Letters to the Editor: Help needed for our returning diaspora

'Why is it so difficult for our young people to return home?

Sat, 13 Sep, 2025 - 01:00

The upcoming presidential election has brought a familiar focus to the Irish diaspora. We hear politicians extolling the virtues of those who have left our shores, celebrating their successes abroad. Yet, what about those who decide to come home? The reality for many is an uphill struggle, mired in unnecessary bureaucracy and a lack of tangible assistance. Their situation is often desperate and their hopes dashed.

My nephew recently returned from Australia after several years away. Longing for home called him back to the green pastures of rural Wexford. He had a job lined up in construction, a sector with a desperate need for skilled workers, given the housing crisis. However, his problems accumulated when he tried to have his driver’s licence reinstated on the National Driver Licence Service (NDLS).

Prior to coming home, he had already purchased a vehicle, as public transport is simply not a viable option in rural Ireland. For my nephew to take up gainful employment, he needs car insurance, which requires a valid Irish licence. It should be noted that he had a full, valid licence before leaving for Australia. In fact, it only took him 10 days to secure a driving licences in Perth by exchanging his Irish one. However, to reverse the procedure, the NDLS is requiring up to three months to carry out the very same task.

This beggars belief and leaves my nephew in an invidious position. He is unable to take up the employment he secured and contribute to the public purse. He will have no other option but to sign on for social welfare. This is just one of the many areas of difficulty he has encountered since his return. Getting a GP appointment to sign off on paperwork for the NDLS has been a nightmare. He finds the entire situation frustrating and flabbergasting.

Perhaps we have all become so used to this that we no longer see it as a problem, but it truly is. Why is it so difficult for our young people to return home? Why are the government parties so caught up in internal wranglings over this seemingly never-ending presidential election? The President often shines a light on the Irish diaspora, but it seems the State is happier when the diaspora stays away from home and does not return.

My nephew has reached out to public representatives, Government TDs, and ministers, but nobody seems willing or able to resolve his situation. It is truly shocking and disappointing. The Government parties really need to knuckle down and get back to work after their long summer recess, just like the rest of us have had to and like my nephew wants to!

Killian Brennan, Malahide Rd, Dublin 17

Much to admire about Gavin’s character

I believe Micheál Martin recognises the great leadership qualities and integrity of Jim Gavin and I commend both men for stepping up to ensure that Ireland has a great option to choose their next president. Jim Gavin exemplifies a life of service and volunteerism while displaying a quite unassuming demeanor, a quality that we once admired. I believe that the Irish electorate will now have the opportunity to meet the man who has succeeded in every great venture he tackled while always deflecting the glory to the team around him. Jim Gavin will be prepared and committed and is a worthy successor to Michael D Higgins.

John Devitt, Illinois, USA

Leave August to our great GAA clubs

Since the introduction of the GAA split season, there has been much debate. However, the proposal that the All-Ireland finals be extended into August is most concerning. This negatively impacts the start of the club championship.

The club scene is community based with a club in every parish. It has a broad connection with all ages in the community, at both a sporting and social level. The championship, of course, is the main event. The draw is followed with great interest, with promotion, relegation, and local rivalry all coming into play.

Owing to the split season, August has developed into a great month in the club calendar. Having multiple rounds of club championship in a summer month, with long evenings, fine weather, and good pitches, enables great games and broad family attendance compared to later in the year.

At present there are eight months allocated to the intercounty season to include training, league, and championship, including May, June, and July. Any changes to the intercounty season need to be done within the time already allocated to it. The best thing we can do for clubs is to give them quality time to play their championship. Let’s leave August to the clubs.

Danny O’Farrell, Watergrasshill, Co Cork

Greyhound racing has long since run out of track

Animal protection groups across Britain and Ireland are celebrating the news that Scotland is set to ban greyhound racing.

This welcome development comes shortly after New Zealand, Wales, and the Australian state of Tasmania pledged to end the sport. England will soon be the only part of the UK to permit greyhound racing.

In addition to ending the misery of dogs in those two jurisdictions, the Welsh and Scottish bans will severely affect the UK market for imported greyhounds. Ireland exports the majority of native racing dogs to Britain to supply the demand from its increasingly embattled greyhound industry.

While I don’t like to see anyone out of work, and would never take pleasure in the downfall of a business, I have to make an exception with this one.

If it were only a matter of dogs happily running around a track for a minute or two at a time, the sport would be as harmless as a dog chasing a ball or a balloon on a sandy beach.

Unfortunately, it is a deeply stressful, dangerous, and unnatural activity. Tens of thousands of dogs are raised for the track. Many of them never make it past a few weeks or months of life. Unwanted greyhounds are either culled or exported to non-animal welfare compliant jurisdictions. The ones that do make the grade in Ireland (and avoid getting exported to Britain) don’t have a happy time of it either. Injuries arising from track racing are commonplace, and invariably result in euthanasia.

To facilitate its profitable use in the industry a law was enacted to designate the greyhound as livestock.

This is an industry we can do without, and definitely not one to be propped up by the State, from which it receives a substantial annual subsidy. The figure for Budget 2025 was a generous €19.8m.

Do we have to wait until we are the last country in the world to allow this appalling, industrial scale maltreatment of man’s best friend?

England will almost certainly ban greyhound racing, possibly in the near future, as the momentum towards abolition there is unstoppable. Instead of waiting for that to happen, after which the industry here will no longer be viable with our export market gone, we should give our greyhounds a break.

Let’s rescue them from an industry that consumes and exploits them like a non-living raw material. It denies them what is a dog’s birthright: A place in the garden or on the couch.

John Fitzgerald, Callan, Co Kilkenny

Thomas Jefferson was right

Governments over the last four to six years have consistently said they would tackle the cost of living crisis. In the intervening period the cost has risen on average by 80 to 90% in utilities, while the standard basket of groceries by 30%, and on and on it goes. The definition of insanity is well known to this Government and its predecessor — just look at the housing crisis. But maybe the nation deserves what is happening, as a majority voted to return them.

Ronnie Houlihan, Dublin 18

Older people deserve dignified healthcare

I found Niamh Griffin’s article — ‘Huge amount of potentially dangerous illnesses in older people being missed’ — to be a rather stark and sad read.

We will all be old one day and if the health of elderly people today is not prioritised , then there is no future for this cohort in Ireland.

We learn from Ms Griffin’s piece that the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (Tilda) highlights the gaps in heart disease care for the elderly, along with major gaps in falls and fracture care, osteoporosis treatment, chronic pain, as well as mental health sources.

I would like to add that there are also other reports that delineate that the HSE has also failed some of our older people when it comes to elder abuse as well as safeguarding failures in care homes along with inadequate nursing home care and resourcing, and insufficient response to complaints and needs assessments. It’s well-documented that reports from organisations such as Social Justice Ireland and public complaints indicate a need for more support, funding, and better oversight to ensure the safety, dignity, and quality of life for older adults. It’s sobering to hear the HSE admitting that there is a huge amount of potentially dangerous illnesses in older people that are being missed or are not being adequately treated. The HSE must strive to develop a stratagem where the focus is on delivering a timely and integrated care across health and social services, including home care, day hospitals, and specialist geriatric services.

This has to involve thorough care needs assessments in order to understand individual needs, followed by the creation of personalised care plans. I believe key strategies must include enhancing community-based multidisciplinary teams as well as promoting older people’s independence at home.

The focus must also be on reducing hospital discharges and readmissions with a special emphasis on ensuring respectful and dignified treatment of these patients. When it comes to the vulnerabilities of age, patients deserve sympathetic oversight, not the turning of a blind eye.

John O’Brien, Clonmel, Co Tipperary

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