I refer to your recent article titled “ Nice man, 73, caught growing cannabis for the second time at remote West Cork Home”.
The article discusses a man, 73 years young, growing cannabis plants for his own personal use in 2021 who fully cooperated with the Garda at the time, who described him as a nice man. The result of this was a three-year suspended sentence with a warning that, if caught a third time the gentleman would face a custodial sentence. I ask, with all honesty, what purpose does our law surrounding cannabis serve, what purpose was served by dragging a man who should be enjoying his later years through our criminal justice system, with all the added stress and pressure it causes? Week upon week we see headlines of people being prosecuted and criminalised for their personal use of cannabis.
While other countries have legalised the cannabis industry and are enjoying increased revenue as a result. It has the added bonus of saving million in expenditure in terms of court costs, Garda time, and precious Garda resources. If we look elsewhere, Colorado they have made millions in revenue due to reforming their cannabis laws, yet Ireland’s expenditure on prohibitions rises each year, with no “bang for your buck” in return.
In Ireland, we are stuck in the dark ages with our drug policy. Week on week we see headlines of people receiving no charge, a suspended sentence, or a custodial sentence for personal possession of cannabis, with names and addresses included, again what purpose doe this serve? A RED C poll conducted in 2021 showed 93% of people in favour of cannabis reform, for either medical or recreational purposes, yet our government are failing to act, afraid of tackling this issue. In a couple of weeks, a bill will be introduced in the Dáil to decriminalise small amounts of cannabis for personal possession, it will not solve the issues we have, and the need for further reform of our drug laws, but it will remove criminalising personal consumption.
Additionally, we have the opportunity next year when a Citizens’ Assembly on drugs is convinced to have an open and honest discussion about our drug policy, its effects on people, and what the future holds.
Our Misuse of Drugs Act will be 50 years in operation in 2027, and I for one hope we do not allow the draconian piece of legislation to reach its 50th birthday. The evidence is there, we know better, and we know how to do better.
Natalie O’Regan
Ballyphehane, Cork
Finlay’s religious orders claim unfair
Fergus Finlay is right to be angry at the sexual abuse of children in Spiritan-run schools. But he is unfair in his claim that religious orders are secret and corrupt organisations and that they should never be allowed to run schools or other institutions. He offers no evidence to back up his claims and he minimises the great work that the majority of Spiritans undertook in the poorest countries across our world. Surely, Fergus remembers the work of the Spiritans during the civil war in Biafra in the 1960s when the Irish missionaries were responsible for saving over a million lives, to name just one example.
Frank Browne
Templeogue, Dublin 16
Finlay’s volte face is regrettably late
Fergus Finlay is quite correct that religious orders should be wound up and should certainly “under no circumstances be allowed to collect money from the public”. (“Fergus Finlay: Why do we still allow religious orders to exist?”, November 15).
It is to be regretted that he has only come to this conclusion now, and not six months ago, when he endorsed the religious Sisters of Charity’s ownership of the National Maternity Hospital, thus fatally undermining the campaign for it to be secular and publicly-owned (“Fergus Finlay: As a HSE board member, I support the new
maternity hospital plans”, May 10, 2022).
Ben Walsh
Glasnevin, Dublin 11
RIP remarkable Vicky Phelan
Everyone felt a connection with Vicky Phelan, a remarkable woman who had to go through the trauma of the High Court to get justice and won.
Not only did she win but she exposed a huge scandal and brought women’s health to the fore. She fought to uncover the truth in the face of a deadly disease.
Her bravery against all the odds stacked against her and she brewed up one hell of a storm while the Government hid behind closed doors and was no help to this brave woman.
The endless tributes were a simple sign of her impact on Irish society and she will be regarded as having a seminal influence on the health care system of this country for evermore. Vicky was a remarkable woman thrust into the public eye through her illness and her High Court action and her campaign to help the rights of others. May she rest in peace.
Noel Harrington
Kinsale, Co Cork
Greyhound industry must justify funding
I welcome TD Neasa Hourigan’s bill to end the procedure whereby the greyhound industry receives state funding annually by default, irrespective of its viability or the quality of the business model it presents.
If passed, the Bill will make the industry more accountable. I can’t understand the knee-jerk reaction of some rural TDs to the proposal, given that it will merely oblige greyhound racing in Ireland to justify the financial aid allocated to it; A perfectly reasonable requirement.
John Fitzgerald
Callan, Co Kilkenny
Páirc Uí Chaoimh is a wonderful amenity
For the past four weekends, I have had the pleasure of enjoying the superb entertainment provided by the County Hurling and Football Finals staged at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
I was able to enjoy a total of nine matches from the comfort of the South Stand, protected from the elements, with a perfect view of the entire pitch, and it brought home to me what a wonderful stadium we have on our doorstep.
As a mere spectator, I was forcibly reminded of the incredible level of volunteerism which underpins the playing of all these games, from club officials, stewards, turnstile and scoreboard operators and ground staff. This applies also to those wonderfully dedicated people who give of their time to prepare and organise teams of young girls and boys for the series of mini games, thus giving all of them the opportunity to play there.
Tadhg Nash
Ovens, Co Cork
Windfarms damage our mental health
The building of Lyrenacarriga windfarm under the guise of providing sustainable energy is a social injustice. Of course, we need sustainable energy but not at the expense of peoples’ quality of life and the sheer hypocrisy of the Governments pretentious concern for the escalating mental health problem is disgraceful.
If their concern was genuine, they would not encourage known driving factors. Mental health is driven by factors, some personal and others environmental. Without a doubt living within 700m of the constant hum and flicker of a 150m turbine is a driving factor, which
the proposers Curns Energy and RWE wouldn’t dream of exposing themselves to. This proposal is a selfish infringement of the rights of people living in these proposed areas. These turbines should be offshore.
P Gore Cogan
Propogue, Co Waterford
