The recent closure of the emergency department at the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital is reflective of the current Government’s evident disdain for the communities they purport to serve.

While shopping with my three young daughters in town on Saturday we were confronted with the sight of the naked bike ride at 3pm on a weekend afternoon in the middle of Cork City.

The good working relationship between my father and President Reagan is well documented, as is the President’s intervention with Prime Minister Thatcher in 1984 to get the Anglo-Irish talks back on track.

The bad weather we are having does have a positive side.

Central to recent reports on the issue of child protection are proposals to change the law and the Constitution.

The letter headlined “Rogue Nations” (Jul 26) is completely wrong to state that “Iran has not gone to war against another nation”.

I remember at the time the household charge was announced some people were calling on the Government to increase income tax.

Was it a coincidence that the Croagh Patrick pilgrimage was down 5,000 souls this year and that a march in Cavan, for Seán Quinn, had an estimated attendance of 5,000?

I read with disgust the letter you printed by Mr Tierney (Jul 26) which used the tragic murder of a dozen people by a mentally disturbed individual in the US as a justification for an attack on the good name of over 200,000 people in Ireland.

As the debate on abortion progresses, we, Catholic people of Ireland, need to take stock and decide how we cope with what confronts us.