On Thursday, Jan 2, the banking hierarchy threatened customers in arrears with their mortgage repayments to voluntarily surrender possession of their homes and hand the keys back to the bank.

What are the real costs for a properly resourced Local Authority building control inspectorate? Let’s look at the cost of a straightforward system like the successful one operating in the UK.

I am a retired member of An Garda Síochána but in reference to your reportage on the case of the officers cleared of assault at the District Court in Cork (Irish Examiner, Jan 8, 2014) the matter of the officers’ legal costs not being met by the employer in this instance is an absolute disgrace, and will no doubt impact on the attitude of officers into the future who surely will think twice before acting on their employer’s behalf.

Twelve years ago, Ireland changed over from the punt to the euro. Today, the Central Bank continues to exchange old punts for euro (at face value).

It’s about time the judiciary had a wake-up call. A man who downloaded images of children being raped and sexually abused will be free to resume his depraved hobby in a couple of years.

May I make a comment re Limerick City of Culture, and thank all those positive people who will go forward and create a superb year of fun, art, culture, history, etc.

Apropos the front page Irish Examiner headline ‘Global Warming Winter Storms’, I should like to remind readers that weather systems are mainly driven by natural and geophysical phenomena and which in a cyclical manner over time may vary from moderate to extreme.

Humanists are often criticised for their lack of religious affiliation.

I must compliment the judge and state solicitor for dropping the case (Irish Examiner, Jan 8, 2014) in which two members of the gardaí were before the courts for a case in which a teenager admitted being the ringleader of a violent attack by a gang of youths.

David Whitehead quotes a study which says ‘no robust connection can be made between recent extreme weather and increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations’.