It strikes me as strange that while the wholly justified outrage at clerical abuse in industrial schools and the Magdalene laundries is reported nationally, there is a notable media silence about the sub-human conditions suffered by residents of the many direct provision centres through the country.
Many people with connections in government run these appalling centres that profit from human misery.
The residents are not allowed to work or contribute to society.
Many have grown from childhood to adulthood without knowing any other “home”.
It’s now 22 years since these horrific places opened.
Surely that’s 22 years too long.
Dave Riordan
Evergreen Street
Cork
Lack of Cork-Paris flight affects tourism
I have just read this article: “ Munster tourist attractions struggle to regain pre-pandemic visitor levels” (Irish Examiner, online, November 29).
One of the reasons for this drop in the number of visitors is that Aer Lingus cancelled the direct Paris-Cork flight which used to operate daily before the pandemic.
I am French and I have been going over to Ireland for 40 years. I was a regular on this Aer Lingus flight no matter the season.
However, now flying to Cork from Paris requires a stopover in London — and why would you spend more than four or five hours to fly to Ireland when it should usually only take one hour and 40 min?
You can also fly Air France, but their flight from Paris-CDG to Cork only operates from the end of March to September.
In other words, the air transport capacity between Paris and Cork has been more than halved. No wonder the number of visitors to Munster has dropped.
It is time that Aer Lingus managers realise that many French people love Ireland — their Paris-Cork flights were always full — and restore this direct link with France. It could more than likely boost tourism in Munster again.
Benedicte Manier
Paris
France
Truck driver should pay for gate damage
Re the article: ‘ Government spent over €15k repairing Russian embassy gate’ (Irish Examiner, online, December 27).
The man who was charged with dangerous driving and criminal damage after he drove a truck into the gates should pay for the repairs to the gate and ordered to pay another €15,000 for the work of the gardaí and everyone else involved. This will also stop people from thinking of doing it again or thinking criminals can do as they want.
James Colgan
Portlaoise
Co Laois
Opportune time to end the offside rule
Now that the World Cup is over there are one or two things that could be changed for the better namely, the pointless offside rule and the great wall of China that is built up in front of the goal of a defending team’s foul.
As regards the offside rule the only thing it offers to the game is frustration, frustration, and more frustration. It should be dispensed with entirely even though it has been part of the game for over a century.
It is with thanks to common sense that the GAA didn’t indulge in this silly practice, the quaintly named square ball would surely work just as well in soccer if tried. It would obviate the necessity of forwards and indeed defenders having to continuously watch their position on the field instead of concentrating on the game.
The sight of players celebrating and sliding on their knees to the corner flag while the supporters go wild in the stands only to be ruled out by a linesman or VAR adds nothing to the game except even more frustration.
The idea of building a wall in front of the offending team’s goal surely only benefits the offenders instead of the attacking team.
Perhaps only the players who were goal side of the fouled player should be allowed to defend the free kick excluding the player who did the fouling and the free taker should have the option of dribbling with the ball if he chooses, in other words recreate the situation that existed before the foul was committed insofar as possible. This might be difficult in some cases but surely it is better than the current practice.
It would also take less time than the two or three minutes it takes to organise the wall.
Finally, jig acting goalkeepers should be firmly dealt with at penalty kicks and yellow cards for every indiscretion should be dealt out. Goalkeepers are over indulged as it is.
T Donoghue
Doocastle
Co Mayo
Defence deficiencies must be addressed
Sean McCarthaigh’s report — ‘ British wanted to base aircraft in South-West’, (Irish Examiner, ‘State archives’, December 28) makes for interesting reading. It also highlights our lack of surveillance capabilites at that time, particularly with regards the Air Corps.
In the intervening period we acquired Casa CN-235 Maritime Patrol Aircraft which have been very effective in patrolling our area of interest. Unfortunately, in more recent times the crisis of retention in the Defence Forces, particularly in the Naval Service and Air Corps have seriously hampered our ability to patrol our waters.
The recent appointment of Micheál Martin as Tánaiste, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defence will hopefully lead to measures being finally taken to address the crisis in the Defence Forces.
With total numbers now below 8,000 and every branch of the Defence Forces under strength, immediate action is required.
At a time of a deteriorating European security environment and with most European countries reviewing their defence requirements, we need to address our defence deficiencies and provide adequately for them.
Conor Hogarty
Blackrock
Co Dublin
Santos is honest about not being honest
I am not sure what the concern is with George Santos being elected to the United States House of Representatives despite a few creative improvements to his resume. At least he was honest about not being honest, eventually.
Perhaps there is not a great outcry in the political houses because expulsions for lying may leave the benches nearly empty. There is such an extensive history of political lies before and after elections that the words ‘political promise’ means something is either an outright lie or something that will never be enacted.
It is time to enact a policy or law that if you are proven to have lied then you are out the door immediately. It might trim the number of candidates, but the remaining choices should be of better quality.
I cannot lie and deny that I have lied occasionally although I may not be the only person ever to face that conflict but at least I try to be honest.
Dennis Fitzgerald
Box Hill, Vic
Melbourne
Australia
Varadkar needs action to back his comments
Many of Leo Varadkar’s comments on the social ills that abound at present, following his return to the office of taoiseach over the Christmas period, are to be welcomed. But they also raised many an eyebrow as they gave the impression that some other entity has been running the place this past decade. If he does half of what he says he will do, many of the policies introduced while he was part of government will need to be radically changed. The fact is, as his predecessor often told the Dáil, “lack of money” is not a factor in the failures to deal with the scourges of homelessness, child poverty, etc, that Mr Varadkar focused on in his comments — which clearly points the finger for the failures at policy.
It is clear that the country yearns for the changes that would bring an end to the misery many now endure and with that in mind, most people will have no difficulty wishing Mr Varadkar well as he goes about the difficult task that lies ahead. But many others will dismiss the new Taoiseach’s words as no more than rhetoric that they have heard many times this past while and will withhold judgement until they see solid actions that back up the words.
Jim O’Sullivan
Rathedmond
Sligo
