficking for sexual exploitation which has brought organised crime to communities across Ireland.