The flaccid, complacent character of the Siptu press conference on Mar 14 advocating support for the proposals set out in the proposed public sector agreement would imply that enthusiasm among trade union members is not broadly based and that, where it exists, support for pay cuts and longer working hours is somewhat less than galeforce in its intensity.

Is the labelling of farmed salmon “organic” a market ploy to hoodwink consumers?

Fair is fair, but I disagree with the view of the writer that RTÉ are pro-Catholic and that they were biased (Letters, Mar 15) in their coverage of the election of the new Pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, in the Vatican on Wednesday, Mar 13.

A Leavy (Letters, Mar 14) would do well to remember a few facts.

The view in your editorial (Throwing good money after bad? Mar 13) is built on the supposed fact “that we spend something around €1bn a year just teaching Irish.”

I do not know where Eric Conway (Letters Mar 13) got his figure of a 15 million increase in Catholic numbers last year and, more wonderfully, he ascribed this mythical increase to Emeritus Pope Benedict’s reign.

The election of Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio to the papacy is great news.

Putting pen to paper frustrates me at times, especially when I read comments from Eamon Gilmore and Enda Kenny talking of slow progress.

Your Editorial (Mar 13) accepts that 1.8% of us use Irish everyday and 1.7 million of us can speak Irish.

It would be helpful if Senator John Crown were to state unequivocally where he stands on the Seanad issue.