A chara, – Those EU member states which champion fiscal union and budgetary discipline as the method to ensure that the European sovereign debt crisis will never be repeated would do well to remember their failure to adhere to the fiscal rules contained in the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP), the precursor to the fiscal compact.

Both France and Germany consistently breached SGP debt and deficit criteria while, prior to onset of the crisis, member states which are now being pilloried as debt and deficit delinquents, including Ireland, largely adhered to those rules. – Is mise,

ENDA McNAMARA,

Ballyhea, Cork.

A chara, – Niall Ginty (February 2nd) seems to suffer from the illusion of many 21st-century neo-conservative apologists: if you say something often enough it will become true.

Now he is targeting the “nonsensical bleatings” of Sinn Féin and, I imagine, the other principled opponents in the Dáil of the latest economic madness handed down by our European masters.

I wonder if he has actually read any of Sinn Féin’s alternative strategies to deal with this catastrophe of unfettered capitalism? Strategies recognised around the world by many economists as having well considered validity and practicality.

Furthermore I would like Mr Ginty and his cohorts in the Dáil (and most especially those wearing the badge of Labour) to give a single example of this type of austerity solving any economic crisis – other than paying back the losses of criminal gamblers and speculators, mostly from outside this country.

Not to mention the role of this “pact” in the real agenda: rolling back public services, widespread privatisation, emasculation of the trade union movement, silencing the voice of the poor and locking Europe into a right-wing liberal economic hell – indefinitely! I’d rather listen to the nonsensical bleating, thank you. – Is mise,

NICK McCALL,

Drumkeeran, Co Leitrim.

A chara, – I agree with Niall Ginty (February 2nd) about the irresponsible way Fianna Fáil is reacting to the European fiscal agreement. The party needs to forget about trying to copy the almost nihilistic approach that Sinn Féin and other opposition TDs adopt on nearly every issue.

The opposition’s clueless politics of indignation is beginning to wear a bit thin at this stage and cannot be taken seriously.

It is time for Fianna Fáil to stop its juvenile bickering and put the old politics aside in the national interest, particularly in these dark times. Show some gumption: it’s what the electorate will respect.Adopting a supporting role regarding the fiscal agreement would not be seen as a weakness.

Micheál Martin should grasp the nettle, it won’t sting as much as he thinks. – Is mise,

JIM CUSACK,

The Gables,

Kill, Co Kildare.

Sir, – I agree with the suggestion (John D O’Brien, February 3rd) that we should have a referendum on whether or not we should have a referendum.

But if we get a No result, we should hold another one so as to overturn the will of the electorate. – Yours, etc,

Sir, – Two points must be addressed before dealing with the main question of desertion.

Neutrality was the only realistic policy for Ireland. In 1939 just Great Britain and France of all the countries in Europe went to war with Germany. Others became involved only after they were invaded or were coerced into joining the Axis powers. In the uncertain state of affairs it was necessary to maintain the Army at as full a strength as possible until the cessation of hostilities in Europe, not least because of Éamon de Valera’s guarantee, repeated more than once, that in no circumstances would Ireland be used as a base for hostile action against Great Britain.

Desertion is a grave offence. On attestation, a recruit takes an oath to serve his country, the full implications of this having been explained to him by the attesting officer. The punishment for desertion, following a guilty verdict by a court-martial, is imprisonment. The dismissive statement in your Editorial (January 26th)describing as “codology” the assertion that desertion is always wrong is not merely offensive: it is foolish. Deserters are not schoolboys playing truant. No crime, however lightly it may be punished, can be air-brushed away as if it never happened.

More alarming, however, is the statement of the Minister for Defence (Home News, January 25th). He said: “Some of those [ie, Irish who fought in British uniforms] included members of our Defence Forces who left this island that time to fight for freedom.”

Left this island when we were on a war footing, as if they were free to come and go at will! The Minister for Defence has a leading role in the upholding of the Defence Acts. Is this his view of desertion?

Given that this was said by the Minister, could one see it being advanced as a defence in a future court-martial trial for desertion?

His further statement that “. . . in the context of the Holocaust, Irish neutrality was a principle of moral bankruptcy” is quite appalling. Is he saying that at the time that the horrors were emerging in 1945 we should not have been neutral? If so, should we have been in the war from the outset; or should we have joined in at some later date?

How does he envisage that such involvement might have come about? Of course, this controversy would not have occurred if the 5,000, like the rest of the 45,450 men and women from the then 26 counties that departed to serve in Britain without hindrance from the Irish government, had gone straight into the British forces rather than join the Irish Army and then desert.

I can accept the granting of pardons if doing so brings comfort to elderly men in their declining years, but this must not involve the condoning of their desertion. – Yours, etc,

Sir, – I would like to express my deepest frustration at the recent decision to suspend qualification allowances to entry level teachers (Home News, February 2nd).

As a soon-to-be qualified teacher who has invested heavily in education (honours degree, Masters and PhD), I, along with other graduates from this year’s course, will be in the curious position of being among the most qualified and at the same time the least paid of any teachers to have gone before us.

The message that this sends out is clear: education and the furthering of one’s knowledge is not important for educators! Why undertake a Masters or a PhD (or even try to attain Honours in your degree for that matter) when ultimately you will receive the same salary with a three-year pass degree? There is no incentive to further one’s knowledge and develop the mind; only empty rhetoric about the “knowledge economy” and “innovation”.

I am not asking for special treatment because of my qualifications. What I am proposing is that new teachers be treated as equals to those who have gone before them. – Yours, etc,

Sir, – Your supplement celebrating James Joyce (Freedom of Joyce, February 2nd) is a glowing example of the best modern journalism. Further  to Sam Slote’s article on Joyce translations, a translator in Poland has been rendering Finnegans Wakeinto Polish. This heroic labour took 10 years to complete and it will be published this year. The Irish Polish Society, the Irish Writers Centre and Irish Translators Association hope to bring Krzysztof Bartnicki to Ireland this year – “from swerve of shore to bend of bay” will never sound the same again. – Yours, etc,

Sir, – Congratulations on the interesting supplement on James Joyce (February 2nd). However , I was disappointed that there was no reference to John Ryan, the founder of the Bloomsday Pilgrimage and also the saviour of the Eccles Street door. – Yours, etc,

Sir, – I wish to thank Miriam Lord for her uplifting, positive, and optimistic piece on the citizenship celebrations (Front page, February 3rd). It was a stark contrast to the other two headlines and the only positive thing on the whole page unless you are a Clongowes supporter!

I live and work in Rathmines and passed several family groups all dressed up in their Sunday best on their way to the celebration. Their excitement and happiness was palpable and it made me appreciate my “Irishness” – normally taken for granted.

It was a revelation to see people so happy to join our team, a team obviously worth joining. It would be great if we could instil this enthusiasm for being Irish into all of us! Alan Shatter should be commended for setting up these celebrations to recognise the significance of attaining citizenship. – Yours, etc,

Sir, – Thank you: Miriam Lord’s inspiring report on the New Irish deserved its place on the Front page (February 3rd). History has landed us in a bad place. Yet many here are buckling down and getting on with life as best they can. And now we find that thousands want to be part of this challenge – to become Irish citizens. Is there any way I could formally renew my citizenship? I want to wear one of those Tricolour lapel pins. – Yours, etc,

Sir, – Twice in half an hour Frank McNally (An Irishman’s Diary, February 3rd) found his bicycle coupling with another bike – and he blamed the absent cyclists! Has he forgotten The Third Policeman?Flann O’Brien, his columnar predecessor, explained the mechanism of atomic exchange between owner and bicycle.

I calculate that Frank McNally’s bicycle is now 71 per cent diarist, and should be warned about its future conduct. – Yours, etc,

Sir, – During a few days’stay in Ennis recently, my wife and I decided to visit the Cliffs of Moher. I knew the general direction and assumed it would be well sign-posted when I got near the area. However, all I found was one small sign with an arrow pointing straight ahead towards the village of Doolin. On reaching Doolin I found a similar sign pointing back in the direction I had come. I headed back to the first junction this time parking the car to double check the signs in case I had missed one the first time; but there was definitely no sign for the cliffs.

The road I thought would lead towards the sea had only two signs, one for walkers the other for bikers, so assuming it was unsuitable for cars, I did not take it. I considered asking a local for directions, but then decided that if the people in charge of such a tourist attraction cannot provide proper signage then they do not deserve visitors.

We returned to our hotel without seeing the cliffs, but otherwise had a very enjoyable time in Co Clare. – Yours, etc,

Sir, – In the Dáil, Eamon Gilmore defended cuts in allowances for Communion and Confirmation payments, saying that this was intended to limit “lavish expenditure” (Dáil report, February 3rd).

These payments, which are usually made to those in the lower income brackets, were up to €305 for a once-time event.

Having seen Mr Gilmore’s expenses from March to December 2011, not even a full year, coming in at €17,543, would he not consider this “lavish expenditure” on top of his €169,275 income? – Yours, etc,