Letters to the Editor: Nuclear power is unavoidable

David McKay, the late Chief Scientific Officer in Britain calculated that British people required 125kWh of energy per person per day.

Successive governments have provided little information about Ireland’s increasing energy requirements or how these might be met.

David McKay, the late Chief Scientific Officer in Britain, in his 2008 book, Sustainable Energy: Without the Hot Air’, gave a good idea of the difficulties of supplying a modern country’s energy needs with renewable energy alone.

McKay calculated that British people required 125kWh of energy per person per day.

He also showed that covering 10% of the country with wind turbines could only generate 20kWh/d/p, or less than one-sixth of their average energy demand.

Although Ireland fares somewhat better due to our lower population density, the same logic reveals that covering 10% of the country with wind turbines could theoretically generate 62.5kWh/d/p: half the 125 kWh/d/p needed.

Even if/when wind and solar are at full capacity, renewable energy will not be enough. We will need access to reliable energy that is not renewable or, necessarily, economic, but is always available.

Government response does not reflect our growing energy and emissions crisis. There is urgent need for consideration of a small proportion of nuclear, and we need to start talking about it now.

Anne Baily, Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary

Train passengers deserve a sign

Since the relocation of buses in Cork to the Horgan’s Quay entrance of Kent train station, I have wondered why an electronic sign of the type at the stop itself could not also be located in the station concourse. This would permit intending passengers to make decisions such as the use of a taxi or availing of catering facilities without trekking to the stop itself.

At Kent station, from a visitors point of view, signage for buses is rather discreet, perhaps almost to the point where one has to know their location first in order to see the signage for their location.

Gerry Moore, Cobh, Co Cork

Please help with club histories

I’m currently writing a club history based on All Blacks AFC and Breska Rovers AFC.

I would love to hear from any players, managers and coaches (past and present) and from supporters or anyone with a photo, newspaper clipping, good story or any memories at all.

I would also like to hear from anybody with information/material relating to a friendly junior/amateur international, which involved the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (played at Century Homes Park, Monaghan, on August 21, 2004) as one of the locals played in it.

Everyone’s contribution counts and is welcome and this is a project for the community.

I can be contacted at [e-mail] (phone also provided on request). Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

Clara McGann, Limerick

Losers use label of ‘scaremongering’

It’s quite irritating to listen to Louise Crowley ( professor in family law) describe the reasons for the no vote in both amendments as “scaremongering”. 

Why is it considered a mature decision by the voters when the so-called intelligentsia get the result they want and scaremongering when they don’t?

Aileen Hoope, Stoneybatter, Dublin 7

Who represents electoral majority?

In the wake of their defeat in the care and family referendums, national politicians are berating each other for what they wish to present to us as a PR flop. Such is their denial and disconnect. Are they not aware that an opinion poll during the campaign showed, the more voters were engaged and knew about the referendum proposals, the more likely they were to vote No-No?

Digging into exit poll data, we see supporters of FG, Greens, and Labour were quite evenly split, while supporters of SF, FF, and Independents were likely to have voted over 80% No in these referendums.

The manoeuvring of Labour and Sinn Féin to be associated with a yes-yes win was a spectacular miscalculation. That Greens, including Minister Roderic O’Gorman, and the state funded National Women’s Council of Ireland, persisted in speaking of a woman’s place in the home, even though Judge Marie Baker chair of the Electoral Commission, had clearly stated that Minister Catherine Martin, was “simply wrong” in making this claim, calls into question the competence of our elected representatives and the unaccountable NGOs upon which they rely.

After the passing of the referendum which deleted the Eighth Amendment, the one third of the electorate who had not supported the proposal found they were politically homeless; it would seem that the proportion of the electorate without a political home has more than doubled.

In order to recover some semblance of credibility, I think that the overwhelming majority of the electorate would welcome the established parties making some redress for the apparent €20m-plus squandered in these referendums. It would be most fitting if they donated some of their State-funding to our over-stretched and under resourced home-help schemes.

Gearóid Duffy, Lee Road, Cork

Low poll turnout is another disgrace

We might quote WB Yeats, this time to the Irish electorate: “You have disgraced yourselves again.” Only 44.6% bothered to vote!

Mind you, the 9th, 10th and 20th amendments were accepted with polls of less than 30% and only the 6th and 23rd amendments were passed by over 50% of the electorate.

Time to review the whole system?

Cal Hyland, Rosscarbery, West Cork

Irish third-level sector in dire straits

The dire situation of third-level education in Ireland must be acknowledged by Minister Simon Harris. 

State funding of €60m falls short of the €307m gap. As a result, our student-to-staff ratios are untenable, classrooms overcrowded and buildings dilapidated. 

Academics suffer on precarious contracts and postgraduate researchers struggle to pay for groceries, while students are left behind by underfunded welfare services and inadequate facilities. 

Notwithstanding, there is an irrational drive to increase student numbers imposed on the sector. This threatens the viability of the sector as a whole, and will have grave effects on the economy.

László Molnárfi, TCDSU President, Trinity College Dublin

Mental toll in Gaza is truly horrific

The Family Therapy Association of Ireland (FTAI) is committed to upholding equal human rights for everyone which compels us to voice our horror at what is occurring in Gaza. 

We also acknowledge, and condemn the devastation wrought on the Israeli people on October 7, 2023, by Hamas and the continuing distress as loved ones await the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza. However, nothing can justify what the world is currently witnessing in Gaza.

As systemic therapists we are acutely aware of how dominant prejudicial narratives from those in power, can lead to the dehumanisation of, and justification, for indiscriminate killing, which has been called genocide at the ICJ.

As mental health professionals, we must declare our deep concern for the unimaginable grief, due to loss of entire families, and the effects of this war on the mental health of the Palestinian people. We understand the wide-ranging impact of trauma on individuals, families, and societies which research shows continues epigenetically for generations.

As the death toll of innocent civilians increases, and famine and starvation become a reality, we are compelled to protest at the disproportionate effects of the military onslaught. We are particularly horrified at the multiple deaths of women and children, many now orphaned, maimed, and traumatised. Mental health workers, as well as other medical professionals, bravely continue to work in Gaza, in the face of fear for their lives and their families’ safety.

To those in Israel who do not support this war on Gaza, the Family Therapy Association of Ireland stand in solidarity with you and adds its voice to the national and international calls for an immediate permanent ceasefire in Gaza, and all sides committing to a negotiated sustained settlement.

Maureen Treanor, Chair of FTAI on behalf of the Membership

Pope naive in his Ukraine comments

It is disappointing to see Pope Francis undermining Ukrainian democracy with craven trite and simplistic prescriptions for peace negotiations with Vladimir Putin. Ukraine has been invaded and much of it is violently occupied. 

Clearly, the Russians will not leave voluntarily. One wonders how much of Ukraine the Pope feels should be ceded in the course of these “negotiations”. 

In the 1930s Eugenio Pacelli, later Pope Pius XII, struck a scandalous deal with Adolf Hitler and Mussolini. It was called the Concordat. 

The Vatican’s sculptures and paintings were thereby saved and retained while the shtetls and ghettos of Central Europe were ruthlessly emptied of Jews. 

History has taught us that appeasement makes aggressors more aggressive and hungry for territory. The Vatican has a very poor track record when it comes to despots and tyrants.

Michael Deasy, Bandon, Co Cork