A chara, – I read with interest the article on subsidising private education (“Taxpayers are subsidising private schools by more than €140m a year”, News, December 23rd).
It is reported that a “Department of Education spokesman said if parents of children in the fee-charging sector chose to send their children to the schools in the free education system, the State would have to fund those school places”.
Surely if this were to happen it would be no bad thing, ie all the children in the State attending State schools together, with the appropriate resources and funding required? It also seems odd that the State would defend a policy which could be argued creates a form of educational segregation.
A point is made by the principal of Alexandra College (a private school in Dublin) that, due to certain grants not being made available, “taxpaying parents of children attending private schools were being financially penalised because of their education choices”.
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This seems like an odd argument to make. The attending of private schools already confers an advantage in the networks that it creates, not to mention the superb facilities that many of these schools offer. Countless children in the State will never get the opportunity to attend such a well-funded school. The parents of these children are just about meeting living costs and haven’t a hope of coming up with the extra €7,000 to €8,000 a year in fees. Yet, as taxpayers, it is somehow unfair that we do not give more funds to these schools, which seems to me like an argument for subsidising privilege. – Is mise,
ROB MAC GIOLLARNÁTH,
Abhainn an Scáil,
Co Chiarraí.
Sir, – The State contribution to private schools, at about €140 million, represents just over 1 per cent of the annual education budget of €12 billion or so. Given the performance of these institutions in various rating tables, this seems remarkable value. This small investment must be pulling upward the education standards of the country. It would be wonderful if comparable returns were realised by those spending the rest of our tax money. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN O’BRIEN,
Kinsale,
Co Cork.
List of ‘feeder schools’
Sir, – On December 10th, The Irish Times published a list of “feeder schools”, which provided a selective and therefore inaccurate portrayal of the third-level progression rates of St Andrew’s College students. As an accredited international school which offers students the choice of pursuing either the Leaving Certificate or the International Baccalaureate, St Andrew’s College students enjoy well-established pathways to some of the world’s most prestigious universities. Regrettably, this is not captured by the narrow criteria employed by Irish newspapers, which only record university entry in Ireland.
We are proud that 19 per cent of our Class of 2024 are now studying in universities in the United Kingdom, the United States, and across mainland Europe.
The success of these talented young people is overlooked in your league tables. That such a high percentage of our graduates use their success as a platform to attend top institutions abroad is a source of great pride for our diverse school community. Considering that Ireland has become one of the world’s most open and dynamic economies, a list of feeder schools that accurately reflects the international educational opportunities being utilised by so many Irish students would provide your readers with a better picture of their secondary school options. – Yours, etc,
LOUISE MARSHALL,
College Principal,
St. Andrew’s College,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.
Sinn Féin and a legacy of violence
Sir, – The continued ambivalence displayed by Sinn Féin in relation to the deaths in Northern Ireland during the “Troubles” is summed up in Gerry Adams’s comment that the “killing” and secret burial of Jean McConville was “very regrettable” (Letters, December 23rd).
The fact is that Jean McConville, a widowed mother of 10, was murdered by the Provisional IRA. This was quite simply an atrocity and a war crime if, indeed, a war did exist in 1972.
Until Sinn Féin and all its elected members, young and old, acknowledge facts such as this, voters in the Republic will continue to have strong reservations about their fitness for government.– Yours, etc,
MARTIN McDONALD,
Dublin 12.
Sir, – Gerry Adams criticises Pat Leahy (“Smart people still insist the truth of a patent absurdity – that Gerry Adams was never in the IRA”, December 14th) for claiming Sinn Féin’s culture of secrecy and the trauma of its past were damaging to its election chances (Letters December 23rd).
The same Gerry Adams that claims he was never a member of the IRA. The problem for Mr Adams, if he does not see it himself, is that the majority of voters simply don’t believe what he says. – Yours, etc,
DAVID O’FLANAGAN,
Malahide,
Co Dublin.
Institutional investors
Sir, – Further to “Emigration to Australia is at its highest level for a decade. We need to ask why” (Una Mullally, Opinion & Analysis, December 23rd), in less than a decade institutional investors have funded or directly developed circa 55,000 new homes both for sale and for rent across social, affordable, cost-rental and private markets. Seeking to position these funds as exclusively associated with the premium end of the rental market may be convenient for your own narrative but is factually wrong. Indeed, in Dublin where new rental supply is concentrated, the effect of this new stock facilitated by institutional funds has resulted in a moderation of rental increases as compared to the rest of the country.
As a new government begins to take shape, the immediate challenge will be how to fund and deliver 50,000 new homes annually which the Department of Finance estimates will require €20 billion of development capital, the majority of which will require to be sourced from institutional investors, backed in the main by pension funds seeking moderate returns over the longer term. I would suggest Ireland needs to attract more of this type of investment if we are to stand a real chance of delivering a sustainable long-term solution to our housing challenge. – Yours, etc,
PAT FARRELL,
CEO,
Irish Institutional Property,
Dublin 2.
Ireland and the Holocaust
Sir, – Mark O’Connell finds it mysterious that many other European countries have not joined Ireland, Spain and Norway in recognition of the state of Palestine (“The mystery is not why we Irish have responded to Israel’s barbarism. It’s why others have not”, Opinion & Analysis, December 21st).
For many of the western and central European states – Germany (obviously), but also France, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Czechia, Hungary, etc – the Holocaust is still within living memory. Many European countries contain memorials to the Shoah. There is also the sense of shame in many countries about what was done to aid the arrest and slaughter of the Jewish populations.
The small Jewish population in wartime Ireland was protected from the Nazi murder machine and was given special recognition in the 1937 Constitution. For better or for worse, there is no culture of Holocaust guilt in Ireland. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN CRONIN,
Bantry,
Co Cork.
Sharing the load at Christmas
Sir, – As a male clinician, my heart goes out to to all those women who find Christmas hard work. I so empathise with all the efforts that women put into making Christmas a wonderful experience for their families. I am aware that some men can be amazing when it comes to putting in the hard shift of making Christmas memorable, but by and large it’s accepted that the majority of the heavy lifting falls to women, especially when it comes to organising everything festive. In an ideal world, it would be brilliant if we could lay the groundwork on fairly sharing the festive workload. This in turn could improve one’s Christmas and relationship. Women report a significantly higher perception of domestic fairness when relieved of the cognitive labour, and many studies have found that the perception of fairness is a stronger predictor of a healthy marriage than the actual division of domestic work. This year, in the spirit of creating meaningful connections and relationship building, invite your partner to be a true collaborator in the tasks and traditions that you mutually agree hold value and bring joy to one’s family.– Yours, etc,
JOHN O’BRIEN,
Clinical Psychotherapist,
Clonmel,
Co Tipperary.
Massacre of the Innocents
Sir, – Justine McCarthy in her article on religion and the Middle East contrives to combine offence with illogicality (Opinion & Analysis, December 20th). She takes the gospel account of the Massacre of the Innocents to be unsubstantiated but nevertheless suggests that it might have been better if Our Lord had been among those killed in an atrocity she, presumably, believes never occurred.
On the basis of a non-academic work, she asserts that religion was the primary cause of one hundred of the worst atrocities that have ever occurred.
If religion was the motivation for the Holocaust, why were Jewish converts to Christianity among those murdered? What religion does she think Hitler, Himmler and Heydrich practised? (Note that I refer to adult practice rather than childhood background). And does she really think that Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot – the last century’s worst murderers, along with Hitler – were motivated by religion? – Yours, etc,
CDC ARMSTRONG,
Belfast.
Be safe, be seen and slow down
Sir, – I am a driver, cyclist and pedestrian. I cycle to work and walk my children to school. I see speeding vehicles all around me, dangerous overtaking, drivers on mobile phones and driving through red lights as if they were still green! I also see pedestrians in dark clothing, wearing headphones, distracted by their phones and cyclists with no lights or high-vis vests.
We have a duty of care to ourselves and each other on our footpaths, cycle lanes and roads. If you can’t be seen, you are not safe. If you are not aware of your surroundings, you are not safe.
No one wants to be responsible for causing a road traffic accident especially at this time of year. Be safe, be seen and slow down. – Yours, etc,
SIOBHAN McDERMOTT,
Dublin 5.
The Irish and Australia
Sir, – With better language teaching here, young people would emigrate to Europe, not Australia, according to Derek Scally (Opinion & Analysis, December 21st).
Having lived in Sydney, Rome and Vienna, I am not persuaded.
Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese is of Irish descent as were four of his predecessors (James Scullin, John Curtin, Ben Chifley, and Paul Keating). Thirty per cent of the population have Irish ancestry. Ned Kelly wasn’t the only one.
Ireland is literally in the DNA of Australia as nowhere else. – Yours, etc,
Dr JOHN DOHERTY,
Gaoth Dobhair,
Co Dhún na nGall.
Vouchers at Montrose
Sir, – David Doran calls for an end to non-taxable gift vouchers for RTÉ staff (Letters, December 14th). Like many employers, RTÉ avails of this modest tax-free voucher scheme, at Christmas time, to show appreciation to employees for their valued service. Further, the voucher scheme is also part of RTÉ's pay arrangements for its staff, which helps in a small way to keep its staff costs down to the benefit of the exchequer.
Vouchers or no vouchers, let us savour the gift of Christmas. – Yours, etc,
AIDAN RODDY,
Cabinteely,
Dublin 18.
Turning to jelly
Sir, – My name is not Chivers, and I am not made of jelly, so if one other person asks me “Are you all set for Christmas?” I am going to throw a right wobbly. – Yours, etc,
NOEL SHANAGHY,
Faithlegg,
Co Waterford.
State of excitement
Sir, – I received a reminder for an appointment with an optician recently, telling me they were “excited” about my coming visit. I duly turned up but there was not a balloon or banner to be seen. What happens to the excitement? What a letdown! – Yours, etc,
MARGARET BUTLER,
Booterstown,
Co Dublin.
It’s never too late
Sir, – Not sure what’s going on but my husband still hasn’t issued his annual “the days are getting longer now” pronouncement. Maybe this will serve as a gentle reminder. – Yours, etc,
CIANA CAMPBELL,
Ennis,
Co Clare.