Madam, – George Lee’s resignation is an act of disloyalty to the 27,000 people who voted for him and to the hundreds of people who canvassed for him (Breaking News, February 8th). More than those, it is an act of gross betrayal to Fine Gael, which invested faith, time, and great energy in him.

Mr Lee’s experience as a television economics reporter and his nine months as a TD do not entitle him to a senior economic role in a party of 31,000 members. Fine Gael secured 605,333 votes in last summer’s local elections.

Yes, he is a qualified economist. But Fine Gael Senator Eugene Regan has vastly superior academic economic qualifications. Mr Lee’s former Fine Gael Oireachtas colleagues Joe McHugh TD, Kieran O’Donnell TD, and Senator Paschal Donohue are qualified economists. And his former colleagues Seán Barrett TD, Frank Feighan TD, and John Perry TD have vast practical understanding of commerce.

In any event, he was given ample scope in debate, through his position as chairperson of the Fine Gael Economic Forum, through his membership of the pre-Budget Fine Gael Business Roadshow, and through his weekly attendance at meetings of the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party.

There will be a few days of media heat, and the same tired anti-Fine Gael media voices will refrain, yet again, that this has “fatally undermined the Kenny leadership”.

When the political lava cools, who will be buried beneath? – Yours, etc,

Madam, – As a student who spent many hours campaigning for former Deputy Lee, I am frankly dismayed at his desertion of the hope he supposedly offered us. It is noteworthy that I never received a letter of thanks for my efforts; perhaps one of apology would now suffice for the lack of effort on his behalf. – Yours, etc,

Madam, – It was with surprise that I learnt of George Lee’s resignation from the Dáil and the Fine Gael party after just nine months.

Did he really expect he would be able to influence any party, or any policy, in just nine months? I think his expectations were too high. I can’t recall a single person in the past 20 years elected to the Dáil at the first time of asking that received a prominent party position within such a short space of time – why would Mr Lee be different?

Perhaps if he had persevered he would in time have found a more prominent role within Fine Gael. I think Mr Lee should have seen out his term before reaching a decision.

Nevertheless, it is a great pity that such an obviously intelligent man who could have offered so much is no longer in a position to do so. – Yours, etc,

Madam, – In the recent past, we’ve had George Lee who didn’t get on with his party, Pat Kenny who couldn’t get on with his neighbours and Charlie Bird coming back to us because he couldn’t make friends with anyone in America! What do they teach them in RTE? – Yours, etc,

Madam, – What is George Lee thinking of? Surely he did not expect to change or even influence in any way the policies of a party which has been in existence since long before he was born?

He has been a member of the Fine Gael party for less than a year and already he is throwing in the towel. A man of his intelligence and experience must know that things do not change overnight. Like all new employees he must take his place and serve his time.

Did he expect to be be the “saviour” of the economy in such a short space of time? What a disappointment he has turned out to be. – Yours, etc,

Madam, – Will our political parties ever learn? Parachuting in celebrity candidates does not work. Fine Gael in particular has been doing this at local, national and European level over the past decade. I wish George the best in the future. – Yours, etc,

Madam, – George Lee is a person of enormous integrity who I admired greatly during his time with RTÉ. I was very disappointed when he joined Fine Gael as I felt that his RTÉ role was much more significant than any opportunity that might arise within the party and that he would be compromised by it and the Dáil.

However, his resignation fully restores my faith in him as a person of great integrity and ability and I hope that he will revert to a key reporting position at RTÉ. – Yours, etc,

Madam, – Could George Lee’s departure from Fine Gael be the enda Kenny? – Yours, etc,

Madam, – Finally a Government Minister tells the truth (Front page, February 6th) when Willie O’Dea admits that the €1.7 billion for Limerick regeneration will not be forthcoming.

This news will be devastating for the countless families in Limerick’s troubled estates who had looked forward to a bright new future free from crime gangs, arson, murder, violence and anti-social behaviour.

Many will recall the images of the fleet of shiny black Mercedes cars sweeping into the deprived estates of Moyross and Southill and Ballinacurra Weston and St Mary’s Park all heralding a new dawn of enlightened local government and a vindication of the rights of people living in local authority housing.

Sadly the dream was only a mirage. The hope raised among the residents merely words spun by well-paid spin doctors.

The tragedy is made all the more depressing by the comments of the leaders of the failed regeneration effort saying that private investment will come to the rescue. There is no way that private investment will make up the shortfall.

In effect, private investment will engage in what can only be described as an ethnic cleansing exercise, where families in local authority housing are evicted to make way for new private marinas, waterside apartments and leisure centres.

This awful image of privilege over people is the sad reality of regeneration in Limerick today. All those who promised false hope to people living with crime and violence should hang their heads in shame. – Yours, etc,

Madam, – So Minister for Foreign Affairs Mícheál Martin feels the €4.4 million spent on the refurbishment of the Ottawa residence of the Irish Ambassador to Canada was worth it, stating that Ireland must be well represented abroad.

Any chance the Government might spend money to represent the Irish at home – schools, roads, health? Wishful thinking, I know. – Yours, etc,

Madam, – As Jamie Smyth reported (Home News, February 4th), it is welcome that the new Early Childhood Care and Education scheme will benefit 51,000 children this year.

However, if, like my daughter, you were one of 18,000 children born in quarter three of 2007 you will not be be able to avail of the Government’s “generous” new scheme in September 2010, despite being eligible to start primary school a year later.

Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Barry Andrews recently confirmed that there are no plans to review the age limits of the scheme; so tens of thousands every year will lose out on the developmental, and indeed financial benefits of what should be a very positive initiative for all children and their parents. – Yours, etc,

Madam, – My sister-in-law is a long-term patient St Ita’s Hospital, Portrane, Co Dublin. I can attest to the appalling physical conditions in that hospital which would not be tolerated in any general hospital. Patients are living in conditions that are lacking in basic humanity and dignity. In addition to the reported move to Beaumont Hospital, houses have been built in the grounds of St Ita’s to provide accommodation for some patients. These houses, built to a very high standard, have been fully furnished and fitted for many months.

The move from the old hospital has been continually deferred due to staffing issues. In the past few days I have become aware that some new staff are to be hired on 40-day contracts. This is hardly auspicious. This Government, which can find endless money to bail out banks and other culprits for the current economic crisis, should hang its head in collective shame.

Finally, I cannot conclude without paying tribute to the staff who work in a heroic and humane manner in truly atrocious conditions, – Yours, etc,

Madam, – As a career photographer since the mid 1960s, it is with sadness I write that it is now urgently necessary for the Government to introduce a privacy bill. The behaviour of some people who call themselves photographers and videographers – usually attached to the tabloid press – but also to some of the so-called “respectable media”, is depressing and sometimes just disgusting.

The Lillis trial is just the latest in a long list of recent judicial events that have attracted these toerags! Invasive attempts to photograph a motherless 17-year-old girl with her loving father during his last days of freedom just plumbs the depths.

The Irish courts system and its participants, unwilling or otherwise, should be respected, as justice will eventually prevail. Where has the “auld decency” towards our fellow citizens gone to? – Yours, etc,

Madam, – You report “Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness will meet US President Barack Obama at the White House on St Patrick’s Day to discuss progress in the Northern peace process.” (Breaking News, February 6th). Is there any way to stop this?

I, for one, am tired of this annual ritual of Irish politicians coming to the US every St Patrick’s Day. Most of us don’t want them here. We don’t want to see their ugly mugs. It would be much better if they were to stay at home and try to fix their failed economies and their failed states.

Millions of us voted with our feet and left the connivers, the petty, the narrow-minded and the indolent behind. If we want to see them, we may visit. – Yours, etc,

Madam, – Following my letter (4th January) concerning the care of learning disabled people, I have received a disturbing anonymous letter. I would plead with the writer to make him/herself known to me as a matter of urgency. All correspondence of a “whistle-blowing” nature is treated with utmost care by me. But it is impossible to challenge abusive or unethical practices when the information is given anonymously. I would appeal to the person to take courage and contact me. – Yours, etc,

Madam, – Breda O’Brien (Opinion, February 6th) is worried about registrars having to conduct a civil partnership ceremony when the civil partnerships are against their religious beliefs.

But registrars are obliged to conduct civil marriages between Catholics even if their religious beliefs tell them that the marriage should be taking place in church. They are obliged to conduct civil marriages between divorced people even if their religious beliefs tell them divorce is wrong. They are obliged to conduct civil marriages between people whose marriages have been annulled by the civil courts for reasons that the Church might not accept.

It is not the job of a registrar to approve a marriage, or a civil partnership, but merely to make certain checks, pronounce certain phrases and make certain records to satisfy requirements laid down by law. – Yours, etc,

A chara, – Breda O’Brien writes that “how we handle gay rights versus religious rights will determine whether we become a polarised society that is a cold house for religion, or a genuinely tolerant society”.

Implicit in this comparison is a faulty assumption these rights fall under equivalent categories. Ms O’Brien might plausibly contrast religious views of society against secular views, both being deeply held outlooks.

However, the same cannot be said of gay rights, which are a recognition of an innate characteristic. In classical liberal terms, the rights afforded to religion are derived from freedom of speech and association, and in a pluralist society we should naturally be respectful of differences in such matters, whereas the rights recognised for gay people are a matter of equality before the law, which surely ranks higher in any estimation of rights. – Is mise,

Madam, Thank you for providing us with a clear elucidation of certain aspects of tolerance in society (Breda O’Brien, Opinion, February 6th). It might be useful if members of the Oireachtas were to read and ponder some of the ideas set out by your columnist before finally signing off on the civil partnerships legislation, lest we, albeit unwittingly, seriously damage the development of the tender plant that is tolerance, diversity and equality in our society. Ms O’Brien instances how this is currently happening to our nearest neighbour.

Who would have believed that, as Archbishop Dr John Sentamu has said, “diversity” could ever come to mean every colour and creed except Christianity, and “equality” come to exclude anyone with a Christian belief in God? There is no need to remind ourselves that “religious freedom” encompasses the freedom to believe and practise one’s belief (as well as the freedom not to believe). This truth will undoubtedly resonate widely among our people, as will the practical suggestion that “a registrar should only be allowed a derogation from a civil partnership registration if a substitute is available”. What is the point in having a partnership registered by an unwilling person in violation of that person’s conscience? Is Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern and our Government listening? In the interest of good legislation, I sincerely hope so. – Yours, etc,

Madam, – What a pleasure to read Noel Whelan’s dispassionate assessment of Mary Harney’s accomplishments (Opinion, February 6th). Although my views cluster at the opposite end of the political spectrum, I note that she is often the target of uninformed, superficially ideological and sometimes misogynistic criticism. Here is someone who delivered us a cleaner environment, who fostered and empowered investment in science and who introduced reform to a fossilised and reactionary heath service. How many politicians have been as effective in the history of the State?

Has she evoked outrage, anger and abuse? Of course. One would expect no less. It’s a mark of her accomplishment. Her common depiction is a nice contrast to the oleaginous acquiescence accorded to so many of her political antecedents who were less dedicated to public service than to fostering their personal cause. – Yours, etc,

Madam, – Legal Affairs Correspondent Carol Coulter writes about how the recent Supreme Court judgment on asylum judicial review will help ensure “the highest and most transparent standards will be applied in dealing with asylum seekers” (Law Matters, February 1st).

I would like to draw attention to present standards the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform is employing for people who are due to renew their permission in 2010 to remain in the State under the Irish Born Child 2005 Scheme.

Notices were issued by the department in December 2009, that all immigrants who were granted permission to remain in the State under the Irish Born Child 2005 scheme had to renew their permission in 2010, within 14 days of their expiry date.

Immigrants went to the designated offices to renew their papers in January, 2010, as advised. However, they were told that there were no procedures yet in place to process their paperwork. Practically two months into 2010 and there is still no system or procedure in place to carry out what is a relatively straightforward, administrative task. Hundreds of people under the above Irish Born Child Scheme have subsequently become illegal since January 2010.

Many workers have lost their jobs as employers are no longer willing to employ them as they are now deemed to be illegal. Doctors, nurses, domestic workers, IT personnel, engineers will continue to lose their employment over the next few weeks as their paperwork is not being processed. There is the additional risk to some of deportation as the ID that they present if stopped on the street is deemed to be illegal.

Ms Coulter’s suggestion regarding the highest standards that will be applied to asylum-seekers applications in the future is optimistic given that the same department had three years to come up with a system to manage renewal of paperwork arising from a scheme that was put in place in 2005. And as for transparency, the only information available to people is a blank stare from someone behind an official desk or an out-of-date notice from 2009 on a Government website advising people to renew their papers or risk deportation. – Yours, etc,