I would like to point out to the economic gurus like Jim Power who support the household charge that Cork County Council has a range of charges for the various services they provide; for example, there is a charge for joining a library or calling out the fire brigade.

I thought that on the anniversary of the excommunication of Martin Luther it would be a good time for me to add my tupennyworth regarding the silencing of dissent amongst Irish clergy by the Vatican.

The deluge of ill-informed comment on the Catholic Church’s actions in holding the line on its core teaching shows no signs of abating.

It is ironic that 100 years ago the Titanic lay floundering in the North Atlantic, taking on water and sinking.

Many people don’t have money in their pockets to spend on anything after they pay their bills. How are they going to pay for a water meter?

In his letter (Apr 14)l John Riordan advances some ideas to which I might — as an octogenarian — be permitted to offer an alternative.

It was a disgrace that gardaí used pepper spray against protesters at the Labour Conference.

I read in disbelief that the Government are proposing recouping the cost of water meters by means of a standing charge added to our water bills.

Maurice Fitzgerald’s letter about the Labour Party (Apr 18) is an outrageous falsehood.

It looks like Joan Burton is the sole member of cabinet who does not have a Government death wish; everybody else is tripping over themselves to implement bad decisions, presumably at the instigation of the troika.