Letters: Election promises are parish pump politics on grand scale

Optics is everything in an election, and some have framed this episode as showing the true nature of Fine Gael. However, as Barry Walsh (Sunday Independent, November 10) glumly observes, "Fine Gael is now virtually the same as Fianna Fáil" on issues like taxation and public spending. Doesn't he have a point?

In many ways we have a phoney war, with the parties jostling to not only sound different by announcing individual policies (abolish USC on the first €45,000, increase the state pension, introduce an 11pc Vat rate for small businesses), but also to stand out from the crowd: "We can build more houses than you." Parish pump politics in full pomp.

The election debate should be on the serious political and economic issues Ireland needs to face up to over the next decade.

Housing is an obvious problem, but there are others.

What is the strategic vision? What will the modern Ireland of 2030 and 2050 look like?

Andy Hales, Kenmare, Co Kerry

I will always treasure last chat with Johnny Duhan Sir — That we can only count on our gift of days one at a time was brought into full focus when my dear friend Johnny Duhan lost his life while swimming at his beloved Silverstrand in Barna, Galway, last Tuesday.

On Monday, I called Johnny to arrange a catch-up for a feature I was writing for the Irish Music Yearbook. Johnny suggested I join him for a walk at 7am on Thursday from Salthill to the church in the Claddagh where he attended mass once a week. We would walk and talk and, after mass, chat over breakfast.

Johnny had a favourite rock on Silverstrand where he would often sit in quiet contemplation during his walks. On some days, he would go for a swim in the sea — as he did on Tuesday, when he was so tragically taken.

On Thursday, I set out at 7am on a lone walk in memory of Johnny. It took me by the sea in Salthill and on to the Claddagh church where I went to mass, said a prayer and lit a candle for Johnny.

I remembered his wife Maur­een and children Ronan, Niamh, Kevin, Ailbhe and Brian.

In lighting the candle, I remembered something Johnny said to me about his faith.

"I returned to my faith after years as a non-believer," he said. "I literally came back to life on the heels of a long spell on my last legs — physically, mentally and artistically — following a long run of hard knocks.

"The best of my work strength and durability came directly from my belief in a meaning and purpose to life."

If I have learned one thing from Johnny's sudden passing, and that it is to connect with friends today. Tomorrow, it may be too late, for we never know what's around the bend. I will always be glad that I made that Monday morning phone call to Johnny.

Frank Greally, Rialto, Dublin 8

Tragedy of cancer care in north-west Sir — Professor Michael Kerin, director of Saolta University of Galway Cancer Network, said in recent days that cancer outcomes for patients in the west and north-west are the worst in the country.

For many years, he has been lobbying for a new modern cancer centre to serve patients in the region. A National Cancer Registry of Ireland report on geographical deprivation highlighted an inequality of access and services for patients west of the Shannon.

These inequality issues must be addressed as a matter of urgency. Vital cancer services were removed from Sligo University Hospital some years ago.

This resulted in huge numbers of patients travelling to Galway by road from the Inishowen peninsula in Donegal, as well as from Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, Mayo, Longford, Cavan and Monaghan.

As a direct result, University Hospital Galway suffers from massive traffic build-up, huge car-parking issues, overcrowding and utter chaos on a daily basis.

The obvious answer is staring us all in the face — bring back a number of vital cancer treatment services to Sligo University Hospital that were discontinued some time ago.

As the general election campaign warms up, let us all hope that in the heat of battle, these urgently required cancer services in the west and north-west are not turned into a political football by the competing candidates.

Tom Towey, Cloonacool, Co Sligo

Housing sensitivities still misunderstood Sir — Housing is a major issue in the election, with politicians making big promises to woo voters. However, candidates should revisit Irish history to learn why there is a visceral hatred of the term "ground rent" in the Irish psyche.

Since Irish-owned land was confiscated and colonised with British settlers, housing and land have been emotive issues in Ireland.

Land grants to the British gentry led to landlords and their agents indiscriminately and brutally evicting tenants from the tenants' own land.

The Irish began the fightback after the Famine when Michael Davitt and the Irish National Land League engaged in a vigorous campaign for free sale, fixity of tenure and fair rent for tenant farmers and, ultimately, ownership again of land and home. The three Fs — freehold house ownership, fixed-term rental contracts and fair rental prices — have since been the cornerstone of Irish society.

After British withdrawal in 1922, the provisional government set aside £1m to encourage house-building. However, absentee landlords and their descendants continued to demand "ground rent" from Irish homeowners on the basis that they, the landlords, owned the land on which the dwellings stood.

A century later, ground rent is fast declining and freehold property ownership is now standard in Ireland.

Any election proposal to provide public housing on the basis that the purchaser would own the house but that the Government, through its local authorities or various housing agencies, would own the land on which the property stands, is a modern version of British landlordism.

Billy Ryle, Spa, Tralee, Co Kerry

Savvy Harris always finds the right words Sir — The excessive media coverage that Simon Harris has been getting since he became leader of Fine Gael and was appointed Taoiseach is hard to understand.

To his credit, Mr Harris has achieved an enormous amount at an early age. The fact that he studied journalism may be an important factor in why he has been so successful in garnering media publicity.

In addition, he is very astute with his use of words in presenting a favourable message, even managing to minimise his own involvement in the National Children's Hospital fiasco.

On occasions, he would almost make one believe that neither he nor his party are responsible for any of the issues that have plagued our country and its people for a decade.

Denise Cohalan, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford

Constituency results always hard to call Sir — Fionnán Sheahan (Sunday Independent, November 10) believes Fianna Fáil will hold all of its seats in Munster and could make gains in Clare and Limerick City.

I would be reluctant to predict any constituency outcomes just yet. It's a long political road that does not have a turn. Even on the night of the count, the experts can err.

Thomas Garvey, Claremorris, Co Mayo

Take pension claims with a pinch of salt Sir — It is interesting that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael seem to have developed a new-found interest in the welfare of the older generation, with reports of Fianna Fáil pledging to increase the weekly state pension to at least €350 over the lifetime of the next government.

However, the record to date of the current coalition parties suggests they have little interest in those of pension age.

In 2011, Fine Gael finance minister Michael Noonan raided private pension savings to fill gaps in his budget.

He carried on doing this for the next four years, taking over €2.4bn in total from the savings of people who had tried to make provision for their old age.

The long-term effect on these pensioners has been a significant monthly or weekly deduction from their pension income that continues to this day.

Both of these parties have been in government in various combinations since 2011, but they have decided that the solution to the pensioners' issue is to just wait until they all die.

Any pronouncements around pensions from these two parties should therefore be taken with the proverbial pinch of salt.

John Mulligan, Boyle, Co Roscommon

Ease off on reporting of disturbing details Sir — Am I alone in finding media reporting of rape trials is distasteful and sensational?

Do we need to hear the most personal and intimate details aired on the news or painstakingly described in print media? It smacks of sensationalism at best and of voyeurism at worst.

While it is essential that the media have freedom to report matters of public interest, they could do this without overstepping boundaries of good taste.

Brid Ewing, Newtowncunningham, Co Donegal

Two-tier policy will lead to resentment Sir — As a landlord exiting the market, I offered a property to Fingal County Council at less than the market value. It was never inspected or considered under the tenant-in-situ scheme. Instead, Fingal County Council paid approximately €170,000 more for a brand new, luxurious, turn-key apartment, complete with white goods, microwave, dishwasher and blinds.

Under the Choice Based Lettings scheme, the tenants are entitled to rent this property for the next 25 years at a significantly reduced rent. Had the council purchased the property offered, the €170,000 could have helped house another family.

We are in danger of creating a two-tier housing policy with one family struggling to pay a hefty mortgage living beside others who have described their good fortune as like winning the lotto.

Anne Lawlor, Tramore, Co Waterford

Inheritance tax is an insult and should go Sir — It is clear from the huge response to the recent changes to inheritance tax in the budget that many ordinary Irish citizens are exercised by the consequences of this draconian tax, in particular how it affects the unmarried and childless. It is now an election issue.

Apart from spouses, who are entirely exempt, many ordinary taxpayers in thresholds B and C are hugely affected by this tax. Citizens are now beginning to make themselves aware of the implications and the fact that inheritance tax is flawed and should not be based on marr­iage — especially as dissolution of marriage is now also enshrined in the Constitution.

This tax is discriminatory, unjust and unfair and is not, as required by the Constitution, regulated by the principles of social justice and equality ­(Articles 40 and 43).

Tweaking the thresholds is disingenuous and an insult to the intelligence and integrity of law-abiding citizens.

The tax should be scrapped, as is happening in many other countries worldwide. It yields a minuscule 1pc of the total tax intake to the State, but the negative impact on ordinary citizens is enormous. It could be replaced by, for example, a gambling windfall tax. This would absorb any loss to the Exchequer.

Should the tax not be scrapped, the home should be unconditionally exempt for all citizens. This would provide a greater sense of security for all and ensure that beneficiaries who could not afford to pay the tax would not, in many cases, continue to remain homeless, or have to sell a treasured family home. This would benefit all family members. The home should be sacrosanct and not be seen as lottery winnings.

Deirdre Quinn, Westport, Co Mayo

IRFU needs its own museum in Limerick Sir — The shocking news that the International Rugby Experience (IRE) building on O'Connell Street, Limerick, is to close on December 23 should concern all Limerick people. The great generosity of JP McManus in setting up the building and the IRE must be acknowledged. Now, though, the future use of the building is crucial.

The IRFU has no museum, which is pretty much a disgrace in itself. I believe it would be an ideal and natural development for the IRFU to take over the IRE building as an Irish rugby museum.

All interested parties should get together immediately to advance this obvious proposition.

John Cussen, Newcastle West, Co Limerick

Our gardaí don't get credit they deserve Sir — Tommy Roddy (Letters, November 10) was disappointed that the letter he sent the previous week wasn't printed.

Take it all with a pinch of salt, Tommy. You're a great letter-writer anyway. I, too, don't get some letters printed and I've been writing to the papers for 60 years. Today's letters editor seems not to like controversial letters and sticks to safe ones.

I would like to write about an incident that happened to me last Sunday night in the village of Kill, where I live. I was in bed and heard the door in the kitchen slide open. The alarm never went off. I decided to phone the gardaí: three squad cars arrived within 10 minutes. Six gardaí in uniform checked the house and gave me the all-clear. They were courteous, kind and thorough.

There was also a helicopter circling above the house. I felt like Michael D.

The gardaí are given a bad press that is not warranted. They should be praised more often for just doing their job, which can be dangerous.

I don't know what part of Kildare they came from — or perhaps they were angels in disguise.

Terry Healy Riordan, Kill, Co Kildare

Democracy faces a battle with Trump Sir — Reading Eilis O'Hanlon's and David Quinn's paeans to Donald Trump (November 10), you'd never think that this is the same man that Mike Pence, the former US vice-president, was speaking about when he said in 2003: "President Trump asked me to put him over my oath to the constitution."

These lines from WH Auden's Epitaph on a Tyrant could have been written about Trump and his ability to beguile a crowd:

The poetry he invented was easy to understand,

He knew human folly like the back of his hand.

Hopefully, the Great Experiment, as democracy is called in America, will survive Trumpism.

Jim O'Connell, Ashtown, Dublin 7

There's far too much yanking of dog leads Sir — Although I'm not a dog owner, I meet a lot of people walking their pets in my area. In fact, the number of dogs seems to have increased since Covid.

But I sometimes wonder if those who walk their dogs appreciate their animals' various needs during a walk. This includes stopping to sniff almost anything, as well as for necessary toilet functions. Yet, quite often, I see the walkers showing impatience – even embarrassment – when a dog stops for any of these reasons.

Their reaction is to give the lead a yank, pulling the dog forward before it has completed its business. How would they feel if someone yanked them when they visited the toilet? Maybe this explains why so many dogs are bad-tempered.

Tony Corcoran, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14