THE Green party has worked very hard to ensure the passage of the stag hunt bill so that these animals might avoid stress.

IN his column (March 3), Steven King attempts to justify the assassination of Mahmoud Mabhouh — ” a man who lived by terrorism”.

I THOUGHT I was looking at a script of an unaired episode of Father Ted when I read that Bishop Denis Brennan wants parishioners to pay remaining monies owed as a result of compensation claims for sexual abuse in the diocese of Ferns.

THE Oireachtas needs total reformation as we have 166 TDs representing approximately 4.2 million people, ie, one TD for every 25,000 citizens. Britain has 646 MPs for a population of about 60 million, ie, one MP for every 95,000 people. The Irish taxpayer incurs huge expense in salaries and overheads for so many TDs.

MOST of us know who Charles Darwin was, what he did and, more importantly, what he thought.

THE letter from Ted Neville (‘Hard on the ear’, May 11) prompts me to air my own grievance, which is the soft ‘T’.

HOW can we believe Michael O’Leary’s claim that he would recognise unions at Aer Lingus when he has steadfastly refused to do so in his own company for years?

A LEAVING Cert business class would have drafted a more innovative budget than our Government.

ANY decent democratic state should cherish all of its citizens regardless of age or health status.

OUR Government is completely out of touch. The Spanish economy is in a similar state but their prime minister recently called his government back from summer holidays early in order to deal with their problems.

I NOTED with interest the recent announcement that the Mercy and South Infirmary hospitals in Cork are to amalgamate into one new hospital, the location of which is still to be decided.

JUSTICE Minister Brian Lenihan stated at recent memorial Mass for the victims of violence that the country’s murder/crime rate was statistically low when compared with the European average.

I NOTE from recent reports that Cork City Council is expecting a windfall in development fees.

LAST Thursday I went for a walk on a beach near Kinsale.

ARRIVING in Dublin at 11.30am on the Sunday morning of the All-Ireland hurling semi-final between Cork and Waterford, our plan was to have a few drinks, a quick bite to eat and head to Croke Park early to catch the end of the minor game.

SERIOUS crime has increased significantly since Veronica Guerin was murdered 10 years ago. No statistical juggling can hide this.

YOUR feature on nursing homes, headlined ‘No end to an age-old problem’ (Irish Examiner, May 29), proves there is no end to the age-old problem in journalism — never let the facts get in the way of a good story, and particularly a bad story.

THE Taoiseach has criticised a decision by a number of EU countries to keep their doors closed to workers from new accession states as not ‘forward looking’.

CONGRATULATIONS on the wonderful picture of two young skateboarders enjoying themselves in the heart of Cork city (Irish Examiner, August 11).

YOUR columnist Fergus Finlay engaged in a highly implausible fantasy in his column (Irish Examiner, August 2).

WE are told that a national day of mourning is too expensive.

DONAL HICKEY, in his report on planning controversies over caravan parks in Castlegregory, Co Kerry, says there are moves to build two golf courses on 740 acres of a sandy peninsula there (Irish Examiner, October 5).