Madam, – Enda Kenny’s Irish-language “initiative” is to have Irish as an optional subject after the Junior Certificate. One would be hard pressed to find another country in the world that is willing to throw its past (and thereby its future) to the winds. Yes, the revival project (like so many other worthy projects) has been botched and yes, the education sector was asked to bear too much of the project’s weight. But is Mr Kenny’s “initiative” the answer?
Surely we can find creative solutions to the problem and encourage young people to engage with our cultural legacy in a meaningful, inspiring, dynamic and beautiful way? The truth of the matter is this: without a good knowledge of the Irish language and a familiarity with the richness of Gaelic heritage that comes with this knowledge, how would Mr Kenny himself know that his name derives from Éanna, one of the great fathers of Irish monasticism whose name was synonymous with education in Aran, Ireland and Europe, a fact acknowledged by Pearse when naming his model school St Enda’s/Scoil Éanna?
Back to the drawing board, please, Mr Kenny, while there is still time. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I was very impressed by the performance of Micheál Martin, leader of the Reform Party in Tuesday night’s TV debate. His vision and innovative ideas were refreshing. I have no doubt that had a man of his conviction and clear leadership qualities been in government over the past 14 years the country would be in much better shape now. What a pity the leader of Fianna Fáil did not participate in the debate. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Our first taoiseach was quoted as saying, “If I wish to know what the Irish want, I look into my own heart”. When the person likely to be our next taoiseach requires such knowledge, he comes to Carrick on Shannon. By doing so, he merely confirms what we have known for years – Leitrim is the heartbeat of the nation. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Micheál Martin should be allowed to take part in the leaders’ debates only if he agrees to wear sackcloth and ashes. Considering the ongoing economic nightmare which is his Government’s legacy, the sight of him preening himself and scoring brownie points in the virtual world of TV is too much. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I would suggest that the only people interested in the televised leaders' debates are the media and (possibily) members of the political parties involved. I have yet to speak to someone who endured more than 10 minutes of Tuesday's TV3 debate before switching channels. Most people want to see a plan to pull Ireland out of the pit of recession we have been recklessly thrown into – not a political X Factorto see who is the best debater. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – After watching the first of the debates, I was struck by the fear that it might make a difference to how some people may vote.
While predictably both sides are saying they “won” the debate, what does it matter who the best TV debater is? Plenty of school debates have been won by good orators defending a position few would agree with. But it will not make a difference to the plight of the country whether Mr Martin or Mr Gilmore or Mr Kenny or Mr Adams or Mr Gormley can use words more intelligently or seductively than the other in an hour- long battle of wits. There are plenty of examples in history of good orators convincing a public to vote for them and then leading their country to disaster.
The media are, of course, driving this, and the politicians are attempting to make use of the media in a bizarrely symbiotic and at the same time parasitic dance. Both are putting far too much emphasis on what amounts to showbiz and soundbites and a concentration on personalities rather than policies. If the first debate is anything to go by, they will consist of deflecting attention away from their own shortcomings by attacks and accusations made at the opposing parties, leaving us with nothing more than a view of who threw the best verbal punches, or who is the best actor.
This country needs better than that right now and the media can take some level of responsibility by looking for other forms of more detailed and calm analysis instead of clamouring for more and more of these short predicable squabbles. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – It was a novel idea of Edna Kenny to decline to take his chair in the TV3 election debate and offer his empty chair as a symbol of the many Irish people who have left the Republic since the death of the Celtic tiger.
Perhaps Gerry Adams might also decline to appear in his TV debate and leave his chair vacant to represent “The Disappeared” murdered by the IRA with the approval of Sinn Féin. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Why is there such anguished and protracted debate over whether the correction to the fiscal situation up to 2014 varies up or down by a couple of billion euro? The outgoing Government repeatedly poured multiples of these amounts into the bottomless coffers of the then private sector banks, with small thought, little debate and no anguish, and with no concern whatever about retrieving the money thus squandered. Why the difference in treatment of these few billions? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Literary scholars are not poets, music critics do not make an orchestra, and football commentators should confine their activities to the local park.
Voters need to elect a parliament which can deal with problems, not one which is a horde of critics. There has been much criticism of Fintan O’Toole and his likes for not standing, but of course they are right. And a Dáil suffused with Independents? Just a sack of fleas. Busy, no doubt, but ineffective.
Voters are sceptical about the parties, and rightly so. Nevertheless, only the parties have a realistic chance of addressing the problems. The critical voice, the “intelligence that comes after” does have a significant role to play, but the most serious criticism must come from without, not from within.
Which is why one of the most significant demands in this election should be for transparency and accountability in all of the workings of the Dáil and its TDs. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I want to hear from Messrs Kenny, Gilmore, Martin, etc, only once. Any further debates should be held among all the parties’ spokespersons. I am much more interested in what Mr Noonan, Ms Burton and the other three Finance spokespeople have to say to us in one debate. Ditto Health, Education, Enterprise etc.
As ministers they are the people who will be making the real decisions. After all, we had 10-plus years of Bertie telling us everything was “just grand lads” while his Minister for Finance was walking us into the catastrophe in which we now live. The frightening thing is that not only did we believe him, he believed it himself.
This is the only way the whole country will have a chance to see those who will really be running the government from March 9th. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I know it’s all gobbledygook, but when I see New Fianna Fáil’s slogan “Real Plan Better Future” I think I’m reading “Real Fianna Fáil Pension Plan equals a Better Future”. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I was pleased to read Enda Kenny’s acknowledgment that “Government Ministers were paid too much and given huge sums of goodbye money as they left politics, even though they brought the country to its financial knees”, (Home News, February 8th). I also welcome his plans for political reform including the capping of the taoiseach’s salary at €200,000.
How I would have liked to hear something like the following: “We are a poor, indeed almost bankrupt, little country. If elected taoiseach I have decided to cap my salary at €100,000 (more than twice the average industrial wage) with pro rata reductions in the salaries of all politicians and their expenses.” I could then listen without squirming to talk of integrity and public service. I could also listen more easily to the call for more generosity from all sectors of the community. – Yours, etc,