I appreciate that we are living through difficult times, with difficult decisions to be made. But the Government should not allow the salary travesty for the secretary-general of the Department of Health to proceed.
By doing so, it is sending out the clear and unambiguous message that the job that Robert Watt does is equivalent to and actually more important than that of the prime minister of Britain. Based on the remuneration package, it is more important than our own taoiseach.
Does the Government truly think that no one else could do the job as secretary-general of the Department of Health? Has it no faith in our educational system? Has it no faith in the competence of the Irish people?
It says âthe current pay packets are barriers to recruitment of suitable candidatesâ. Seriously?
What reality does our Government inhabit? We are a country of 4.9m. We are lurching from crisis to crisis. We are finally emerging from the worldâs second-longest most severe lockdown. People have lost jobs, they have taken their own lives, businesses have closed. We are walking into an economic meltdown post-Covid-19, yet the Government believe that the âcurrent pay packets are barriers to recruitment of suitable candidatesâ â hence the salary figure of âŹ292,000.
Surely the role of the Taoiseach is to govern for the good of the Irish people? Has he forgotten this basic responsibility of his office?
He should read the Irish Proclamation where it says that âthe Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all the children of the nation equallyâ.
Is the Taoiseach really governing to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation? Or is it just the prosperity of the few?
It seems that partisanship is alive and well and thriving in Irish politics.
Dr A Brennan
Athenry
Co Galway
Why should I pay my licence fee?
On the morning of March 31, the airwaves fell silent as RTĂ switched off its digital audio broadcasting (DAB) radio signal. This action by RTĂ has deprived many radio listeners of stations that had been available for many years.
I do not accept that a lot of people were not listening to DAB. That was the response I got from RTĂ. The simple fact is that many people are now deprived of digital radio services in Ireland.
There should be a national campaign to get this service restored. After all, the Government pumped a few million euro into RTĂ only a few months ago.
Has the minister for communications been informed of the decision to withdraw DAB services in Ireland? Has he approved this decision by RTĂ? Does he even know about this? If he does not know, he should be informed and direct RTĂ to restore DAB services immediately.
As far as I know, some of the TV licence revenues pay for the radio transmission network, I always pay my TV licence in full and always on time. My understanding is that by paying for my TV licence, this forms a contract or agreement with RTĂ to provide uninterrupted TV and radio services including DAB.
As DAB has now been withdrawn, RTĂ has broken this contract to maintain a DAB service so as a TV licence payer, I will have great difficulty in paying for my licence in the future, regardless of what action is taken against me.
Noel OâLeary
Richmond Hill
Cork
We need to kick this to touch
Iâm a rugby fan who has watched and attended Heineken matches since the competition was founded, except for this year. This is the very first year I have failed to do so. Why? Because I have failed to purchase BT Sports.
I have tried, boy, have I tried. This morning I received an email from BT Sports to say they have sold the rights to view in Ireland to Eir. I had already tried to contact them as it is Eir I have all services from. But trying to contact Eir is almost impossible.
But having said this, the responsibility must rest with the RFU. They just put out the lĂĄimh and took the cash. I know that as the supplier of cash to professional players, this has to come from somewhere, but it also needs to be taken with responsibility. Quite frankly I am mad and Iâm surprised thereâs not rioting in the streets.
Desmond Murphy
Douglas
Cork
We need more Covid compassion
How many more people will die alone? How many more people will be unable to get home to seriously ill and dying relatives?
Will grandchildren and great-grandchildren be able to see their elderly relatives again in nursing homes?
There has to be more compassion and a more practical outlook to overcome the situations people are facing every day during these restrictions.
Susan Burke
Cahir
Co Tipperary
AstraZeneca and the vaccine rollout
Over the past few weeks, governments across Europe have been playing a confusing game in approving and withdrawing approval for the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Is Ireland finally on course to get the vaccine rollout on track at last?
Four million jabs in three months to cover the whole population is hardly enough but it will make a difference by protecting those most at risk.
Hopefully, economic activity will rise and we will get back on track to having a functioning society once more providing we use the right vaccine
.
Noel Harrington
Kinsale
Co Cork
Opening up will not help lockdown
Itâs shocking that people in the UK are now allowed into salons, cafes and bars. Even if people can enjoy drinks and food outside, Covid will circulate among those who are yet to be vaccinated. The bulk of these socialites will be young, so they are still awaiting vaccination.
When people are allowed this premature freedom, they will visit friends.
While Iâm neither a medical expert nor a âkilljoyâ I have to strongly disagree with this dangerous decision, which will lead to an even longer lockdown.
Dr Florence Craven
Bracknagh
Co Offaly
Reinstate policing recruitment policy
As part of the Good Friday Agreement, an Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland (the Patten Commission) was set up and the RUC was replaced by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
The Patten Report recommended 175 changes to policing. It seemed that the northern state, which had been policed without the consent of almost half its population since partition, would take its place in a new socially and politically homogenous society. The old police accountability which consisted of the Northern Ireland Office, the Police Authority and civil servants had been replaced by an elected Police Board, District Police Partnership Board, a Complaints Tribunal and Police Ombudsman.
This equality of policing wasnât evident during the recent street protests in Belfast which saw dozens of PSNI officers injured, communities terrorised and widespread damage to public and private property.
Despite seven consecutive nights of loyalist rioting the PSNI policed the situation without resorting to the use of water cannon, yet when nationalists gathered at the Springfield Road/Lanark Way interface to prevent loyalist incursion, water cannons were deployed against nationalists.
The 50:50 recruitment policy which was recommended by Patten to make the police service representative of the entire community, was ended in 2011. This policy of recruitment recommended should be reinstated.
Tom Cooper
Templeville Road
Dublin 6
Pointing blame in wrong direction?
Everyone is pointing the finger and blaming each other for the violence in Belfast. Mary McAleese has said unionist youths are âliving in a vacuumâ â whatever thatâs supposed to mean.
Politicians and police chiefs have asked those with âinfluenceâ to calm the situation.
No one has mentioned the elephant in the room, the so-called British âintelligence servicesâ.
Thanks to trojan work down through the years by Relatives For Justice and the Pat Finucane Centre we now know that unionist paramilitaries have always been (and still are) directed and supported by the âintelligence servicesâ.
Itâs no big secret anymore and in Sandhurst, the likes of the UDA/UVF/LVF, etc, are known as âindigenous counter-insurgency forcesâ.
There is no doubt that the âhidden handâ of âBritish intelligenceâ is pulling the strings from head office in Vauxhall, London, and Palace Barracks, Co Down.
Michael O Flynn
Friars Walk
Cork
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