How sad to hear the last sea fisherman (Conor O’Drisceoil) on Cape Clear is giving up.

The situation in Ukraine and Crimea is now fraught with danger. If violent conflict occurs the people of Ukraine and Crimea could once again suffer catastrophically, having suffered more than any other European country under Stalin and Hitler.

Even though in his speech to the Fine Gael Árd Fheis last weekend, Enda Kenny was quite certain that there is no alternative to Universal Health Care, (how often have we been told there is no alternative only to find out too late that there was and it was a better alternative), he might like to be informed about a recent milestone.

I was horrified to read about the thousands of people slowly starving to death in Yarmouk Camp in Syria, (Irish Examiner, March 1).

In previous letters I have been pointing out how wildly inaccurate the predictions of weather “guru” Ken Ring have turned out to be. Now that we’re in early spring, let us consider how his forecasts over the last few months have stood up.

It is with deep disappointment I witness the unfortunate course the government has taken with the GSOC and whistle blower controversies.

Following in the subservient footsteps of Enda Kenny and Michael Noonan, the academics at UCC have decided, inexplicably, to bend the knee and touch the cap to Jose Manuel Borroso, president of the EU commission, at a lavish ceremony to be held shortly in Cork.

Another long trip to the Irish Parliament in Kildare Street, in a last-gasp bid to save the rural post office.

May I just refer to a very worrying, and in my opinion, dangerous organisation called “Pure in Heart”, going around the country giving sex education talks in schools, using scare tactics like sellotaping teens’ wrists together before ripping the dirty tape off — to signify the importance of sexual abstinence.

I agree with Phil Prendergast, MEP, regarding the conferring of an honorary doctorate on Jose Manuel Barroso by UCC.