Your editorial (Sept 15) states: “Who would have believed that there are 7,800 charities in Ireland?”

It appears that ‘Smoked Salmon Socialism’ sums up the Labour Party’s attitude to our present economic difficulties.

What incredible impertinence from Peter Robinson in calling for the government to apologise for its ‘role’ in the emergence of the IRA.

I refer to Michael Clifford’s article ‘If the elderly can pay they should pay’ (Irish Examiner, Sept 15).

The recent cut of €12.5m to the HSE budget for homecare services has not been reversed.

Re Matt Cooper’s article (Sept 4) on oil and gas in Ireland disregarded the facts: there is no State ownership or State participation in oil and gas resources in Ireland — the commodity can and will be sold by the licence holders to whomever they wish and at market price.

In Jun 2010 the Government negotiated the Croke Park Agreement with the public sector trade unions.

I was not one bit surprised to read how Rory McIlroy might not play under the Irish flag.

One of the arguments against a value-based property tax is that it punishes a house owner who improves the value of their house by installing insulation, building an extension etc.

Michael McGrath TD says (with a straight face) that he believes his party, Fianna Fáil, were wrong to commit the State to introduce a property tax.