A chara, – Ireland stands at a critical juncture in its climate action journey. Our national emissions reduction targets are ambitious yet increasingly unattainable. The Environmental Protection Agency projects we will achieve only a 29 per cent reduction by 2030, falling dramatically short of our 51 per cent commitment under the Climate Act.
In December 2024, Portugal published an innovative blueprint we should urgently consider. Its National Energy and Climate Plan introduces a groundbreaking strategy focusing on plant-based protein and low-carbon diets – a holistic approach Ireland could readily adapt.
Our agricultural sector, responsible for over one-third of national greenhouse gases, requires transformative thinking. By promoting legume production, introducing plant-based options in public institutions, and supporting farmers in transitioning to sustainable crops, we could simultaneously address climate, economic, and food security challenges.
The stark reality is that current measures are insufficient. We need bold, integrated strategies that reimagine our food systems, support agricultural communities, and meaningfully reduce emissions.
Irish music acts to watch in 2025: 22 to follow, from Cardinals to Yunè Pinku
Rosanna Davison: I annoy myself with how organised I am. I wish I could be less efficient
Two January health-kick dishes that don’t sacrifice flavour at the altar of virtue
Anne Enright: ‘I am a proud Dubliner, born and reared. I spurn these lyrical types yearning for the rural’
Portugal demonstrates that national climate strategies can be both ambitious and practical. Ireland must now show similar courage and innovation. – Is mise,
LOUISA MOSS,
Dublin 7.
Naive Harris no match for Trump
Sir, – The opinion piece by the Taoiseach indicates remarkable naivety where the business dealings of Donald Trump are concerned (“Simon Harris: Trump is a businessman at heart. Ireland’s offering is one that speaks to him”, Opinion & Analysis, December 28th). Mr Trump is indeed a businessman, but one that has gone bankrupt several times. It is concerning that our (soon to be replaced) Taoiseach seems to have swallowed a ream of plámás in his November conversation with the US president-elect.
It is quite likely that Mr Trump will derail large chunks of the US economy, never mind ours, in the next 12 months, given his disparate cabinet choices. Should we be battening down the hatches rather than trying to harness political capital that we no longer have in the US? – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL FLYNN,
Bayside,
Dublin 13.
Rental properties and standards
A chara, – I found the lead story by Jack White to be a most compelling read (“Nearly 75% of private rental properties inspected by councils fail to meet minimum standards”, News December 30th). He reports that, according to new figures received under the Freedom of information Act, three-quarters of private rented properties inspected by local authorities in the first nine months of the year failed to meet minimum standards, and of the over 60,000 private rental inspections carried out countrywide until the end of September, almost 45,000, or 71 per cent, failed to meet minimum standards. I have to agree with the housing charity Threshold as it calls for a national car test style certification system for rental homes where the onus will be on the landlord to have the property inspected by a building professional every four years.
It seems that anyone can become a renter, even people with a bad credit ratings.
Such people might be refused finance but could still inherit property, while tenants buckle under the weight of references that they must provide. I am acutely aware that they are landlords who are kind, supportive and diligent.
Then there are landlords who are negligent and threatening.
We must always remember that some of these dubious stranger possess the key to one’s home.
We need a properly funded, efficiently enforced register. – Yours, etc,
JOHN O’BRIEN,
Clonmel,
Co Tipperary.
The benefits of office chat
Sir, – It is seldom that I delve into the Business section of The Irish Times, but a headline caught my eye: “I see office chat as a gift” (Emma Jacobs, December 30th). Her article set me thinking of the rich gift indeed that office chat provides.
I did not have the “work from home” opportunity of today but that was, perhaps, a more advantageous situation, as working in the office certainly provided the irreplaceable gift of office chat. Through our chat, I achieved a knowledge of my fellow workers and felt more comfortable in the place where we spent most of our day-time existence. Monday chat always centred on “What did you think of the Late, Late Show?”, which disclosed the opinions, humour and sentiments of my colleagues. Our critical chat on official matters revealed our views on work problems, very often resulting in improvements. And qualms of conscience regarding an employer’s just right to a fair return of work, which was possibly deprived to them through office chat, were solved by the fact that work has a social aspect. The social aspect doesn’t exist in the “work from home” set-up, and many of the advantages established through office chat, including valuable friendships, may never be obtained. – Yours, etc,
EILEEN LYNCH,
Dublin 7.
Hoover, Carter and Ford
A chara, – Jimmy Carter was the second incumbent US president since Herbert Hoover in 1932 to lose a re-election bid, not the first (“Jimmy Carter obituary: Former US president was unwavering champion of civil rights and a peace broker in the Middle East”, World, December 30th). That was Gerald Ford in 1976, when he lost to Jimmy Carter. – Is mise,
LOMAN Ó LOINGSIGH,
Dublin 24.
Dance like no one is watching
Sir, – Reading the list of usual suspects taking part in the new season of Dancing with the Stars (“Everything you need to know about RTÉ's new season of the competition for the glitterball trophy”, TV and Radio, December 30th), can I suggest it be renamed Dancing with the Staff? – Yours, etc,
ULTAN Ó BROIN,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.
A line in the sand
Sir, – Una Mullally observes that Peak Ireland was reached in 2024 as a green tsunami of Irish culture swamped the globe (“From Paul Mescal to Bad Sisters to Claire Keegan, the green wave keeps rolling”, Opinion & Analysis, December 30th).
But her roll call of the pacesetters omits the breakout star of the year – TG4′s Crá which has done for the beaches, coastline and landscapes of Gaoth Dobhair what Star Wars did for Skellig Michael. – Yours, etc,
Dr JOHN DOHERTY,
Gaoth Dobhair,
Co Dhún na nGall.
Not of one mind on referendums
Sir, – You write that the proposals which were put to the people in referendums in March 2024 “were unanimously defeated” (”Immigration and the rise and fall of the Irish far right in 2024″, Politics, Review of 2024, December 30th).
This will come as news to the 487,564 and the 393,053 people who voted Yes in the polls. Perhaps you intended simply that both proposals were defeated. – Yours, etc,
PAT O’BRIEN,
Dublin 6.
Checking the crystal ball
Sir, – Fintan O’Toole warns of the dangers of making predictions: “Ten predictions experts made about the world in 2025. All of them are wrong” (Opinion & Analysis, December 31st, 2024).
The irony is that 2025 is the centenary of predictions by one scientist who was an exception to such a rule.
In 1925 scientist and inventor Prof Archibald Montgomery Low wrote a book called The Future.
Among the possibilities he mentioned were being woken by radio alarm clock; communications “by personal radio set”; breakfasting “with loudspeaker news and television glimpses of events”; shopping centres “with moving stairways and moving pavements”. – Yours, etc,
FRANK DESMOND,
Cork.
Seanad election – university seats
Sir, – The postman arrived with six pieces of post, two of which were registered. Thinking they were late Christmas cards, I sat at the breakfast table to enjoy the greetings. To my surprise, none of the post was for me but two each for three of my children who have long flown the nest. All the correspondence was from candidates in the Seanad University of Dublin election 2025. It does seem so unfair and unjust that my wife and I, after working all our lives to rear and educate our children, have no part to play in this upcoming Seanad election but must stand by as observers as our children exercise their franchise. When will this obvious discrimination end? – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN WRIGHT,
Lucan,
Co Dublin.
Grind schools and education
Sir, – A lot of column inches have been used up attacking some sectors of the private education system here. Not a mention is made of the so-called grind schools skimming off the better-funded students from the so-called free sector. These institutions are there for one purpose and one purpose only, that is to push students to achieve results that many will fail to keep up when claiming courses that may be really be beyond their actual abilities. An interesting project for our national papers would be to look at the progression rates from third-level education of our second-level students instead of the current awful Leaving Cert ratings that currently appears each autumn. – Yours, etc,
JOHN K ROGERS,
Rathowen,
Co Westmeath.
Living in a plastic world
Sir, – What is the story with those little plastic stickers now being used by producers on each individual piece of fruit and veg, which are already sealed inside a labelled plastic bag, and often on a plastic tray? – Yours, etc,
SUSAN GREENE,
Castlerea,
Co Roscommon.
Choc tactics for January
Sir, – Throwing out the endless packaging material of Christmas lead me on a disappointed forage through several advent calendars. Nothing had escaped. It occurs to me that, in a month of celebration and conviviality, these chocolate boxes add relatively little but that a January equivalent would help a lot in that most dispiriting of months. As many people try the triple hit of exercising more, forgoing alcohol and, increasingly, vegetarianism, a soupçon of chocolate each day could alleviate some of the sense of sacrifice. I wonder have they any left to clear in the supermarket? – Yours, etc,
BRIAN O’BRIEN,
Kinsale,
Co Cork.
Incredibly incredible
Sir, – In the absence of a more laudable new year’s resolution may I suggest replacing the word “incredibly” with the shorter and more old-fashioned word “very”?
And perhaps be a little more adventurous and substitute the word “incredible” occasionally with myriad alternatives like amazing, wonderful, fabulous, glorious, extraordinary, unreal, prodigious, awesome, astounding, stunning, super, mind-boggling, spectacular, sensational or even plain great. – Yours, etc,
FERGUS OWENS,
Beauparc,
Co Meath.
Power of the public servants
Sir, – Referring to the need for independence for the National Archives service, letter writer John Grenham (December 31st, 2024) asks if any of our elected representatives are willing to take on the Civil Service. It is a question that needs to be broadened.
As a public representative now for over 30 years, I have seen the power of civil servants magnify and the power of elected representatives decline. I have seen the damage done by this and foresee the enormous damage it will do until democratically elected politicians take back power.
Contrary to so much of what passes for public commentary in Ireland, the “civil servants/public service” do not always know best. – Yours, etc,
Cllr DERMOT LACEY,
(Labour),
Dublin 4.
Keeping the home fires burning
Sir, – I see the Green Party’s initiative to decarbonise Ireland is working to the extent that the 10th most watched TV programme on Ireland’s Netflix in December is an hour-long video of a burning log fire in a domestic fireplace.
It features the sound of crackling burning wood increasing in intensity and then the slow demise of the burning wood fire. As a committed real domestic fire fan, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Then again it could be a metaphor for minority political parties that burn brightly for a specified time but ultimately end in dying embers, awaiting phoenix-like resurgence in years to come. – Yours, etc,
JOHN O’CONNELL,
Letterkenny,
Co Donegal.