Letters to the Editor: ‘Lessons learnt’ does not cut it any more
'We have ongoing disability, decline, age, and isolation,' writes Ann Kennedy. File picture: PA
Thank you Fergus Finlay, 'Thanks, but no thanks — some apologies not worth the paper they're written on', July 1, who wrote with such fire I was laughing.
I felt it on a visceral level, churning to the very end. The eloquence of anger was astonishing, clear, and brave. It took me quite by surprise. It rolled and roared, hitting everyone who read it in the right spot for the right reasons. I wish I had that panache, that command of response to brewing feelings felt over years, if not decades.
My form, of course, is an equal roar. I am known for it, but I need to learn the lesson of how it’s done well. Fergus Finlay pointed me in such a direction. Could I do it? Would it be accepted? I doubt it.
It is how, once wrongdoing is discovered, somehow lessons have been learnt and we are assured that the values plastered in churches and prayers are going to be reactivated with added vigour for respect and compassion — it doesn’t cut it for Fergus Finlay and doesn’t cut it for me either.
Over 10 years or more with another vast institution, although my world and wider circle — including Fergus — understand what I have been subjected to, not even a commitment to vigour for respect, compassion, or best practice has ever been mooted. We face the bland limbo so many in Ireland face today. We have ongoing disability, decline, age, and isolation. In fact, nothing about our institutions given millions of euro in funding cut it for me.
A hit of reform is meaningless.
A comment made in 2019 by a CEO of a very large disability organisation read: “In all my 37 years of working in disability across Ireland, I have never met two women so badly treated and cared for as Margaret and Ann Kennedy.”
Of course, it has worsened since and little has changed. It will not change until my truth is recognised as having value to a mass with similar problems from the institutions, where the impact of my collective group rather than the individual is felt at, yes, visceral levels. There is a collective group suffering this equally, without a doubt.
Added to this, I am but an old woman. Yet, I am a cross between the mountain lion, the feral cat, and the peregrine falcon, which can swoop with claws at 300mph at its target.
Unfortunately, I would have to bring the full count of peregrine falcons in Ireland with me on the one task of elimination.
In 2018, Simon Harris considered naming the new National Children’s Hospital after a wealthy donor as a way of funding the project. Mr Harris cited approvingly the sponsorship by golfer Jack Nicklaus of a children’s hospital in Miami as an example we could follow.
I found this suggestion repugnant and unethical as there is no such thing as a free lunch. Independent senator Victor Boyhan, along with many other voices, suggested naming the new hospital in memory of Dr Kathleen Lynn. Such a choice would have universal agreement.
However, minister for health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has named the hospital the National Children’s Hospital Ireland ( , June 25). An opportunity to give due recognition to Dr Lynn has been squandered.
We in this country have been very fortunate with the calibre of citizens who, on the premise of volunteer participation, gave sterling service to assist the poor, the sick, and the marginalised, and are worthy of recognition by the State.
Dr Lynn and her partner Madeleine ffrench-Mullen should surely have been considered.
Dr Lynn set high standards of care for the less well off and destitute children at a time when the nascent Irish Free State could not cope.
On December 8, 2024, the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime marked a rare moment of hope for millions of Syrians displaced or living under siege for nearly 14 years. However, six months on, Syria’s recovery hangs by a thread.
Regional instability, most recently the dangerous escalation between Israel and Iran, has already begun to spill deeper into Syria, where militias and airstrikes continue to destabilise large areas.
At best, this deters returns. At worst, it risks reigniting mass displacement.
Power in Syria has always had a double meaning. Today, more than two thirds of the electricity grid is destroyed. Without power, hospitals shut down, food rots, water pumps stall, and classrooms sit empty. There can be no functioning society, no return, no recovery without reliable electricity.
Qatar’s recent $7bn pledge to rebuild the grid is welcome, but it is only a start. This investment will take years to materialise, and it alone cannot meet Syria’s urgent needs.
Ireland, through its proud humanitarian tradition, must work with its EU government partners to help fill that gap. Now is a critical moment to invest in infrastructure, stability, and peace before the fragile promise of recovery slips away.
Martin O’Neill should run as a candidate for the presidency.
He represents values that are all too sadly uncommon in public life in Ireland, such as decency and humility, along with an unwavering commitment to something greater than himself.
He once wrote in his autobiography: “I would love to tell you I had the worst childhood you could ever imagine but, believe it or not, it was idyllic. I had two older brothers that I idolised, two younger brothers that I played with, sisters I adored, and a mother and father I had great respect for.”
This is the perspective that has made him a leader in sport and undoubtedly would see him be a unifier of the Irish people. Martin is an eloquent communicator, a unifier by nature, and a man of integrity.
In a time when public life demands empathy, strength, and moral clarity, Martin O’Neill would bring all of these to Áras an Uachtaráin.
by Eamonn Sweeney was a Father’s Day gift from my children. I expected the book to be no more than a recycled compendium of Eamonn’s hard-hitting commentary in his weekly columns, but glowing endorsements from Michael Harding, Mick Clifford, and Mike McCormack tweaked my curiosity.
I was also anxious to read Eamonn’s provocative analysis of the 2024 All-Ireland series, particularly the author’s take on the Kerry ladies’ and gents’ senior teams, winners and semi-finalists respectively.
Much to my surprise, I was immediately captivated by the blurb.
The book wasn’t just a rehash of one man’s reportage of hurling and football matches. On the contrary, a man — who to me was an opinionated, an investigative and a compelling writer — had decided to drop the mask of invincibility and to provide the reader with insights into his very soul.
While his views on the hurling and football games were riveting, forceful, direct, and a bit too close to the bone of player criticism, I was fascinated by his bravery in revealing his hidden demons.
In this page-turner, Eamonn embarked on a cathartic journey of self-discovery leading to acceptance of a debilitating mental health issue. He was determined to overcome the panic attacks induced by his phobia of train travel. For him, making the short train journey from Ardrahan to Galway was akin to Sonia O’Sullivan winning the gold medal in the 5,000m race at the 1995 World Championships.
This enthralling human interest story of one man jumping the last ditch to find happiness on the other side took courage to write.
I was one of many who recently took “one last stroll through CBS Secondary School, Kilkenny”.
This year’s Leaving Certificate students would be the last to sit at a desk in the school that has been serving Kilkenny families from the same site since 1859.
From August, the school will open its doors to students on an entirely new site that I could not have comprehended as I handed in my last Leaving Cert paper (Maths) there on June 28, 1969.
Being aware that the Presentation Secondary School would similarly open its new school doors in August, I wondered if Kilkenny students had “won the Lotto” in terms of their future education.
Kilkenny has a lesser number of large-scale school projects (which number over 300) than many other counties. The shortage of housing is constantly in the headlines but, if only occasionally, the planning, enterprise, and dedication to the long-term future of the school needs is surely deserving of counter and positive headlines, and infinitely more deserving than all the headlines garnered in the furore pertaining to school phone pouches.
