The Editor, The Irish Times (published 22nd October) Madam, – There was so much in the Budget to be critical of and so many regrets at the failure by the Government to seriously tackle the economic problems in our society, the decision to unilaterally target the over-70s being perhaps the most cynical. However, I want [...]

The Editor, The Sunday Tribune (published 24th August 2008) Sir, I am loth to correct a rare and seemingly unimportant detail in your esteemed newspaper. However, on this occasion I seek your indulgence. The report, last Sunday, that I, along with some City Council colleagues, travelled overseas to Baltimore has the possibility of causing serious [...]

The Editor The Sunday Tribune (published 17th August 2008) The report (News, 10 August) outlining the problems caused by the illogical division of constituencies highlighted problems in Swords. Unfortunately Swords is not alone. The recent announcement of boundaries for the new local government electoral areas offers many more bewildering situations. Given the stated role of [...]

The Editor, The Irish Times Madam, – For the first 10 days of August I had the honour to be in the company of over 10,000 of the finest young people this country has ever known, who were attending the International Scout Jamboree in Punchestown. Their spirit, decency, enthusiasm, co-operation and mutual respect during some [...]

At the An Bord Pleanala hearing into the proposed developments in Ballsbridge last Thursday (23rd July), I told the Inspector hearing the appeal that the choice before An Bord Pleanála was whether to uphold the integrity of the Development Plan process by refusing permission or to throw out the entire process and allowing unplanned development [...]

The Editor, The Irish Times Madam, – Eamon Ryan is clearly one of the more thoughtful, intelligent and compassionate members of this Fianna Fáil/Green coalition government. (Let’s forget the nonsense that the PDs still exist in anything other than Government’s political philosophy.) However his comment in the Dáil last Thursday that “we revelled in it” [...]

The Editor, The Irish Times Madam, – As one who has often criticised RTÉ, I would like to praise it for its coverage of the Lisbon Treaty campaign, which managed to inform and educate without taking sides. In particular, Seán Whelan’s Morning Ireland reports on the content of the Treaty itself were an excellent example [...]

Madam, – The success of the recent commemorative events is in no doubt. The important task of re-establishing the legitimacy of Irish republicanism has been furthered. However, in all the commentary about the Rising and the subsequent founding of our State one name has been shamefully omitted. That name and that man is Tom Johnson.

Dear Editor, The report “Affordable housing body fails to provide a single home” will sadly come as no surprise to anyone actively involved in the campaign for more social and affordable housing. In some ways, however, the report did not go far enough in outlining the impact of this “Partnership”. Under the terms of the [...]

Dear Editor, The stated concerns of (former Councillor) Chris Andrews (letters 26th March) for the residents affected by the proposed Lansdowne Road Stadium is touching. Strange then that Mr Andrews over eighteen months, never once attended, or sought to attend, any of the meetings of the “Lansdowne Forum” established to try and deal with those [...]