DARRIN MORRISSEY
Sir, - In the light of Minister for Sport Dr. Jim McDaid's remarks about suicide, I strongly urge him not to resign.
If he were to resign there would be the possibility that he could return to general medical practice and I shudder to think of a patient suffering from depression and suicidal thoughts attending his surgery in search of sympathy, understanding and treatment.
Dr McDaid should stay in politics! It's really the only arena where his callous, uncaring and flippant attitudes are an asset rather than a liability. - Yours, etc.,
DARRIN MORRISSEY Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin
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Sir, - While I despise the criticism made by Mr McDaid of victims of suicide, sadly, it does not surprise me to hear this coming from a Fianna Fail Minister.
It epitomises the party's lack of compassion and respect which comes through in many of their social policies. This lack of understanding is the underlying theme that has resulted in the following:
1) the percentage of people living in poverty is the same as four years ago;
2) the government has sanctioned a trespassing Act when they know that not even 50 per cent of the required halting sites have been provided for travellers;
3) a huge amount of money can be spent on a sham abortion referendum instead of tackling the underlying issues behind teenage pregnancy and prevention of the situation as much as is possible;
4) a junior doctor friend of mine on driving home after work falls asleep behind the wheel and crashes her car after working a 90-hour week;
5) 25 per cent of Irish adults have literacy difficulties.
We could go on to cite the escalation of crime, the drugs issue, child poverty etc. The tragic thing is that this party will probably get back in to government if Irish people don't make social policy top of the agenda. - Yours, etc.,
FIONA DILLON, North Circular Road, Dublin 7.
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Sir, - Dr. Jim McDaid's simplistic comments regarding suicide could be dismissed as attention-seeking, ill-informed opinions if they came from an ordinary member of the public.
However, coming from a medical practitioner who (one would expect) has an understanding of psychology and the complexities of human behaviour makes such comments all the more serious.
The Minister's defence for his comments, indicating that his intention was to prevent the occurrence of suicide, would be laughable if the issue involved was not so serious, - Yours, etc.,
JOE MCGOLDRICK, Skerries, Co Dublin.
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Sir, - Dr James McDaid, TD, has apologised for his remarks that 90% of the people who commit suicide are selfish bastards as his remarks caused hurt and discomfort. Opposition parties have accused him of being cruel and insensitive.
His original remarks, his apology and the comments of others have concentrated upon the feelings and reactions of others, not those who are contemplating suicide. Feelings of anger and hurt are common and understandable among those who are left behind, and it is these that the Minister was addressing.
In very many cases those contemplating suicide are indeed considering the feelings of others and see their death as a way of not hurting them further. If the Minister, or anyone else, is actually concerned with preventing suicide it is the feelings of those who are contemplating suicide that should be considered. Those considering suicide should indeed think of themselves not others.
In this instance it is worrying that these remarks came from a member of the medical profession who it might be expected would be more sensitive to these issues. Perhaps the Minister should stick to politics where such sensitivity is evidently not a requirement. - Yours, etc.,
TIM SPALDING, Fanad, Co Donegal.
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Sir, - I read with interest your Security Editor Jim Cusack's assessment of the proposals of each of the political parties to tackle the problems of street violence. His interest in the Fine Gael Justice and Law Reform Programme was evidenced by his absence from the press conference we held last Sunday to launch the document. Nevertheless, I would have expected he would have taken greater trouble in preparing his article to detail the specific initiatives proposed by Fine Gael to make our streets safe and end the orgy of escalating street violence that the current Government has failed to address during five years in office.
Fine Gael emphasises the need for new policing priorities which result in a more visible and regular presence of gardai on the beat; new priority being given to the installation of garda CCTV systems (on which the Government spent only £33,000 last year); the enactment of new public order legislation and the provision of mandatory minimum sentences which would ensure those found guilty of violent assault and car hi-jacking are dealt with in a manner which ensures that they no longer feel immune from being held legally accountable for their actions.
New structures for local communities to engage in dialogue with the Garda Siochana and to influence local policing priorities are also proposed and a commitment given to ensure we have adequate remand places for juveniles awaiting trial on serious charges. We must end the revolving door system whereby such juveniles are presently released into the community to reoffend because we currently only have 31 juvenile remand places for the entire country, despite the needs in this area being highlighted throughout the five years of the current government's term in office.
The Fine Gael Programme also proposes that juveniles become eligible to be required by the courts to undertake community service, a proposal rejected by the Minister for Justice when proposed by me to be included in the Children Act 2001.
Jim Cusack also makes no mention of Fine Gael's commitment to enact new legislation to tackle fraud and corruption; to provide a national DNA database; to provide additional drug courts and to ensure fines imposed by the courts are actually collected. No mention is also made by him of our commitment to enact new legislation to give statutory rights to the victims of crime.
During my term as Fine Gael Justice and Law Reform Spokesperson I have become used to Jim Cusack largely relying on the Government and Garda Press Offices and Department of Justice public relations statements for many of his stories.
Nevertheless, as we are now in the midst of a General Election campaign, I would have expected a more balanced and considered approach from him and that he would have taken some time to critically analyse the performance in the justice area of the current Government. No mention is made by him of the Government's failure to-date to publish the Garda Report for 2001, the Report of the Garda Complaints Board for 1999, 2000 or 2001, the scandalous delays in processing Garda compensation claims properly made by members of the force injured in the line of duty nor of the current industrial chaos and staff shortages affecting the workings of the Forensic Science Laboratory or the Probation and Welfare Service.
In lauding Fianna Fáil as being "clearest" in its approach to law and order, your Security Editor appears to be locked in a 1997 General Election time-warp in which he is giving starry-eyed credit to Fianna Fáil for recycling old promises made and giving credibility to the proposal that the simple recruitment of 2,000 additional gardai will resolve the escalating problem of street violence.
What Jim Cusack chooses to ignore is that Fianna Fáil has still failed to fully deliver on its 1997 promise to increase garda numbers and that the Department of Finance has already confirmed that it would take a further ten years of Fianna Fáil in government to implement its latest promised increase in garda numbers.
It is not the mere recruitment of additional gardai that will resolve the problem of street violence. What is required in the justice area is a substantially different approach to policing and the gardai having available to them the additional resources and equipment required to do the job in a manner in which the general public receives the protection to which it is entitled.
The current Minister for Justice when assuming office said that his success or failure would be judged by how safe the citizens of this State felt when the current Government completed its term. The Minister and the Government have totally failed this test. I do not believe that the latest batch of promises made by either Fianna Fail or the P.D.s to tackle the problems of street violence are given any credibility by the general public. - Yours, etc.,
ALAN SHATTER T.D., Fine Gael Spokesman for Justice, Law Reform and Defence, Dáil Éireann
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Sir, - Jim Cusack's dismissal of Labour's proposals for an accountable Garda Authority are indicative of a broader problem in bringing about significant change in Irish society.
Very often those charged with reporting on an area find themselves sucked into the workings of the existing system. Fine journalists can, at times, simply get too close to the existing system to give reform proposals fair scrutiny. When Labour presented its reform package for politics, freedom of information, ethics in public office act and regulated funding of political parties, the argument was made that it was bureaucratic and unnecessary.
Labour's proposals for Garda reform are driven by a desire to secure best practice policing.
They are about re-enforcing the link between the gardaí and the communities they serve. They recognise that after 75 years of operating under the same structures, that the time to consider radical change appropriate to a new era is long overdue. They recognise too that any debate about crime has also to be about the nature of policing.
Jim Cusack's summary of Labour's manifesto proposals to appoint 2,000 extra gardaí is not accurate. Labour's manifesto endorses a Garda Representative Association proposal to undertake an optimum numbers survey of Garda manpower to independently determine the numbers required for effective policing.
Finally, The Irish Times reported a Department of Finance letter received by the Labour Party which makes the point that it would take ten years to deploy 2,000 additional gardaí thereby making a nonsense of Fianna Fail's key manifesto commitment.
Political parties are often criticised for the lack of substantial and radical proposals for reform. When, as now, such proposals are made, it is a pity that there exists such a reluctance to embrace needed change. - Yours etc.,
BRENDAN HOWLIN TD, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, Dáil Éireann
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Sir, - I am eagerly awaiting Jackie Healy Rea's economic manifesto, Dana's plans for national broadband development and Tony Gregory's long-term vision for the viability of the small family farm. These documents, coupled with the ability of the main parties to deal with local annoying problems, could make us the envy of democracies across Europe. - Yours, etc.,
JAMES COLLINS, Glasnevin, Dublin 11.
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Sir, - Cllr Larry O'Toole of Sinn Féin proposes (Letters, May 2nd), in effect, the quasi-nationalisation of motor insurance as an avenue to lowering insurance premia. Apart from the fact that the Soviet Union has already demonstrated how effective nationalisation can really be, there is a much simpler solution.
In 1999, when living abroad, my car was comprehensively insured in Holland for an annual premium of 2,688 guilders (€1,220) valid all over Europe including Ireland. But when I moved back to Ireland that year, my Dutch insurance company informed me that EU regulations forbade them to insure a resident of Ireland, and, as a result, I had to change to an Irish company, for which the best offer was IR£ 1,260 (€1,600).
It is Irish protectionism alone that allows Irish insurance companies to gouge their customers. If the EU's single market were allowed to operate in the insurance market, premia would drop overnight, and not just for cars. - Yours, etc.,
TONY ALLWRIGHT, Killiney, Co Dublin.
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Sir, - Is it a measure of the utter contempt for road safety of our politicians (and would-be politicians) that, driving from Cork to Shannon yesterday, I saw election posters mounted on road signs from the following candidates: Allen, Bradford, Breen, Carey, Collins, Creed, Finucane, Minihan, Moynihan, Murphy, Neville, O'Callaghan, O'Dea, Sherlock, Taylor-Quinn - as well as posters featuring Michael Noonan and Bertie Ahern? -Yours, etc.,
BRIAN O'KANE, Rochestown Rise, Cork.
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Sir, - As part of their election campaign, the Labour Party is suggesting making two new public holidays. Before any such holidays are declared I suggest that the position of Good Friday should be regularised. At present Good Friday is a bank but not a public holiday. Some businesses give their employees the day off, others do not. As far as I know Good Friday is a holiday for public servants and politicians, which may be part of the reason why this problem has not been addressed. - Yours, etc.,
LESLIE BOXWELL, Dalkey, Co Dublin.
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Sir, - Michael Dolan (May 1st) disagrees with expatriates having the right to vote. As someone who has grown up in the Republic but has lived in the North for the last 10 years, I currently have a vote in each state. This strikes me as illogical and possibly unfair, especially considering there may be cross border referenda in which I may cast two votes! Incidentally, when I was growning up and being indoctrinated into the ideal of a united Ireland, it confused me that people paid lip service to this ideal without either mentioning or bringing about the obvious solution. Namely, if enough moved North and registered to vote, there would be a nationalist majority. Too simple or too crafty? Or too much effort? - Yours, etc.,
FERGAL GALLAGHER, Stranmillis, Belfast.
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Sir, - Lies, damned lies, campaign promises. - Yours, etc.,
PETER de ROSA, Ashford, Co Wicklow.