Fr McVerry’s work with homeless youth in Dublin’s inner city is highly valued and rightly so. However, he has become blinded by his righteous anger at the injustice of neglect to vulnerable and homeless people there.

RTÉ and water protesters feed off each other. 

I refer to Ann Cahill’s article (Irish Examiner, September 17) concerning a report from the European Court of Auditors entitled ‘EU has ‘wasted’ €500m on fish farms’.

We need the behaviour of the Central Remedial Clinic Board to be examined and blame laid where it should be.

I would like you to consider the Appeals Court referendum and what it might mean for Irish homeowners in arrears.

The Taoiseach was asked on RTÉ radio whether or not the Fine Gael party would survive the difficulties in government. He said the Fine Gael brand was strong and would survive.

In the 1960s, I worked as a midwife and paediatric nurse in England, before the days of prenatal screening and David Steel’s Abortion Act of 1967.

I disagree with the letter (‘Financial emergency is on our own soil’, Jun 6), which sets up a choice between the needs of Ireland’s sick and those of the poorest people in the world.

Reluctant as I am to publicly criticise fellow journalists, I am making an exception for your recent article ‘Depressing truth about treating depression in the young’ (Apr 3).

The silencing of Fr Tony Flannery (Irish Examiner, Thursday, Jan 24) brings to mind another who spent a lifetime pursuing independent thought and conscience in defiance of the Catholic Church – Galileo.

The expert group on abortion refers to the ‘chilling effect’ of the 1861 Act that prohibits abortion. Surely it is necessary for any law against taking innocent life to have such a chilling effect. Otherwise, the law would not be a robust deterrent.

In the news today we often hear of the importance of women in business, but what of times past?

I am researching the Irishman, Francis Tumblety, born near Dublin circa 1830, who in later life became one of the chief suspects in the Jack the Ripper case in Whitechapel 1888.

Will those who have decided not to pay the household charge be waiving their right to assistance from the ESB, Bord Gáis or the water mains local authority if there is a problem with the supply of these services into their homes?

Rather than the scrapping of Transition Year to become a year of community service, as proposed by Friends of the Elderly, perhaps the smarter option would be to increase the number of community service hours for each Transition Year student.

Minister Gilmore claims the €800,000 annual costs of keeping the Vatican Embassy open were not justifiable.

TWEAKING particular sections in the Leaving Certificate curriculum in isolation from the full range of subjects and cross-curricular development is a poor micro solution to a macro problem.

YOUR two page special investigation (Keeping the Faith, June 24) continues to roll out the 40-year myth which should never have happened.

IT IS difficult to understand how a man of such enormous energy, charisma and personal magnetism as Barack Obama, billed as “the most powerful man in the world”, is unable to overcome the malign forces pitted against him in his own country.

FORCING students to “study” Irish up to Leaving Cert level is unfair and does little to revive the language in so far as the majority of the students are involved.

IN a recent editorial (Jan 28) you rightly highlight the need for community action against suicide.

THE government has let us down badly — and we have taken action. The banks and the developers have let us down — and we have taken action. The regulator has let us down — and we have taken action.

THREE months ago my father suffered heart failure on the morning of my wedding in a remote spot in west Cork, an hour before we were due to walk up the aisle together.

CREDITORS of the Icelandic Landsbanki bank will get very little return on their investments after preferential shareholders are dealt with.

ON his recent visit to Haiti, Minister for Overseas Development Peter Power was visibly moved by the terrible conditions that still prevail six months after the earthquake.

HOW refreshing it was to see Graeme McDowell deliver the patience and mental strength needed to become the first-ever Irish golfer to win the US Open championship.

IN recent weeks we have been fed the musings, thoughts, opinions and recommendations of, dare I say, three wise women — Lisa Miller, Newsweek’s religion editor (April 8);, Ann Woolner, Bloomberg columinist (April 12) and Fiona Ehlers’ major article of April 17.

YOUR editorial (March 22) suggests Pope Benedict blamed the secularisation of society for the child abuse crisis. He did no such thing.

MUCH media coverage recently has been dedicated to the pointless political stunt of abolishing Seanad Éireann. This is a stunt which would not meaningfully help the public finances or genuinely reform politics.

IN his letter (September 21), John O’Driscoll urges us for Ireland’s sake to resist the temptation to “take it out on the rotten assembly in Leinster House” by rejecting the Lisbon Treaty.

While the financial world is on a rollercoaster, as confidence peaks and dips, in the developing world anxieties are not about solvency but survival.

YOUR report headlined ‘Calls to review British ownership of lighthouse’ presented some interesting ‘facts’ (March 4).

THE Government must support to the stance taken by the pro-democracy monks in Burma and the international community must not let these brave people stand alone.

IT is with some incredulity I note that, some 30 years too late, someone is finally being brought to task for the horrific crimes committed in Cambodia during the reign of Pol Pot.

NORCOTT Roberts (Irish Examiner, March 6) states that he wants a yes or no answer to his question about emissions and ash from our proposed incinerator in Ringaskiddy.

THE maximum tax penalty against single income families has just been increased in the Budget from €5,503 per annum to €6,190 per annum.

WE would be grateful for the opportunity to clarify a claim made by Mary Fitzgerald in her letter (Irish Examiner, December 9).

I WISH Sinn Féin and the IRA would consider decommissioning in the context of the wishes of the Irish people and our constitution rather than in the context of concessions to the DUP.