Madam, – Micheál Martin, while posing for the cameras in a sweet shop in Cork, states that Enda Kenny’s trip to meet Angela Merkel is “nothing more than a photo opportunity to make himself look prime-ministerial” (Home News, February 14th). Interesting times indeed. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I read with incredulity Sinn Fein’s election call that “money confiscated by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) should be invested in the communities worst affected by crime” (Home News, February 10th). But then, after some thought, I realised that this was just yet another election stroke! If Sinn Féin’s criminal associates are unlucky enough to get nabbed by CAB then at least their ill-gotten gains will be invested back in the area in which they likely originated. Breathtaking hypocrisy! –Yours, etc,
Madam, – Michael Clancy is wrong (February 11th). Young Fine Gael fully endorses the Fine Gael plan to invigorate the Irish language and the manner in which it is taught. If we do not change the way Irish is taught, the future of Irish is uncertain.
Fine Gael will change the way Irish is taught in our schools so that Irish people will no longer finish secondary school, having learnt Irish for 13 years, and still being unable to speak the language. Fine Gael will change the curriculum so that Irish children learn the practical elements of the language up to junior certificate level, where they will not be forced to spend time learning poetry to the detriment of learning how to actually speak the language to each other.
After 10 years of the new and improved curriculum, then, and only then, will Irish become optional for the Leaving Certificate. The biggest indictment of the current syllabus is that many people after just five years learning a foreign language in secondary school come out of school more fluent in that foreign language than they do in Irish. The Fine Gael plan aims to change that. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Much is made in the media and among his opponents about Enda Kenny’s lack of charisma. And there is no doubt that when it comes to charisma, no one does it quite like Fianna Fáil. First we had the charismatic Dev (without him there would have been no Civil War and no trade war with Britain in the 1930s). Then there was the charismatic Jack Lynch (without him there would have been no giveaway budget in 1977 which ruined us again). Then we had the charismatic Charlie followed by the ever-so charismatic Bertie and Brian who got us to where we are today. The excellent Seán Lemass and Albert Reynolds were not very charismatic and yet they did not bring us close to financial ruin. So if Mr Kenny is a bit short of charisma, and if he has the wisdom and strength to get us out of our mess, I will settle for that. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The image of young volunteers, sweeping up the debris of revolution in Tahrir Square Cairo, shortly after Egyptians courageously ousted a hated regime, is both iconic and symbolic of the changes which ordinary people can bring about through their courage and persistence.
Our country will soon have an opportunity to bring about a change in government that might not be as dramatic as the events in Cairo; nevertheless it represents a real opportunity for people to make changes to the business of government in this country.
Let us hope that our young citizens, whose futures are greatly dependent on wise and responsible government in the coming years, will turn out in force to do their democratic duty. – Yours, etc,