Letters: Fortunate I came of age when disco exits weren’t chained up

The news about the Stardust fire must have come on the radio. I remember my mother saying that if I was a few years older, I could have been there. It was a mother’s love, a woman feeling the grief of so many other mothers that morning.

At 11 years old, the idea of going to discos felt a lifetime away. But those years passed very quickly, I was soon of age to go — and boy, I went.

There were GAA halls and local youth clubs, The End (where the old Phoenix Park race track was), Tamangos, Rumours — I could go on.

There was loud music, lights, fun — and unchained fire exits. Eventually, I became a DJ in many bars and clubs.

Thankfully, there was never another tragedy like the Stardust.

Forty-eight people died because of chains and padlocks on fire escapes. They died because this was allowed to happen. I am alive because it was never allowed to happen again.

Alan Carroll, Dublin 15

Irish socialists sure to bring economic chaos

Sir — As government policy in recent years has illustrated, there is no conventional centre-right political party in Ireland. Fianna Fáil occupies moderate centre-left ground and Fine Gael can probably be described as centrist, though its policies throughout this term of government have been firmly social-democratic.

That said, it is self-evident that the Government’s industrial and economic policies provide sound growth, full employment and a solid footing for our open economy to thrive. This is a prosperous country.

For those who do not thrive, the Government provides the best welfare transfers in the world. Ireland is a magnet for immigrants looking for a better life, proof positive that the over-egged wailing of the left is unjustified.

Housing is a challenge for all developed countries, but in ­Ireland there has been a step-change in building activity since the interruption caused by the pandemic. Look at the skyline of cranes around the suburbs of our capital and you can see the vast array of residential developments coming to fruition.

Many voters, however, appear to be agitated and disgruntled, spurred on by the angry rhetoric of those who shout loudest. Sinn Féin and People Before Profit promote a particularly negative version of life in Ireland.

Hence, opinion polls continue to indicate there is a significant possibility that a fully socialist government may be elected at the next general election, even taking account of Sinn Féin’s weakening support since last year. A Sinn Féin-led government, supported by People Before Profit, Labour, the Social Democrats and perhaps the Green Party is a serious potential outcome.

What of the prospects of such a government? What would it do, policy-wise? A leftist government in Ireland is unlikely to last beyond one Dáil term, if even, with economic chaos combined with general instability being the main factors in its likely demise.

Europe, en masse, is moving against left-wing politics, and the interesting thing is that those left-wing European parties that have been dismissed by voters are relatively moderate and not nearly as leftist as the likely Sinn Féin-led government would be in Ireland.

Are Irish voters capable of thinking this through? Who in Ireland would trade places today with someone in a truly socialist country? Remember Greek voters experimenting with ­Syriza, a party supported by Sinn Féin? Greece’s electorate has pummelled this party ever since their disastrous flirtation with the left.

The European lesson is that voters quickly dismiss left-wing governments that cannot deliver economic stability with sound growth policies and stable public finances. Populist promises — freezing rents, banning evictions, and more taxes on those who already pay the most — will deliver no success for Ireland if implemented, but they will drive capital flight as many investors, business people and entrepreneurs choose centrist stability elsewhere.

Irish left-wing parties do not appear to have economic growth plans; instead, their loud focus is populist spending promises, the costly unification of this island — in the case of Sinn Féin — and regulations designed to thwart landlords.

Placing an even higher tax burden on those who provide most of the funding for our social welfare system and our public services is a recipe to promote the exodus of capital and investment from our country. Economic decline would surely follow.

Mark Mohan, Dublin 15

​Pubs calling time as price of a pint rises

Sir — Diageo’s end-of-year profits last year (August to August) increased by 5.1pc to €4.6bn, with a reported volume decline of 7.4pc — this was after spending €3.3bn on marketing (figures from John McGee, business correspondent, in the Sunday Independent last August).

Despite these increased profits, Diageo decided to implement another increase (the third in 18 months) on Guinness and other draught products with an additional increase on alcohol-­free beers.

Of course, Heineken Ireland has decided to follow suit and increase its products by a similar amount from June 4.

We have seen over 2,000 pubs close in Ireland since 2005, and after this latest increase, no doubt, we will see more. Any other business in a declining market would be reducing prices to increase volume.

We now have more Irish-owned breweries and distilleries than ever before, which could supply pubs with alternative drinks at affordable prices.

Who would have thought that in the home of “the black stuff” the humble pint of Guinness would become unaffordable for many drinkers. Something has to be done before more pubs — the only social outlet for many people — are gone for ever.

Brian Lube, Co Meath

​GAA underdogs not getting square deal

Sir — In hurling, the “square-ball” rule states that a player may enter the opponents’ small rectangle only after the ball enters the small rectangle.

Some commentators and pundits seem to be conflating the hurling rule with the Gaelic football rule where an attacking player may enter the small rectangle after the final play of the ball into it.

The correct interpretation of the rule casts major questions over Limerick’s third goal in particular last Sunday, scored by Aaron Gillane. In the strict application of the “square-ball” rule, Limerick’s first goal also comes into question. Is there subconscious bias when champions are playing an underdog?

Joseph Mackey, Glasson, Co Westmeath

​Ignore the nay-sayers and soak up the sun

Sir — The glorious weather was worth waiting for. Well, I thought so anyway until Joe, a local self-acclaimed weather expert, joined me as I was enjoying a 99 and a coffee alfresco and complained that we had lost the run of ourselves.

As one who makes the most of good weather and outdoor living, I was taken aback by the rebuke. Joe insisted that unseasonal weather is precarious and upsets the natural order.

“It’s far too early, it won’t last and we’ll pay for it later on. It’s the middle of Scaraveen, so this brief spell of good weather will be followed by the rough weather of the cuckoo,” he said.

He predicted the whole country could soon be laid low with colds and flu because of our obsession with the tanned body.

He rubbed salt in the wound by implying that my attire of shorts, T-shirt, fedora and shades was more appropriate for the Costa del Sol than downtown Tralee on an April day. To add insult to injury, I was further chastised for swimming out of season.

“Have you never heard the adage: April and May stay out of the sea, June and July swim ’til you die?”

Even though my ice-cream had melted and my Americano had gone cold, I stood my ground.

“Live in the moment, Joe,” I said. “As Gerry Murphy, a real meteorologist and RTÉ weather forecaster advises, enjoy the good weather when it comes. What’s seldom is wonderful.”

Billy Ryle, Spa, Tralee, Co Kerry

​So many positives to tenant purchase plan

Sir — I read Wayne O’Connor’s piece (‘Councils spend over €400m on buying back houses sold off at a discount’, April 21) over breakfast with mouth agog.

The article featured a study by UCD’s Professor Michelle ­Norris, along with the opinions of Sinn Féin’s Eoin Ó Broin and the Social Democrats’ Cian O’Callaghan. The consensus was that tenant purchase schemes, at least in their current format, are a bad thing.

My wife and I bought our family’s modest council bungalow in rural Donegal in 2004 under the tenant purchase scheme. The house was built in 1993 on a site that my grandmother sold to the county council for £10. My wife and I took over occu­pancy after my mother died in 2001.

I worked hard for several years in a local quarry to secure a private mortgage while my wife trained as a primary teacher in Dublin.

The house was sold to us by the council at a discount of roughly 50pc of market value, minus rent paid since 1993.

The sale agreement included a “clawback” clause, allowing the council to recoup the discount should the house be resold within 20 years of our buying it. 
Unable to secure a teaching post at home, my wife’s career took us to Portlaoise, Drogheda and, finally, Tallaght. We rented for over a decade, hoping we might eventually return home, but it was not to be. Nevertheless, having the house in Donegal has proved invaluable to us and our children.

During our frequent visits and summer holidays we have been able to maintain close links to friends and family.

Our mortgage commitments also prohibited us from buying on the east coast at crazy prices during the dying days of the Celtic Tiger.

Despite the fact we are now living in a most beautiful part of Ireland, among a friendly, vibrant and thriving rural community, we do, eventually, hope to retire back home to Donegal.

I was glad to read at the end of your writer’s piece a spokesperson for the Department of Housing quoted as saying they are still committed “to maintaining the right of social housing tenants to purchase their own home”.

Now, if the State could perhaps begin a programme of directly building social homes instead of relying on the private and charity sectors, we might make a start on resolving the current housing crisis.

Name and address with editor

Tragic death at UHL reveals system failure

Sir — While the tragic death of Aoife Johnston at University Hospital Limerick is augmenting the continued demand for more staff at the hospital, for me her case raises system failures that need independent research.

The key failure was that Aoife had a referral letter from a GP to an acute hospital for treatment. If a GP is unable to treat a patient, they write a referral letter to a consultant.

If the case is acute and serious, they write a referral letter to the hospital. In the past, such a referral letter might have got you to the top of the queue. It no longer does.

Aoife’s case required an immediate blood test, which would have confirmed the GP’s earlier unverified diagnosis. Instead, she was left untreated in a long queue as if she had not already been diagnosed at all.

Presumably, the GP stated her case was serious enough to merit hospital admission, blood tests and an intravenous drip, which are only available in a hospital setting.

We need to ask if GPs have a referral role in accessing such treatment for their patients or not. They already know the patient and are familiar with their medical history.

The second key system failure was that there was no consultant on site to assess Aoife’s medical condition and admit her. Only a consultant can authorise the admission of a patient, hence the new mandatory requirement for weekend work included in new consultant contracts. Further, the cost of a consultant-supported bed in an acute hospital setting is very high.

The delay in Aoife’s treatment is a system failure, and there is a huge reluctance to examine system failures in Ireland. Yet all interest groups will use her tragic case to broadly advocate for “more staff and more beds”.

As a sociologist, I find it very disappointing that there has been no independent sociological research done on the composition of patients presenting at A&E.

Dr Evelyn Mahon, Fellow Emerita, Trinity College Dublin

​Numbers don’t add up in Helen McEntee’s plan

Sir — I read with interest the report by Philip Ryan that Justice Minister Helen McEntee is seeking government approval to accelerate international protection processing from unsafe countries following a surge of Nigerian applications this year.

Given that the International Protection Office (IPO) managed around 8,500 decisions last year, including 5,176 applicants refused, surely diverting more resources there will just add to the number of appeals heading to the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT)?

Last year, IPAT received 4,775 appeals, but issued only 1,588 decisions. Assuming IPO processing reaches around 15,000 decisions this year and around 9,000 are negative, it is likely that the number of tribunal members and administrative staff would need to be trebled to keep pace with the appeal cases heading their way this year alone, never mind going forward.

It should also be borne in mind that only after an IPAT refusal of an appeal does the file finally go to the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service for the possible making of a deportation order, all of which raises major questions on the minister’s claims that the asylum process is making progress on the current backlog.

A final thought is that Nigeria has never ratified a Readmission Agreement signed with Ireland in 2001, which means any returns there have to be negotiated with their embassy, which has been a painstaking process over the decades since.

Michael Flynn, Bayside, Dublin 13

​Justice is not served yet over Stardust

Sir — Justice has not been served following the unlawful killing verdict in the ­Stardust inquests because no one has yet been found responsible. The issue of responsibility has been the main crux of contention. If no one is held to account, the verdict is meaningless.

Maurice Fitzgerald, Shanbally, Co Cork

​Extremists’ attack on democratic rule

Sir — It started with the imprisonment of two women, one a cabinet minister, in a car by far-left extremists a few years back. The people who led and organised that intimidation suffered no sanctions despite a lengthy trial, and extremists everywhere were emboldened by that outcome.

Once that decency barrier had been breached, the only way was going to be down, and so it has proved.

The recent ugly thuggery at the home of a cabinet minister was a chilling act of intimidation and a direct attack on democracy. The masked cowards who carried out this bullying were elected by nobody and represent nobody but the small cluster of foul extremists who make up their number.

The State must respond, and with some strength. Arrests should be made on the spot where such intimidation occurs and it shouldn’t take prompting by the justice minister for existing laws to be robustly applied.

All those arrested should also be questioned by Revenue and social welfare officials to see where they are getting the money to pay for these stunts.

Al Capone was brought down by the tax authorities, and a similar approach must apply here. Don’t let noxious weeds flower and spread their seeds.

John Mulligan, Boyle, Co Roscommon