Letters to the Editor: Talented people with sight loss suffer stunted work openings

Creating and sustaining a culture of inclusion in the workforce for the vision impaired is not only the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do.

The right to work is something we hold dear in Ireland but is that right held by everyone in the same way? I would argue it is not. Currently, only 24% of people who are blind or vision impaired in Ireland are active in the labour market which is poor by international standards. It means the many talented people living with sight loss have their talents and their opportunities stunted either due to employer misconceptions, inaccessible processes and/or poor Government policy.

Fundamentally, we know employment is important for much more than just financial stability, it can boost your self-esteem, your health and happiness. It is a crucial element to maintaining a person’s independence, yet so many talented and qualified people who are blind or vision impaired are not getting the opportunities.

Our society and economy needs to recognise that we are losing out on the potential and skills that people who are blind and vision-impaired can bring to the table.

On Wednesday, An Tánaiste Leo Varadkar launched the NCBI Seeing Your Career Report which includes clear recommendations that, if implemented would see the employment rate increase.

One of these include the rollout of a person-centred fund to support people with sight loss to access technology that they can take with them throughout their career rather than the current employer-funded system, others focus on challenging misconceptions and ensuring fully accessible recruitment practices.

A Guide for Employers outlining current supports and tips when hiring someone with sight loss was also published, along with a Guide for Jobseekers to help them on their career path.

Creating and sustaining a culture of inclusion in the workforce is not only the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do.

June Tinsley

NCBI Head of Advocacy and Communications

Influence of a good teacher is priceless

Richard Hudson believes teachers here are paid too much (Irish Examiner, Letters, October 31). He must have missed the feature on hotelier John Brennan in the Irish Examiner ‘Weekend’ magazine on October 23.

Me Brennan struggled in school due to dyslexia until West Cork-born teacher Finbar O’Driscoll rescued him. “Finbar was a teacher as opposed to someone who simply delivered the curriculum. He clearly viewed teaching as the art of connecting with the young people who populated his classroom as opposed to force-feeding them standardised lessons laid down by the Department of Education. He made it possible for me to have the life I have.”

Columnist Louise O’Neill has recently written about the long hours her mother, two aunts and her sister worked as teachers correcting homework in the evenings, etc   (Irish Examiner, October 9).

“A great teacher can inspire a person to go beyond what they ever thought was possible,” wrote Louise.

Teachers are the biggest influence during our formative years after parents/guardians and they have one of the most important jobs in any society.

Michael O’Flynn

Friars Walk

Cork

Yes minister, you’re giving our land away

I find it very difficult to believe Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien when he says that “he is committed to providing public affordable homes on public land” when a 43-acre site with the potential for 2,600 homes owned by Dublin County Council is being sold to a property developer for €14 million when its estimated value is €70m.

The above is just a small part of an excellent article written by Rory Hearne an Assistant Professor of Applied Social Studies at Maynooth University (Irish Examiner, November 1). I suggest that Mr O’Brien should read and take careful note of the said article, and perhaps he might then drastically change the failed housing policies of both himself and many other housing ministers of the recent past.

Liam Burke

Dunmore

Co Kilkenny

Eco-friendly, sure, costly you mean

What’s it all about this Cop26 meeting of country’s leaders? With their dozens of security men, armour-plated cars, dozens of helicopters and planes of all sizes pumping out Co2 akin to the 500 active volcanoes in the world today?

Most, if not all, the leaders at the Cop26 get-together in Glasgow are capitalists, they are hell-bent on the notion of unconstrained economic growth, coupled with ongoing technological advances in wind energy, solar panels and a whole range of other profit-led ventures.

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Are these pretend eco-friendly inventions meant to make life easier for the ordinary person? Not a hope, because look out your window and you may be able to see the huge blades of a nearby wind farm rotating in the wind. 

But does it make your electricity bill cheaper, of course not — electricity has increased five-fold because wind farms and solar panelling are investor-led instead of being public led which decree those profits are the be-all and end-all of such developments.

It’s no different than the selling of “state land on the cheap” to developers.

James Woods

Gort an Choirce

Dún na nGall

Protestors raise awareness of the climate crisis at the Glasgowr the Cop26 summit. 

Climate changes are all about the cost

Taoiseach Micheál Martin told the Cop26 conference that Ireland “is ready to play its part” in the climate-change caper.

I don’t know about that now, Micheál, so give me a bit of time to think about it first, before I give my go-ahead for your plan.

What’s in it for me, like, first and foremost? And will the government let me have, say, around €65,000 so that I can change my diesel car for one of the new magical electric ones powered by love and gentleness? Otherwise, I’m fine as I am. Thanks.

Robert Sullivan

Bantry

Co Cork

Everyone must rise to climate challenge

At Cop26 the Taoiseach accepted Ireland’s emissions would increase in the short term. He makes the basic error of assuming it’s purely a government responsibility. In contrast, David Attenborough appealed to everyone to rise to the challenge.

I suggest Micheál Martin shows leadership and asks everyone in the country to make simple changes to show we are listening. Simple changes such as driving 20% less. Cycle, walk, use the bus or train. Turn the heating thermostat down two degrees. Wear warmer clothes. Reduce meat and dairy consumption.

Reduce the number of flights you take, grow your own vegetables.

We have done so well as a nation in the pandemic, let’s keep showing what we can achieve as a nation when we have a common goal.

David Sprott

Ballincollig

Cork

Cop On 26 a better name for conference

Animal agriculture is responsible for 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions — more than the combined emissions from all forms of transportation.

At the Cop26 conference currently underway in Glasgow, almost 60% of the food on offer to those attending is meat and dairy.

Surely Cop On 26 would be a more appropriate name for this event.

Veronica Dolan

Knocknacarra

Galway

Shell-shocked indeed

I note Damien Duff’s fulminations against the dire state of Irish football facilities in the Irish Examiner. How has the football community failed so abysmally, he ponders?

In March 2019, a set of fans disrupted Ireland’s European qualifier against Georgia in protest against John Delaney’s FAI regime — and Duff excoriated them for it live on RTÉ. ‘How’ indeed...

Alan Murphy

Knocklyon

Dublin

Pres-sing question

Back in the 1950s, if a Pres boy was injured during a rugby match, the supporters would sing respectfully, ‘’Old Pres boys never die; they only fade away’’.

I remember thinking at the time, ‘’what’s good about ‘fading away’?

Today, as a senior citizen, the same question applies!

Patrick Manton

Bishopstown

Timeless humour

This year I had difficulty putting my watch back. I couldn’t remember where I had put it in the first place.

Tom Gilsenan

Beaumont D9

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