Jill

28 December 2013 Jill

I go all the way around the park listening to the Navy Lark. Our heroes are in trouble, again. Heather and Judy feel they are being taken fro granted and are pressing them to get married. Priceless.

Potter around Jill comes for a visit.

Scrabbletoday Mary wins and gets well over 400, Perhaps Iwill win tomorrow.

Obituary:

Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, who has died of a heart attack aged 60, was the last scion of the Wadiyar dynasty that ruled the south Indian kingdom of Mysore between 1399 and Independence.

Though the hereditary rulers of Mysore have lost their temporal powers, Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar continued to observe the customary tradition whereby the maharaja, clad in rich silks and embroideries, ascends the golden throne in Mysore Palace and holds a durbar for subjects to pay their obeisance. During the final procession he travelled to a temple for prayers in a cart drawn by caparisoned bulls. Many Hindus in Mysore regarded him as a god.

Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar was born in Mysore on February 20 1953, the only son of Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar, the 25th and last ruling Maharaja of Mysore, and his second wife, Maharani Tripura Sundari Ammani Avaru. Though Jayachamarajendra had lost his powers, he was a close ally of Nehru and retained a constitutional position as the head of Mysore State within the Republic of India and later as Governor of Mysore State (now Karnataka).

Srikantadatta was brought up amid the opulence of the family’s many palaces in south India and educated at Maharaja College, Mysore (now the University of Mysore), where he took a degree in Political Science and captained the university cricket team. He completed his education at Sharda Vilas Law College, Mysore. After his father’s death, he inherited many properties and palaces in Mysore, Bangalore, Srirangapatanam, Ooty and Kemmangundi.

In 1984, in the elections to the Indian lower house of Parliament, the Lok Sabha, that followed the assassination of Indira Gandhi, he was chosen by her son Rajiv to contest the seat of Mysore for the Congress Party. He won and, except for a five-year period in the 1990s when he switched to the Bharatiya Janata Party and lost the seat to his Congress Party opponent, he served a total of four terms.

In the 1990s, with his wife Pramoda Devi, he developed a fashion business, promoting traditional Mysore silk saris under the own brand name Royal Silk of Mysore, which promised to re-create “the magic and glamour of a bygone era in a contemporary format”. Their fashion shows at the family’s Bangalore Palace, one of many royal palaces which he worked to restore, became a highlight of the city’s social calendar; but a project to launch the brand on the international market came to nothing.

Following the example of former princely families in Rajastan, Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar also sought to convert many of his palaces into hotels. He succeeded with the Fernhills Palace in the hill station of Ooty, now a five-star “heritage” hotel; but plans to convert the Rajendra Vilas Palace in Mysore made painfully slow progress and the hotel has yet to be completed.

Similarly, plans to launch a new airline, Maharaja Airlines (branded the “Palace in the Sky”) never bore fruit, while his final years were overshadowed by a long-running dispute with state and national governments over the terms under which some of his family palaces had been nationalised in the 1990s.

A fervent believer in the power of the stars, the Maharaja refused to do anything without the consent of his astrologers and numerologists. The number 1953, his date of birth, had a great significance for him and featured in his mobile phone numbers and car registrations – quite a feat since at one point he had 20 cars and was known to carry a dozen mobile phones – separate devices for family, business, friends and so on.

The Maharaja was involved with many educational and cultural organisations and at one point lectured in Political Science at Mysore University. A lover of good food, crime fiction and music, from Indian classical to Western pop, he was also a passionate fan of cricket, golf and racing. At one time he bred racehorses and he was twice elected president of the Karnataka State Cricket Association.

The Maharaja had no children (some cited a 400-year old family curse), telling an interviewer in 2009 that he would not think about a successor until he was 70 years old.

He is survived by his wife.

Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, born February 20 1953, died December 10 2013

Guardian:

Independent

Boxing Day is the only day on which the hunting lobby welcomes cameras. On every other day of the year, there is no surer guarantee of being violently assaulted and having your camcorder smashed than to attempt to film a hunt.

Christopher Clayton

Waverton, Cheshire

Too bad Andy McSmith’s education (Diary, 20 December) missed out on the importance of Hawick as a centre for Harris tweed production, an essential fact in geography when I was at secondary school 50 years ago. It’s an example of the rigour that Mr Gove hankers after.

Professor Guy Woolley

Nottingham

At least Mary Dejevsky admits that her hostitility towards family-friendly opera is ill-informed (“Child-friendly opera? Is nothing sacred?”, 20 December). The idea that opera is the exclusive preserve of a few is ridiculously outdated. Opera is a richly diverse art-form for which there is demand from a diverse range of audiences.

The engagement of children with the arts is critical if we are to nurture a new generation of culturally literate and passionate audiences and artists. But the main driver is in fact not to catch ’em young as Mary suggests. Instead, we believe that young people have as much right to high-quality arts activity as everyone else. And all the evidence suggests that young audiences are often much less prejudiced than their elders who insist on compartmentalising our cultural landscape.

The Royal Opera House has been commissioning family-friendly work for many years and if Mary Dejevsky came to see How the Whale Became, or other productions such as The Firework Maker’s Daughter, which we presented earlier in the year, I suspect she would find the art-form is far from simplified and that an audience involving young people can be as avid and focused as any.

And there is no reason to fear that her own enjoyment of opera will be compromised. Last night, we completed a run of performances of Parsifal, a wonderful production of a great opera. I suspect there were few children in the audience for this five-hour experience, which is also fine.

John Fulljames

Associate Director, The Royal Opera

London WC2

Following Bernie Evans’s letter (17 December) – my old school not only had A and B streams but also league tables every half term and promotion and relegation at the end of the year. The whole place was run as if we were football clubs. Today perhaps it has play-offs between pupils as well.

Ian Craine

London N15

The Owen Jones attack on secondary modern schools (19 December) was just the kind of quality writing that inspired me to leave the secondary modern school where I was teaching unqualified in the 1960s, go to teacher training college and commit myself to work in comprehensive community education.

I cut it out to send to one of the unqualified teachers that Ukip and pals are hoping to employ in all these new secondary modern schools they plan to reinvent.

Peter Thomson

Hitchin, Hertfordshire

With due respect to those that suffered the grammar school a system in place  40 years ago we must  acknowledge that a significant number benefited from it and gained social mobility (letters, 17 December). It is no surprise that the current government is packed with products of the private schools, when ours was the generation that experienced the comprehensive system which denied opportunity to the very bright to get to the very top.

To consider the  return of selection, we should look at the evidence of Germany, France and Switzerland where formal schooling starts later. They operate a three-tier system successfully, with movement between tiers at 13 and 15 possible. Once this is in place across the country all social classes have the opportunity to benefit.

The selective school debate omits the reality that currently at least 7 per cent of children are selected out of schooling by accident of wealth. The only way to properly break down social barriers is to keep our fantastic private schools but make them available on a merit basis, reverting to a full state selective school system.

Jane Allison

Edinburgh

Nigel Brody’s excellent suggestion (Letters, 16 December) to move Parliament and the Civil Service out of London touches on a much bigger issue: the total domination of the UK by London.

It is the political, financial, business, judicial, transport, media and cultural capital of the UK. The concentration in one city leads to an incestuous bubble where participants in each group know those from other groups intimately, and move between groups, trading power and influence as they go. They are insulated by wealth, geography and group-think from the lives of ordinary Britons, and for them life beyond the M25 exists only to provide holiday homes in quaint villages.

The effect of this full-spectrum domination of British economic and cultural life is the impoverishment of the other cities, towns and regions of the UK. This can be seen most starkly in the wild divergence of property values inside and outside of London (report 14 December), but can also be seen in the flow of human capital or arts funding towards London.

The contrasting fortunes of London and the rest of the UK make it difficult to pursue an economic policy that is suited to the whole country.

The US (New York, Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco), Germany (Berlin, Frankfurt), Italy (Milan, Rome) and Australia (Sydney, Canberra) are just a few examples of countries with different cities acting as financial, political, business, media or cultural capitals. If our poles of activity were spread across, for example, Leeds, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Cardiff, Manchester and London, the pressure on housing in the South-ast would ease, opportunity would be spread, and the lives of people across the whole of the UK would be enriched, culturally and financially.

Barry Richards

Cardiff

Like Homer, Guy Keleny very occasionally nods

If a serving Prime Minister either fails to seek, or fails to obtain, a vote of confidence in a parliament of a changed composition following a general election, he or she is not entitled to a dissolution without an opportunity being given to another party leader with a reasonable expectation of obtaining such a vote. This is not “overturning the verdict of the ballot box for party advantage”; such a verdict elects a parliament, not a government

Hence the “period for reflection” in the Fixed Term Parliaments Act in the event of a mid-term Vote of No Confidence, and similar provisions in relation to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly.

Philip Goldenberg

Woking, Surrey

No real power? What about Charles’s secret activities to influence government policies? How unconstitutional and anti-democratic is that?

Also this monarchy upholds the class system with all its snobbery and unearned privileges. The pageantry and parties exclude the people and reaffirm the anachronism of all this – out of step with a modern Britain.

Jenny Bushell

London SW19

Guy Keleny argues that the British monarchy is the “theatre” and not the reality of power; the ceremonial side that lends our system dignity (“Liberals can love the Royals too”, 26 December).

However it is the invisible tendrils of monarchy that are worrying: the monarch’s direct access to the Prime Minister, Prince Charles’s letter-writing to ministers, the armed forces and police officers swearing personal loyalty to the monarch and not a constitution, and the subtle influence of royal patronage and honours.

These  constitutional grey areas must be scrapped. Although our improvised constitution has never been seriously tested in the 20th century, we cannot assume all future monarchs will be benign and play by the rules.

Ian McKenzie

Lincoln

Steve Richards is right to highlight the role of the Royal Family in binding the nation together (“We love Christmas for the same reason we love the Royal Family. They give modern Britain a rare sense of community”, 24 December). This is not a political point, but more of a sociological one.

It was made eloquently by the celebrated academic Michael Young in his essay “The Meaning of the Coronation.” Young noted that the Queen’s Coronation in 1953, of which we marked the 60th anniversary this year, sparked a range of parties, fetes and gatherings. An estimated 17 million people in the UK took part in these. Inspired by the collective nature of the celebrations, he described them as a “great act of national communion.”

The Royal Family, both through one-off events and its day-to-day work with charities and visits, continues to provide a much needed sense of community and togetherness.

Zaki Cooper

Times:

Telegraph:

SIR – If, as Lord Carey suggests, the Government is guilty of “washing its hands” of the problem of worldwide anti-Christian persecution, it may indeed have something to do with the fact that, in Britain, many Christians “feel cowed into silence”.

111 Comments

SIR – Your editorial, “We must do more to protect against flooding”, calls for a renewed focus on prevention, and this makes total sense. I wonder where we have got to with the Pitt Review, following the floods in 2007.

“I do not usually air my grievances by writing letters to papers…” So starts one missive to the Tunbridge Wells Advertiser exactly 60 years ago. Sadly, 1954 marked the final year of publication for that doughty local newspaper.

Irish Times:

A chara, – Class sizes in Irish primary school classrooms have been the second highest in the European Union every year for two decades. The UK tops the league of shame, but at least there they employ a second adult in every classroom. In our context, no matter what economic circumstances we experience, any increase in primary school class size is a retrograde step. Strategic investment in primary education has stimulated economic success across the globe from Scandinavia to southern Asia. It makes perfect sense.

When Sheila Nunan (INTO) pointed out earlier this month that the current Government had actually increased class size in our small schools for the third year in succession she was highlighting the scandalous targeting of these schools by Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn.

Schools with 84 pupils had four mainstream teachers in 2012. Their average class size was 21 pupils, notably with at least two different class groups in each classroom. In 2013, due to Government cutbacks, these schools now have only three mainstream teachers. Consequently their average class size has increased to 28 pupils. This is a year on year increase of 33 per cent.

As a result of this Government’s unequal treatment of small schools, many of which lie at the centre of our rural communities, the quality of primary education in these schools is being compromised.

The reversal of the cuts in small schools must be prioritised in 2014. Children in rural schools deserve the same educational opportunities as those in city suburbs such as Swords.

The EU average class size is less than 20. Ireland now languishes close to an average of 25. Research shows that smaller class sizes, particularly when children are young, produce better educational outcomes, with average students moving from the 50th percentile to above the 60th percentile on achievement tests.

Despite the obstacle of overcrowded classes in most of our Irish primary schools, Ireland’s education system has been remarkably successful, as evidenced by recent Pisa scores.

Imagine how bright the future would look if we had the political will to reduce our average class sizes to 20 like our European neighbours, our economic competitors. We’ve done it in our most disadvantaged schools and are already reaping the rewards. My vision is class sizes of 20 for every primary school pupil by 2020. All it would take is a reduction of one pupil per teacher every September beginning in 2014. As a starting point, surely we will cherish all the nation’s children equally (in big schools and in small schools) by 2016. – Yours, etc,

JOHN BOYLE,

Principal Teacher,

St Colmcille’s Junior

National School,

Sir, – “Taoiseach Enda Kenny has ruled out the prospect of allowing all citizens to vote in Seanad elections, saying it was not what the framers of the Constitution envisaged” (Stephen Collins, December 19th). What a silly justification of an arrogant position. The framers of the Constitution were men of their time, they are long dead and their time has passed. And there must be very few left who simply voted for it either, those who did are all over 98.

To my mind two things are essential for a reformed Seanad: every citizen of voting age should have a vote in its election and every citizen of voting age should be entitled to stand for election.

After that, everything about its election, composition, functions, powers and duties should be up for discussion. By all accounts the present Constitutional Council of 100 has been a success and, although I would not agree with all the recommendations it has made so far, I feel it would be the proper forum for this discussion.

Senator Zappone says (Home News, December 6th) that a simple legislative amendment could provide for direct elections to all of the 43 panel seats; if that is the case I echo her, “What is the delay?” – Yours, etc,

PN CORISH,

Oaklands Drive,

Sir, – The news that the St Vincent’s hospital CEO, Nicholas Jermyn, is receiving a pay package of close to €300,000 per annum, including “top-ups” of €156,000 approximately (Home News, December 24th) only continues the already notorious trend of health executives of whatever stripe paying themselves excessive salaries. Even the director of finance/company secretary and the director of nursing in St Vincent’s have got in on the act, receiving “top ups” of various amounts.

It is clear that the Department of Health is in serious financial trouble.

It has the biggest budget shortfall of any government department and some poor sick people are going to suffer when medical items and services are cut because of this situation. Minister for Health James Reilly does not inspire anybody with confidence that this task will be carried out efficiently and with the least inconvenience to all concerned.

I hope the PAC gets to the bottom of this scandal and see appropriate action is taken to remedy the situation and, ideally, that steps are taken to ensure a repetition does not occur. People making a living from the health service is one thing, people milking it is a different thing altogether. – Yours, etc,

LIAM COOKE,

Greencastle Avenue,

Sir, – The Gathering generated €170 million in tourism revenue (Home News, December 23rd). Perhaps it is now time for Gabriel Byrne to eat that humble pie? – Yours, etc,

URSULA HOUGH-

GORMLEY,

Sir, – David McConnell (Opinion, December 24th) argues, convincingly, the benefits of genetically modified (GM) food. He is less convincing when he asserts that it is safe. He points to a “consensus” that Europe has got it wrong, and “more than a decade of research” that, he says, has shown GM plants to be no less risky than others. But he offers no argument, no explanation.

Prof McConnell heaps scorn on “politicians and the media, one group as ill-informed as the other”. Of course, it isn’t easy to explain specialised scientific subjects to politicians, the media, or rest of us. But it has to be done. If science educators (of all people) merely rely on authority and don’t explain, we remain uninformed.

In a commencement address at Caltech in 2008, American journalist Robert Krulwich argued powerfully for the importance of science making its case well in the public arena. Like McConnell, Krulwich cited Galileo, who got into trouble precisely because he made his case so well, not only by dropping balls from Pisa’s famous tower, but also in writing that was gorgeous, poetic, combative . . . and ultimately persuasive. – Yours, etc,

EAMONN CONLON,

Dublin Road,

Shankill, Co Dublin.

A chara, – The stormy weather that we endured over the Christmas period was significant, not only for the damage and disruption that it caused, but also for the manner in which it highlighted the hypocritical and often vicious nature of large sections of the Irish media and Irish public life.

Not so long ago, during the recent dispute over the diminution of their pension rights, ESB engineers were the subject of some nasty headlines and reporting, accusing them of “holding the country to ransom” and labelling them as “greedy” and “grinches” that were out to steal Christmas.

Yet on Christmas Eve, as the majority of the rest of us were relaxing, doing some last-minute shopping, wrapping presents or maybe starting Christmas celebrations, the “grinches” were out all over the country, trying to restore power to thousands of families so that they could enjoy Christmas.

The next time a group of workers has the temerity to stand up for their agreed pension rights and conditions, perhaps our media could retain a little perspective and not cheer-lead a self-serving and puerile attack. – Is mise,

SIMON O’CONNOR,

Lismore Road,

Sir, – William Reville (Science, December 19th) extensively quoted Prof Mike Gibney’s assertion that many factors including genetics are key to tackling obesity and that focusing on socio-economic and food-chain factors are too simplistic.

Obesity is well acknowledged to be a complex problem with many factors influencing it. And while the role of genetics in weight gain is one important factor, in Ireland in the past 20 years, obesity has doubled in women and tripled in men. Worryingly, the National Pre-School Nutrition survey reported 6 per cent of three-year-olds are now obese, while one in four of our primary school children is overweight or obese. This is clearly not just a result of genetics.

Public health awareness campaigns have been developed with the aim of changing things we can actually change; the foods we eat and how active we are as families. We can’t change our genes. Our current Safefood campaign in partnership with Healthy Ireland was developed based on strong feedback from parents that they wanted a solutions-based approach and advice on how to make practical, sustainable changes to their everyday lifestyle habits.

Dr Reville expresses reservations about the socio-economic influences, yet current childhood obesity figures in Ireland clearly show gradients in levels of overweight and obesity by social class: boys and girls from professional households have the same probability of overweight or obesity (19 per cent boys/18 per cent girls) but for the unskilled group the comparable probabilities are 29 per cent of boys and 32 per cent of girls. This social class variation is also evident in adults where overweight and obesity is the norm and therefore levels are high in all social groups.

Dr Reville queries a focus on certain foods (“fast foods” and sugary drinks). However, the evidence base for an association between sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and overweight is robust. Similarly, health authorities including the World Health Organisation and the Department of Health recommend very limited intake of foods high in fat, sugar and salt. Dr Reville does, however, usefully point out that overeating any food as well as the quality of foods is important.

Tackling an issue as complex as obesity requires a multi-pronged approach and halting or even slowing down overweight and obesity trends of the last 20 years won’t be easy. Food industry initiatives and Government policy form elements of the approach. Public awareness interventions focusing on our food choices and activity habits are also internationally recognised as an important step. – Yours, etc,

MARTIN HIGGINS,

Chief Executive Officer,

Sir, – William Reville (Science, December 19th) extensively quoted Prof Mike Gibney’s assertion that many factors including genetics are key to tackling obesity and that focusing on socio-economic and food-chain factors are too simplistic.

Obesity is well acknowledged to be a complex problem with many factors influencing it. And while the role of genetics in weight gain is one important factor, in Ireland in the past 20 years, obesity has doubled in women and tripled in men. Worryingly, the National Pre-School Nutrition survey reported 6 per cent of three-year-olds are now obese, while one in four of our primary school children is overweight or obese. This is clearly not just a result of genetics.

Public health awareness campaigns have been developed with the aim of changing things we can actually change; the foods we eat and how active we are as families. We can’t change our genes. Our current Safefood campaign in partnership with Healthy Ireland was developed based on strong feedback from parents that they wanted a solutions-based approach and advice on how to make practical, sustainable changes to their everyday lifestyle habits.

Dr Reville expresses reservations about the socio-economic influences, yet current childhood obesity figures in Ireland clearly show gradients in levels of overweight and obesity by social class: boys and girls from professional households have the same probability of overweight or obesity (19 per cent boys/18 per cent girls) but for the unskilled group the comparable probabilities are 29 per cent of boys and 32 per cent of girls. This social class variation is also evident in adults where overweight and obesity is the norm and therefore levels are high in all social groups.

Dr Reville queries a focus on certain foods (“fast foods” and sugary drinks). However, the evidence base for an association between sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and overweight is robust. Similarly, health authorities including the World Health Organisation and the Department of Health recommend very limited intake of foods high in fat, sugar and salt. Dr Reville does, however, usefully point out that overeating any food as well as the quality of foods is important.

Tackling an issue as complex as obesity requires a multi-pronged approach and halting or even slowing down overweight and obesity trends of the last 20 years won’t be easy. Food industry initiatives and Government policy form elements of the approach. Public awareness interventions focusing on our food choices and activity habits are also internationally recognised as an important step. – Yours, etc,

MARTIN HIGGINS,

Chief Executive Officer,

Sir, – You re-published 40 of the year’s letters under the heading Letters 2013 (Opinion, December 27th), presumably to give a flavour of the year’s issues in brief. Of these some 80 per cent were from men. I think that it tells its own story, in brief. – Yours, etc,

EDITH WYNNE,

Terenure Road West,

Dublin 6W.

Sir, – I have been reading, with avid interest, accounts of the ethnic tensions emerging in the newly-established state of South Sudan. As a member of a congregation which has Sisters in Rumbek, in the Lakes District, and because of my studies about the Holocaust, I am extremely concerned about adverse political developments affecting the people of South Sudan.

How many times do we have to hear such stories of ethnic cleansing, and pose as bystanders, observing but doing little to counteract it?

Throughout history, we have seen situations such as the fate of the Jews in Nazi occupied territories in Europe, the victims of the Pol Pot Regime in Cambodia, the conflicts involving the Tutsi and Hutu tribes in Rwanda, the Kikuyu and Kalenjins in Kenya, Bosnians and Serbs in Srebenica.

What is happening to stop this relentless massacre in an age when we have every facility of communication, intervention, and dialogue available to us – more than in any other era?

I plead with whoever reads this to heed what is happening, to be informed about it, and to lobby where possible to effect peaceful solutions to this current conflict. In this season of peace and joy, can we hope that the voices of our 20,000 internally displaced people from Jonglei State to the Lakes State will be heard? – Yours, etc,

LOUISE O’SULLIVAN

IBVM, Loreto,

Sundrive Road,

Sir, – December 2013: the stock market up 35 per cent, a housing boom, income tax coming down and the Government throwing money at public service unions to avoid a strike. Whoopee! It’s 2003 all over again . . . – Yours, etc,

NORMAN DAVIES,

Belton Terrace,

Bray,

Co Wicklow.

Sir, – The Santa Splash at Portrush (Front page, December 23d) and the contrasting peacefulness of Bunnacurry Church, Achill (Front page, December 24th) December) are excellent examples of your newspaper’s flair in selecting eye-catching photographs.

I’m sure, like me, many readers have been impressed by the variety of topics and subjects published over the past year such as the crowded beach in summer, the view from the top of Sugarloaf, Seamus Heaney’s funeral or some of the 300-plus others. A picture does paint a thousand words. Please keep up the good work in 2014. – Yours, etc,

CHRISTIE COLHOUN,

Cennick Grove,

Gracehill,

Ballymena,

Co Antrim.

Sir, – Now that The Gathering has been launched and we are once more asked to don the green shirt, I would encourage the Taoiseach to also extend a warm welcome to our tax exiles to return to Ireland and pay their taxes here. – Yours, etc,

• The best of times, the worst of times

PATRICK HARRINGTON,

Ballinteer Court,

Dublin 16.
Inside Irish beef burgers

Sir, – Fifty shades of neigh. – Yours, etc,

ANTOIN MULLEN,

Kinsealy Court,

Kinsealy, Co Dublin.
Cry of the ‘Skibbereen Eagle’

Sir, – Are we beginning to regain our confidence ? Apparently so , to judge by your headline, “Kerry vows to keep pressure on Iran” (Breaking News, January 25th). Let Putin beware. – Yours, etc,

ROBIN HARTE,

Strawberry Beds, Dublin 20.

February
Fast forward to
‘Irish Times’ in 2023

Sir, – The front page of the futuristic Irish Times is interesting. It suggests that in 2023 we will have reached Mars and be holidaying in Space. Looking at the banner photograph on the front page however shows one woman very much stuck in the past . . . smoking a cigarette in public . . . in 2023! – Yours, etc,

EMMELINE SEARSON,

Bru na Ghruadan,

Castletroy, Co Limerick.
Breathalysing Deputy Daly

Sir, – So gardaí breathalysed Clare Daly, and got a breath of fresh air. Why are we not surprised? – Yours, etc,

OLIVER DUFFY,

Fremont Drive,

Melbourn Estate, Cork.
O’Brien defamation
and a ‘free press’

Sir, – Denis O’Brien awarded €150,000. Unfortunately, that is all I can say. – Yours, etc,

KEVIN DEVITTE,

Mill Street, Westport,

Co Mayo.
Selling State assets

Sir, – As the troika is insisting that we sell State assets, why don’t we hold on to our trees and sell the State-owned banks? – Yours, etc,

AVRIL HEDDERMAN,

Priory Grove,

Stillorgan, Co Dublin.
March
‘Provo’ car outrage

Sir, – Regarding the decision of Korean motor company Kia not to proceed with plans to name its new sports model “Provo” (Home News, March 6th): “Tiocfaidh ár carr”? – Yours, etc,

PAUL DELANEY,

Beacon Hill, Dalkey,

Co Dublin.
Property tax exemptions

Sir, – I note that houses in ghost estates are exempt from property tax (Politics, March 21st). A case of no taxation with visitation? – Yours, etc,

NIALL McARDLE,

Wellington Street,

Eganville,

Ontario, Canada .
Awash with the weather

Sir, – I see from the Front page (March 23rd) that among the items washed onto the N11 by the heavy rain were “tree particles”. Twigs’ bosons, perhaps? – Yours, etc,

MARK HAYDEN,

Rue des Epicéas, Brussels.
April
Trouble with threesomes

Sir, – Is today’s Ireland caught between the Trinity, the troika and the threesome? – Yours, etc,

MAOLSHEACHLANN

Ó CEALLAIGH,

Sillogue Gardens,

Ballymun, Dublin 11.
What of that?

Sir, – Does inserting an extra word in the Joyce coin (Home News, April 11th) constitute a form of “quantitative easing”, and so run foul of ECB rules? – Yours, etc,

FELIX M LARKIN,

Vale View Lawn,

Cabinteely, Dublin 18.
What of ‘that’?

Sir, – It would appear to me that it is no longer the story of “Why”, but the story of “That”. – Yours, etc,

ANE HASTIE,

Ballynerrin Lr, Wicklow.
May

• The best of times, the worst of times

Name for new Liffey bridge

Sir, – The suspension is killing me.- Yours, etc,

TOM GILSENAN,

Elm Mount,

Beaumont, Dublin 9.
Residence tax for emigrants

Sir, – Thanks to Ceire Sadlier and to The Irish Times for publishing her letter on May 13th, we too discovered that we were liable to pay the non principal private residence tax. It seems that The Irish Times Letters page is a more effective means of advertising this tax obligation than the local authorities’ choices so far. – Yours, etc,

THOMAS HUBERT &

MARY TRAYNOR,

Avenue Simon Bolivar,

Paris, France.
Shortage of humanist solemnisers

A chara, – Isn’t it ironic that humanist celebrants find themselves in limbo (Home News, May 27th) six years after the Vatican abolished it? – Is mise,

LOMAN O LOINGSIGH

Ellipper Road, Dublin 24.

June
Cuts in special needs assistance

Sir, – I assume the decision on supports for special needs primary school children makes Enda Kenny a Taoiseach who cares but not a caring Taoiseach. – Yours, etc,

DERMOT SHINNERS

-KENNEDY,

Ballysimon,

Limerick.
Hanging adverbs

Sir, – Paradoxically, while Frank McNally might sound like a hanging adverb, he is, in fact, a proper noun. – Yours, etc,

PÁDRAIC HARVEY

Bóthar an Chillín,

An Cheathrú Rua,

Co na Gaillimhe.
July
The dropping of O’Driscoll

Sir, – What . . .NO’Driscoll? – Yours, etc,

JOHN O’DONNELL,

Temple Villas,

Dublin 6.
Me Darwin, you Jane

Sir, – Would Charles Darwin regard the decision to replace him with Jane Austen on the £10 note (World News, July 25th) as evidence for or against the survival of the fittest? – Yours, etc,

EIMER

PHILBIN BOWMAN,

Pembroke Lane, Dublin 4.

August
Oh boy, it’s a GAL

Sir, – Is George Alexander Louis a good idea for naming a boy, initially? – yours, etc,

MICHAEL DUGGAN,

Kilcredan,

Ladysbridge, Co Cork.
Worship in a warehouse

Sir, – Fingal County Council is annoyed at people using warehouses to pray in (Home News, August 24th). Health and safety have been called in: presumably they have advised the users to get hold of some straw, and a couple of donkeys to keep the place warm. – Yours, etc,

KEN BUGGY,

Ballydubh Upper,

Co Waterford.
No country for ‘cavemen’?

Sir, – I write as a newly outed caveman. I have not had a television for 10 years or so, and do not miss it in the slightest. With the utmost troglodytic respect, Minister, if I am a Cro-Magnon, you, sir, are a Neanderthal. – Yours, etc,

PATRICK EDMOND

Ballymun Road,

Glasnevin, Dublin 9.

September
Remembering Seamus Heaney

Sir, – Seamus Heaney: “His coffin as befits a Giant seventy-four foot long. A foot for every year”. – Yours, etc,

DEREK SCANLAN,

Pleasants Street,

Portobello, Dublin 8.
Responsibility issues

Sir, – Fianna Fáil, the hierarchy, the bankers, the property speculators – they all have no difficulty in washing their hands of their responsibilities. Why can the medical professionals not follow suit? – Yours, etc,

GRAEME GUTHRIE,

Kilmeena,

Westport,

Co Mayo.
Something to tweet about

Sir, – The announcement that Twitter will employ an extra 100 individuals in Dublin is great (Business, September 25th). What a shame it did not stretch to 40 per cent more, as it could then have announced that its growth would lead to an extra 140 (real) characters here. – Yours, etc,

CONN CLISSMANN,

Citywest,

Dublin 24.

• The best of times, the worst of times

October
Aftermath of the
Seanad referendum

A chara, – Yes 19 per cent; No 20 per cent; Don’t care 61 per cent. – Is mise,

LOMAN O LOINGSIGH,

Ellensborough Drive,

Kiltipper Road, Dublin 24.

Sir, – Voting last Friday was like taking a Mensa test set by Éamon Ó Cuív. Did it have to be so hard? – Yours, etc,

MARK O’SULLIVAN,

Whitehall Road, Dublin 14.

Sir, – My commiserations to Taoiseach Enda Kenny on losing the Seanad referendum and the Senior All-Ireland football final. – Yours, etc,

DEREK HENRY CARR,

Harcourt Terrace,

Dublin 2.
‘Love/Hate’ cat saga

Sir, – As an animal lover I am comforted by the fact that according to the laws of quantum physics the now famous cat could, like Schrödinger’s cat, be both alive and dead at the same time. This should provide satisfaction for those on both sides of the argument. – Yours, etc,

EAMONN MANSFIELD,

Helvick,

Ring, Co Waterford.
Cuts and taxes in Budget 2014

Sir, – My mother will be spinning in her grave at the news of the bereavement grant being buried with her. – Yours, etc,

DENIS O’DONOGHUE,

Ardnapondra,

Moate,

Co Westmeath.
Polyester Protestants and sectarianism

Sir, – Enough of this divisive debate. Let us acknowledge our differences, celebrate our similarities and move forward together. As someone who worships in both Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, I do not see myself as a polyester Protestant or a woolly Anglican – but more as a cotton-rich Christian. – Yours, etc,

VENETIA HILL,

Mulgrave Terrace,

Dún Laoghaire,

Co Dublin.
Listening to calls of world leaders

Sir, – When President Obama came to Europe shortly after election, he promised his administration had come to Europe to listen and listen carefully. Nice to see a government keeping its word. – Yours, etc,

ROLAND EVANS,

Dundela Park,

Sandycove, Co Dublin.
Water, water . . . where?

Sir, – An excess of raw material causing a shortage of product. Well done, Dublin City Council (Home News, October 30th). – Yours, etc,

CONAN DOYLE,

Pococke Lower,

Kilkenny.
November
O’Toole’s 25 years a-commenting

Sir, – I put your supplement of “25 years of Irish life through the columns of Fintan O’Toole” (November 20th) to good cheerful use, this cold and wintry morning. I made paper sticks to light the fire. – Yours, etc,

KEITH NOLAN,

Caldragh,

Carrick-on-Shannon,

Co Leitrim.
The flight of the sparrows

Sir, – The appearance of a lone sparrow in Dublin Airport (Peter Pearson Evans, November 27th) answers the question about the disappearing flock. It is obvious they have taken flight and emigrated with the thousands of young Irish people who continue to leave the nest. – Yours, etc,

T McELLIGOTT,

Fortfield,

Raheen,

Limerick.
December
Troika turnoff

Sir, – When leaving the country, can the last member of the troika please switch out the lights? – Yours, etc,

WILLIE DILLON,

Coast Road,

Bettystown,

Co Meath.
Top-ups: the pantomime

Sir, – How heartening to hear that the CRC and HSE are getting into the spirit of pantomime season.

CRC: Oh yes you did!

HSE: Oh no we didn’t!

Repeat for comedic effect. – Yours, etc,

ANTHONY MORAN,

Knocknacarra Park,

Salthill, Galway.
A selfie, or not a selfie?

Sir, – Might I suggest that as there were three people in the controversial photo (Robin Harte, December 12th & Life, December 11th) it might more appropriately be described as a groupie? – Yours, etc,

CIANA CAMPBELL,

Cahercalla,

Ennis,

Co Clare.
Pigeons and top-ups

Sir, – Recent top-up scandals provide reassuring evidence that, no matter how impoverished we become here in Ireland, we need never go hungry as, even after we’ve eaten all the pigeons (Home News, December 13th), there will still be plenty of fat cats. – Yours, etc,

FINBAR O’CONNOR,

Claude Road,

Drumcondra, Dublin 9.

Irish Independent:

As a term, it became sullied by the deeds of a few.

The broad history of Irish republicanism started to become lost in a mist of pedantic revisionism. Marginal points became major. Core points were lost.

The political party most associated with Ireland’s recent demise and longest in power continuing to label itself the ‘The Republican Party‘ seems amiss.

On the eve of a new year, it would be grand if we could spare a moment for the Republic.

Not wearing the over-priced strip of one of the international teams, nor embarrassingly stumbling through the words of Amhran na bhFiann at a GAA match or plying oneself wet on Arthur’s Day.

Rather, asking what it means to be republican — and an Irish one at that.

This is, after all, what we are: citizens of an Irish republic with an Irish republican Constitution and part of a greater European project. Our elite let us down recently. We let ourselves down. What matters, though, is being able to learn from it, grow and strive to do better next time.

The Irish take on republicanism is unique. Although inspired by the French, our attempt seems closer to the real thing. As for the US version, tea parties aren’t us.

Our version of republicanism is generally about being equals.

We really don’t do snobbery well; hence the slaggin’.

We seriously do, do freedom; hence the disproportionate success.

And yet, on the whole we never lose sight of our core belief in caring — fraternity, you might say.

Never let anyone tell you or make you feel that caring is weak. That being equal isn’t reality. That success isn’t possible.

It’s fine to be an Irish republican. You’re not Sinn Fein/IRA; you’re not a bigot when it comes to the British and you’re not Bertie Ahern‘s mob.

Let’s reclaim Irish republicanism, embrace it and work together to make our republic and all our island of Ireland great in 2014.

ADAM O HAODH

FRANCE

LITTLE TOWN, BETHLEHEM

* Christmas, 2013, and excited tourists are milling around Bethlehem’s Manger Square, stopping in restaurants and souvenir shops and enjoying the marching bands and scout troops performing next to the large tree in front of the Church of the Nativity.

Some 25,000 visitors are expected this year, up from recent years but way below the crowds that filled the area between 1967 and 2000.

In 1967, Christians made up 80pc of Bethlehem’s population.

During the period from the Six-Day War to Arafat’s intifada, there were no barriers to traffic between Israel, Gaza and the West Bank/Judea and Samaria. Muslims, Christians and Jews travelled back and forth to work, shop and play.

Everyone benefited.

The 1993-95 Oslo Accords marked the beginning of the end of Christian Bethlehem.

Bethlehem’s Christians were forced out and the PLO confiscated their properties. As conditions worsened, more families, who had lived there for centuries, fled. Today, Bethlehem is predominantly Muslim.

In 2000, following the Camp David talks between Clinton, Arafat and Barak, Arafat began the second Intifada.

This ended the peaceful commerce the region had enjoyed and Bethlehem became more isolated. Even the Church of the Nativity was later over-run and desecrated by PLO fighters.

Israel built the security barrier to thwart terror attacks, and it has been relatively effective.

The passage through the barrier near Bethlehem is lightly guarded and traffic flows through, slowing but rarely stopping.

At this time of year, we can all hope for success in the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.

LEN BENNETT

MONTREAL

NEW YEAR, NEW FUTURE

* As we get ready for a new year, it might be useful to reflect on some of the opportunities we will have to help shape our future.

In 2014, we have the opportunity to elect 950 local councillors and 11 Irish members of the European Parliament. Politicians are not universally popular at the moment, but we should remember the political choices we make do shape our future.

Our local councillors have an important say in local planning and environmental issues and the MEPs will play an important part in shaping international issues, such as trade and research policies.

During the coming year the Government will review Ireland’s foreign policy. This is important, as our foreign policy is an expression of who we want to be as a people. The global economy determines our economic prosperity and our foreign policy can help shape the global political framework we need to face the challenges of a rapidly changing international system.

Hopefully, in 2014, we will use our power as citizens of a democracy to benefit not just ourselves, but the planet and those without a say, too.

HANS ZOMER

DIRECTOR DOCHAS

NO MEN ALLOWED HERE

* I read with great interest Martina Devlin’s article about the Neanderthal and sexist men who run the various swimming clubs in this country and her call for state bodies to ensure they do all they can for equality. A great piece of journalism.

I wait eagerly for her next article on the organisations run by women which are equally as bad; I refer to the likes of the Irish Countrywomen’s Association. No men allowed here. Why even our national broadcaster, RTE, has been caught up in this sexist organisation by giving it its own television show, ‘ICA Bootcamp’.

As a TV licence payer, I am disgusted to think my money is used to support an organisation that excludes men. I am sure Martina intends to give the same coverage to a sexist women’s organisation as she did to men’s ones.

PS. Anybody got an application form for CURVES?

VINCENT RYAN

NAVAN, CO MEATH

KEEP THE PARTY GOING

* Jose Manuel Barosso was quite rightly apoplectic and inconsolable; Herman Achille Van Rompuy was incandescent with indignation; Olli Rehn was incensed and infuriated; Mario Draghi was extremely vexed; while Angela Merkel and Wolfgang Schaeuble were exasperated to the point of rage.

No doubt all of this due to some pending nuclear attack by Iran, eruptions in the Middle East, problems with the ESM, the ESFM, the EFSF or the backstop, or maybe those Russians are again muscling in on EU territory?

No, simply our own great leader Enda Kenny omitted to invite them to Paddy’s bailout exit party.

Such a gaffe represents a major diplomatic faux pas in the galaxy inhabited by these pygmaean giants, who stride across the continents making all those nasty austerity decisions designed to screw unrepentant Paddy for screwing up Europe in the first place.

Not to worry, our Enda and Michael are in recovery mode and have it sorted; they will be flying out to Brussels at the first opportunity in the two government jets.

We can console ourselves as we are in good hands — compliant and submissive Paddy will meekly step back in his box and normal business will resume.

Meanwhile, back in the stable, Jesus wept, uncontrollably.

JOHN HEALY

CORK