Letters to the Editor: Time to lift restrictions on religious services

It is past time for the Government to lift their oppressive and discriminatory restrictions on religious services, as there is no rational reason for them.

The parish priests around the country fully complied at the outset of the restrictions with the taping off of pews and the placing of seating indicators so that social distancing complied with all the rules.

Moreover, they recruited parishioners as stewards to ensure that the permitted numbers attending Mass were not exceeded. At Christmas, tickets for Masses were issued and the priests said additional Masses so that everyone was accommodated.

At all Masses, including weekday ones, parishioners invariably came in quietly, went to their seats, only moved to kneel and stand as appropriate and received Holy Communion, while social distancing, and left the church without mixing.

Meanwhile, the supermarket car parks are full of customers’ cars, and the numbers inside, between staff and customers, exceeds for most of the day, the numbers in any church. The aisles are busy all the time, at the checkouts both customers and assistants constantly handling the goods and and money.

Ireland and Slovenia are the only countries in Europe to impose this prejudicial denial of religious freedom. I appreciate that those making the regulations may not be churchgoers and therefore may have no experience of the public safety rule adherence.

I frequently watch streamed Masses from the UK and note that there is a congregation at every Mass, all at ease with the rules.

Your correspondent, Jimmy Carroll, (March 25) is not the only one to see the connection of this Government with the bigotry of Cromwell in the treatment of the Christian churches, as he included the Presbyterians in his penal laws. I note that the initial proposal to lift restrictions was to be Easter Monday, pointedly ignoring that the holiest week in the Church calendar lists Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday as the most important holy days. So fun was to be allowed within 12 hours of blocking Christians from observing their religious duties. This is blatant discrimination.

Online is not reality. I note that the Government, at the start of this lockdown, announced that “religious services go online”. They have no authority whatsoever to determine how the various churches cater for the needs of their congregations outside the pandemic restrictions. This authority belongs to the bishops and leaders of churches. The area between democracy and dictatorship should not be breached.

Dr Mairead E Mac Conaill

Durrus,

Co Cork

Church: There can be no exceptions

I do not understand the current narrative of people pushing to open the churches for Easter. Covid cases currently appear to be on the rise. 

Why do those calling for churches to open think that they should be allowed an exception? Part of the ceremony of mass literally entails sharing food and drink with other people.

I wish to echo John Williams’ (Food for thought, Letters, March 23) succinct response to previous letters, “Not everyone is a Catholic and not every non-Catholic believes the Eucharist sustains the faithful. Food from the supermarket, however, sustains even atheists”. There are very good reasons why some places are open and others are not. 

I’m not allowed to visit my family or my neighbour; let’s focus on reaching those goals before we talk about opening sites of worships.

Ben Ryan

Dungarvan,

Co Waterford

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RTÉ prodding a hornets’ nest

It appears Claire Byrne’s reunification debate on Monday last (RTÉ 1) was to make good television rather than good politics.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar on Claire Byrne Live.

 Such uniformity of purpose, rare in Irish politics, brings “prodding a hornets’ nest” to mind especially at a time when unionists feel their identity and political sensitivities are already stretched to breaking. 

If a spirit of reconciliation was intended, telling them that regardless of what they think or want, a referendum will inevitably decide on a United Ireland, is not quite what they need to hear at this moment.

Pádraic Neary

Tubbercurry,

Co Sligo

We need plan for living with Covid

I’m surprised there is surprise about the rise in Covid cases. After all, the UK strain, the reopening of schools, and the apparent increase in community transmissions are obvious reasons for this increase.

What doesn’t surprise me is the apparent lack of focus on the reduction in Covid-related hospital admissions, the reduction in infection among those lucky enough to be vaccinated and the acknowledgment by Government that we must live with Covid for some time to come.

After all, it seems to be forgotten that 80% of those who contract Covid will get a mild dose, with the remaining 20% either vaccinated, at the front of that queue and, one presumes, able to take care of their own vulnerability.

In this context, we need a clear plan for living with Covid. To date, we don’t have one that gives realistic hope.

Planning is about setting achievable targets in the context of realistic variables. The adage ‘think big, start small’ comes to mind. Hard to do, when mixed messages through the media are confused, give false hope and are not coherently expressed.

I sincerely hope that the Government sets out a clear, stepped-out plan of action that gives us all hope, so that we can live with Covid outside of the bubble, we’re all in.

Joe Harrison

Spanish Point

Co Clare

We can’t ignore nuclear energy

As your political editor Daniel McConnell pointed out this week, the Government has committed us to provision of 70% of our electricity through renewable energy, mainly wind, by 2030.

 ‘Renewable’ energy seems to have become a synonym for sustainable or zero carbon allowing a complete negation of nuclear energy, which is not renewable just as low-carbon.

We should not be talking about a comparison between renewables and nuclear; they have different parts to play in an efficient, low-carbon, reliable electricity system. Wind and solar are not ‘on demand’; they are irregular and unreliable. 

This would seem the obvious answer to our energy problems but for the complete refusal of our Government to allow, let alone encourage, a national discussion of all low-carbon options and the two recent legal barriers to developing nuclear power in Ireland (Planning and Development Act, 2006 and the Electricity Regulation Act, 1999). 

Nuclear should take the low-carbon, base-load position, replacing high-carbon natural gas in support of wind and solar and allowing us to achieve our low emissions targets. 

The only thorough consideration of a proportion of nuclear energy in Ireland’s energy system is now online at 18for0.ie to be provided through one of several small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) by the early 2030s.

Anne Baily

Carrick-on-Suir,

Co Tipperary

Doctors’ deal wasn’t private

I am puzzled by Daniel McConnell’s assertion, Irish Examiner, Thursday, March 25, that when Tánaiste Leo Varadkar “sought clarity as to when the [pay agreement with the doctors’ union] document would be published, [it] thereby confirmed it was a private document”.

 Surely, since we are a democratic republic, a deal done to pay contractors with the public’s money ought to be published and not kept secret from citizens? 

Keeping it secret does not make it a private document. This is another example of Minister Simon Harris exercising no political authority, other than sticking like a leech to his public servants’ culture of keeping all secret when possible.

John Colgan

Leixlip,

Co Kildare

An agreement must be kept

In his Irish Examiner article of March 25 Daniel McConnell tells us that ‘Ireland stands to lose’ in the vaccine row with the UK. With respect in this latest row with the UK, which succeeds centuries of previous rows, the point is not that Ireland will lose. The point is that when an agreement is signed, it should be kept. When a vaccine agreement with the UK was signed, it was kept.

When an agreement with the EU was signed, it was not kept.

Any future negotiations and all current agreements should be honoured. Otherwise there is no future for any of us.

Anthony Leavy

Sutton,

Dublin 13

Come on parents, mask up

We all have listened to experts who applaud the benefits of wearing masks. 

In fact most experts state clearly the necessity of wearing one. Yet as I watch parents walk their kids home from school, I notice the vast majority have decided, for whatever reason, not to wear one. I see some wearing masks as they wait for the kids to come out and then after collection immediately put them in their pockets or bag. Why? I again ask, is it not cool? Are they all unbelievers? I would ask teachers to take the lead in this. Now that kids are mostly back at school, I ask them to ask the kids to implore their parents to wear them.

Desmond Murphy,

Douglas,

Cork