The concerns expressed by Paul Lawton (Letters, Nov 18), on the treatment of outbreaks of amoebic gill disease at fish farms once again highlights the hazards associated with fish farming in a captive and artificially controlled environment.

We are every day over-exposed to fluoride if we brush our teeth twice daily with fluoridated toothpaste and drink fluoridated Irish water.

At last — an official State visit by the Irish head of State to Britain next year. How incredible it is that it has taken almost 100 years for it to happen. The public will want to know why it has taken so long for everybody to bury their pride and get along.

Re the bodies of people shot as ‘informers’ and ‘disappeared’ by the IRA in the 1970s during the Northern conflict.

Wonder of wonders, Fergus Finlay is acclaiming the departure of the Troika as an achievement of Government, and wonder of wonders, he blames Fianna Fáil for all our economic woes, and, oddly enough, I disagree with him — not on his broad assessments, but on the subtle context in which he places his political prejudices.

Re Áilín Quinlan’s article on the JFK/Collins connection: Rose Kennedy’s mother was Mary Josephine Hannan (1865-1964), daughter of Michael Hannan (1832-1900), from Lough Gur, and Mary Ann Fitzgerald (1832-1904), daughter of Edmund Fitzgerald (1798-1883) and Mary Linehan (d. 1833) of Bruff.

The argument for an All Ireland soccer team has a long history. In the 1930s and well into the late 1940s and early 1950s, Northern Ireland selected players from the south.

I refer to the recent, article relating to Taxi Driver’s Rights written by Paul Mills concerning defined pension schemes enjoyed by particular sections of society and I quote “most of the defined pension schemes have collapsed and with it any chance we might have of getting the pension we worked so hard for.

Last days of Roman Empire update: Ireland exits troika package and is now back in the markets.

Regarding the Government’s proposed abolition of all of the country’s town councils, I believe abolition is no substitute for reform. The Putting People First document is in fact putting people last and is a move away from the present model of local government to a centralised system.