Letters to the Editor: Disgraceful treatment of terminally ill 86-year-old

We would really love it if he could stay at home but we are waiting two weeks for the palliative care team, says daughter-in-law

It’s an utter disgrace to treat a terminally-ill 86-year-old man who is in extreme pain, and very frail and frightened by leaving him on a trolley for hours on end at University Hospital Limerick, says a letter writer..

My father-in-law, who is terminally ill with cancer, has been in and out of University Hospital Limerick for the last few weeks and as I am writing this — late on Saturday, February 5 — he has been on a trolley in the emergency department for the last eight hours.

The last time he was in there he was transferred by taxi to another hospital without any of his family being notified of this.

It’s an utter disgrace to treat an 86-year-old man who is in extreme pain, and very frail and frightened, in this manner. We would really love it if he could stay at home but the palliative care team have yet to come out to the house — and we have been waiting two weeks for that to happen. Meanwhile, his ability to walk is gone and he is in extreme pain.

Margaret Kett

Caherdavin

Limerick

Collapsing the Stormont executive

Apparently, parliamentary paralysis in Northern Ireland is unconscionable to Sinn Féin — this time.

It was grand go leor — the last time. Sinn Féin collapsed the Stormont executive and pedalled very slowly on that occasion. All those awkward questions about the millions burned by those in the know in the “cash for ash” scandal. Supervened and eclipsed by Sinn Féin’s existential grà for an teanga.

Sinn Féin Finance Minister Conor Murphy, party president Mary-Lou McDonald and Stormont leader Michelle O'Neill react at the Europa Hotel in Belfast to the resignation of First Minister Paul Givan (DUP). Picture: Rebecca Black/PA Wire

More of the same, whatever works. These guys and girls are very good at what they do. Hardly minutes ago they laid down on the road: “This far shalt thou go and no further.”

Now it’s the overwhelming desire to administer, regulate and disburse. “Yes minister” — a week is a long time in politics.

Michael Deasy

Bandon

Co Cork

Central Bank says the boom is back

What a difference a year makes. Just 12 months ago, jobless figures were shocking, with 20% of the workforce unemployed. Many industries, particularly tourism, hospitality, and retail were devastated by the lockdown.

Mirabile dictu: The Central Bank’s first quarterly bulletin of 2022 paints a much brighter picture, forecasting a budget surplus in 2023 and a booming economy for the next three years.

Strong economic momentum is expected to provide full employment much earlier than expected. Employment is set to grow by about 7% to 2024 and the jobless rate will be down to 4.6% in 2024, which is defined as full employment.

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The Central Bank struck a note of caution as the country heads for full employment: Labour shortages are already emerging and the job vacancy rate is the highest on record. Fortunately, in a job-friendly environment, more school leavers are looking seriously at the jobs market, apprenticeships, traineeships, and further education as an alternative to the CAO route, where applications were down by 1,141 on last year, by the closing date of February 1.

All is good again as spring heralds-in positive news for an anxious public. The bounce is back in the economy, unemployment is falling rapidly, CAO college applications have stabilised, the Leaving Cert format has been clarified and, of course, sport and social life are in full swing.

To maintain the feelgood factor, the Government must intervene urgently to control the spiralling cost of living, to get a copious supply of affordable houses built and to show more compassion for the vulnerable and the needy.

Billy Ryle

Spa

Tralee

Co Kerry

Divert tax reliefs to fund pensions

I commend Denis Naughten on his proposal to assist the funding of future State pension liabilities from the €2.5bn per annum paid from the exchequer in tax relief, 50% of which goes to only 5% of the people who are eligible for this relief. However, I very much doubt whether his colleagues, with gold plated pension benefits, will have the bottle to take on the privileged elite in our society who will lose out if his equitable proposal is implemented.

Michael Terry

Lucan

Co Dublin

No justification for easing restrictions

These past weeks since our leaders eased off on Covid-19 restrictions, I have had numerous occasions of feeling gaslighted, doubting the validity of my thoughts and reality.

As a seasoned infectious disease expert with the World Health Organization and other international organisations, I spend my days immersed in Covid-19 research. Yet, I cannot find a public health justification for the current actions of our leaders.

Most crucially, the delegation of responsibility for control of Covid-19 over to the individual is misguided at best, fatal at worst.

In every epidemic I have responded to — ebola, Sars, TB, and cholera — the control of infectious diseases relies on the fundamental principle of collective action.

As the saying goes: Ní neart go cur le chéile — there is no strength without unity. Ignoring this principle belies an understanding of how viruses replicate, spread, and mutate. Worse again, it eviscerates what it means to be human, to protect those around us who cannot do it for themselves.

The delegation of responsibility for control of Covid-19 over to the individual is misguided at best, fatal at worst says a letter writer.

A person undergoing cancer treatment whose immune system is weakened should now face reality with fortitude. They are no longer empowered to ask someone to keep their distance, no longer confident that those who surround them are vaccinated.

How are they to be personally responsible for protecting themselves from Covid-19 unless embracing absolute seclusion?

I cannot ignore the autocratic undertones of a leadership steering a narrative of “it’s all over”.

It appears like a sinister manipulation of a vulnerable public, frenzied at the prospect of the end of the pandemic. It undermines the collective effort and sacrifices of the past two years and instils little confidence for the future handling of the pandemic. When our leaders need us to band together again in collective action for new rounds of booster doses, pediatric vaccination, or future restrictions, who will hear their call?

I fear it will fall on deaf ears, practising their individual choice not to listen.

Unarose Hogan (PhD, MSc, BN)

Tipperary

Accommodation for the homeless

People who like to go camping outdoors could enjoy all the benefits that outdoor camping provides them but with even greater security if the camps that they use were attached or joined to special hollow (well-ventilated) walls with enough room inside them for shower and wash facilities. But should any camp that is attached to this kind of special wall ever happen to become damaged in a storm then anyone sleeping inside that camp could seek secure shelter by moving quickly over into the special wall.

Such special walls could be able to provide this kind of secure emergency shelter because they could be built on good foundations. Perhaps they might be bolted onto permanent concrete underneath them? In this way they might provide incredibly cheap and secure (ease-of-mind) overnight accommodation for many people like tourists but most importantly they might also at times be useful for homeless people in great need too?

Sean O’Brien

Carnanes South

Kilrush

Co Clare

Ugly windfarm in Gougane Barra

I write with regard to the windfarm approved for Gougaune Barra by An Bord Pleanála.

This is an absolute disgrace, this part of the county is one of the most beautiful, peaceful, scenic, tranquil, and historical areas in all of Co Cork.

These monstrosities are unsightly, noisy, and would be completely out of place here.

This is a special place if you want to go for a walk, to clear your head and leave all your cares behind, and just enjoy the magical setting, listen to the birds sing and enjoy nature at its very best.

Please don’t let this happen, I think St Finbarr would turn in his grave at this stupid suggestion, not forgetting this is the source of the river Lee and a huge tourist area. There are many barren hilltops all over County Cork, stick these windmills somewhere else.

Val Davis

Crosshaven

Co Cork

Golfgate verdict

Much ado about nothing. Par for the course in this country.

Tom Gilsenan

Beaumont

Dublin 9