Your letters, your views...

Your letters, your views.

Have you ever noticed that when politicians or economists want the Central Bank to become involved in the housing/mortgage market they call on them to “intervene” but when they don’t want the bank to become involved they warn them not to “interfere”!

Oh no! Oh horror! Oh woe is me! Answer me, the question — which in all the column inches about Brexit has never been asked let alone answered — if Britain exits the EU is it still eligible to enter the Eurovision?

Nothing illustrates how selective we can be on the question of 1916 than the following story which is, apparently, quite true.

Given that those who paid the water charges are unlikely to get their money back, how about the €100 they were to get from the Department of Social protection?

I have great respect for people like Feargal Quinn and John Crown who have used the Seanad for progressive legislation. 

I have, on occasion, pulled the leg of an American friend asking “How on Earth could you elect George W Bush — twice?”

With the Six Nations having started, can anyone tell me what advantage it is to Irish rugby to have a policy that any Irish player playing for a club outside Ireland will not be selected for the Irish rugby team?

The wisdom of Marian Richardson’s advice (Irish Examiner, Weekend, January 9) — “The piece of advice I would like to pass onto the next generation is that nobody is looking at you.

As I was learning to drive, many years ago, I passed a group of girls. Naturally I looked in the rear view mirror to see if they had noticed me, macho man, driving a car, which led my instructor to snap: “Stop looking back, you’re going this way.”

I have just received a form from the local authority to complete so as to be included on the register of voters.

Bertie Ahern’s claim that “when I handed over, we were in a good position” must surely stand alongside the case of the man who set a delayed action-incendiary device on his premises, before locking up and going home, only to later tell the insurance company, “when I left to go home yesterday evening, everything was fine.”

With regard to Fianna Fáil’s bill on variable rate mortgages the following should be noted. They are not proposing that the Central Bank should intervene ( not interfere which has connotations of sticking your nose in where you shouldn’t) on the question of variable rate mortgages.

It may be a lot of money to you and me but in the context of the NAMA property sale in Northern Ireland €7 million is peanuts. The basic questions which must be put to NAMA are:

It’s Sunday evening. I’m listening to RTÉ’s Marty Morrissy on the radio interviewing a member of the victorious Westmeath team.

There are two sides to the argument about smacking children, but the most positive thing to say about the debate is that it provides the perfect context in which to point out a fundamental truth. Political correctness is a form of bullying!

First, we had the Ian Bailey case going on for far too long, because the judge felt (I am not blaming him) that, in line with court procedures, he could not be proactive and rule out matters that were statute-barred.

Riddle me this.

That an Irish woman is to be the first female Vice-Chancellor of Oxford brings back memories of the battle women had to be allowed to even enter Oxford or Cambridge.

Congratulations to all those young people who not alone voted but canvassed, on whatever side, for the referendums last Saturday.

I have no problem with accepting a certain number of refugees into Ireland but first things first. We already have a large number of people who came into Ireland and were to be processed under a 90-day system.

Being the simple chap that I am, could you please riddle me this?

Noticably absent from proposals to reform the Seanad is its use as a stepping stone to the Dáil, a consolation prize for those who have been rejected by the electorate in elections.

It is not for me to tell you what should appear in your paper. 

A. Trevor Hodge writes about what the Romans considered one of the greatest glories of their civilisation: aqueducts and water supply.

Though I am in no way party political, the electorate were quite right to give Fianna Fáil a right good kicking in the last election.

My dealings with the legal profession have been most satisfactory, so I have no axe to grind. That said, is it not time that we, the citizens, through our elected representatives, insisted on intervening — not interfering, but intervening — in the cosy game that is played out in our courts?

What is RTÉ at? Love him or hate him George Hook is one of the most original pundits on RTÉ. He has a contract to continue up to the end of the Rugby World Cup for which they must pay him, but RTÉ has decided he must go now.

The 50th anniversary of Winston Churchill’s death has, predictably, generated many articles including one by a journalist who tried to equal Churchill’s daily intake of booze, cigars, etc only to stagger to unsteady defeat.

Well, we have grown up, even if it did take much longer than it should have. Now, can Leo go on to be the first openly gay party leader or even taoiseach?

The Central Bank is quite right to try to prevent house buyers from being stampeded into buying houses at crazy prices.

The return to popularity of the po under the bed in order to save water, as predicted by so many, may have one positive consequence