Sir, – In response to Michael O’Leary’s letter (August 13th) he makes very valid points about cost- analysis when progressing with a substantial investment such as MetroLink.
However, using his own logic on the unsuitability of Irish Times columnists to comment on transport projects, I would posit it’s unlikely he’s speaking from personal experience about public transport.
His assertion that the airport is “well served” by bus connections is simply not true. Passengers often have to wait and queue for long periods of time to access services into the city centre at peak times.
Several times I have tried to board connections in the city centre to take me to the airport only to be told by the drivers that their buses are full – try explaining the lack of transport options to German or French travellers similarly marooned at Customs House Quay, worried that they may miss their flights.
READ MORE
The truth is that the travel connections to and from Dublin Airport fall woefully short of that which is available in most other European cities. Shovelling a few million more passengers through the airport, as Mr O’Leary also suggests, without tackling this key issue first, will only exacerbate this national embarrassment. – Yours, etc,
DAVID CLARKE,
Edinburgh,
Scotland.
Sir, – Michael O’Leary paints MetroLink as an overpriced airport shuttle (Letters, April 13th). It’s not. It will link 15 stations, 127 schools, three universities, five hospitals, and put over 175,000 people and 250,000 jobs within walking distance of a stop.
With only about 18 per cent of passengers expected to use the airport station, its real value lies in serving as a clean and efficient transport backbone for Dublin’s growing population. – Yours, etc,
Dr CIARÁN O’CARROLL,
Lecturer in Sustainability,
TU Dublin.
Sir, – Yes. We do not need a metro to the airport. I travel to Dublin by train, get the Luas into town and get the 16 or 41 bus to the airport from the city centre. Great service.
I could also get the airport bus from Heuston Station to the airport every 15 minutes or so. Possibly the bus service could be expanded with better buses and with more frequency.
Of course, Paddy wants to drive to the airport, and would drive into the bag drop area if allowed.
Maybe better links to Cork and Shannon should be considered, possibly a train or metro directly to these airports as it would be easier to build. Imagine trying to build a metro to Dublin Airport now that the area is fully built up.
Even upgrading the existing rail network across Ireland to the cities would make sense. Why does the world evolve around Dublin people? The rest of the country deserves the same attention. Michael O’Leary is correct. – Yours, etc,
TREVOR MOORE,
Co Carlow.
Sir, – Michael O’Leary does not have “humble” opinions. In fact, his opinions are quite the opposite. – Yours, etc,
SHEA CARROLL ,
Dublin 8.
Sir, – Regarding Justine McCartney’s support for building the MetroLink (“Michael O’Leary and Dermot Desmond’s MetroLink comments show you can be rich and wrong,” August 8th), may I suggest that criticism of this stance by multimillionaire airline chiefs currently desperate to abolish passenger caps, increasing fossil fuel consumption, is a great compliment? – Yours, etc,
ROBERT WALSH,
Fulham,
London.
Sir, – I read a letter in today’s Irish Times by a certain Michael O’Leary. I simply thought if only more could think like that, we might be in a better place. – Yours, etc,
ANTAINE O’DUIBHIR,
Ranelagh,
Dublin 6.
Sir, – Michael O’Leary’s letter was an entertaining read.
Please give him his own column. – Yours, etc,
SADHBH NÍ SEACHNASAIGH,
Galway.
Is time up for the Angelus?
Sir, – Isn’t it time to remove the Angelus from RTÉ’s airwaves?
Friday is the 75th anniversary of the first broadcast on Radio Éireann. A lot has changed in Ireland since 1950, and the Angelus has run its course. It may have been revamped a few times in recent years, but these efforts have been the last sting of a dying wasp.
At its best the Angelus is one minute less advertising. At its worst it is 60 seconds of repetitive sound.
Ultimately, though, the Angelus is a throwback to a bygone era, to the stern religious society of the past. It does not ring true in the Ireland of 2025. The removal of the Angelus may be denounced as “cancel culture” by some. But many others wouldn’t even notice its absence. And that speaks volumes. – Yours, etc,
WILLIAM BURKE,
Blackrock,
Cork.
Reporting Gaza death tolls
Sir, – A recent letter (August 12th) questioning why CNN and Channel 4 no longer add “Hamas-controlled” to mentions of the health ministry in Gaza does itself a disservice in raising misdirected concerns.
It notes “it is a matter of established fact” that the health ministry is run by Hamas officials, but it too is an established fact that the figures they present are reliable.
Gaza’s health ministry – which is part of the Palestinian Ministry of Health, encompassing both Gaza and the Palestinian Authority (PA) – has proven largely accurate in tallying Palestinian death tolls in conflicts over the past 17 years, and its data is used by the UN and others, including both the US and Israel.
Throughout the current Israeli bombardment, the health ministry has regularly released lists of the full names (which include both the deceased’s father and grandfather’s names), ID numbers and addresses of the victims of the conflict.
However, the letter writer is correct in questioning the acceptance of these figures as the “full and unvarnished truth” in light of the several studies showing that they are likely a gross undercount.
The Lancet estimated in February 70,000 deaths from traumatic injuries in the first year of the conflict alone, and a June study by researchers from the University of London, Princeton and Stanford estimated 75,200 war-related deaths up to January 2025.
It is also worth noting that the health ministry figures count only those killed by bombs or bullets who are registered in hospitals, and not those under the rubble, or cut off from emergency services, nor those who have died and will die from other causes related to Israel’s blockade of food and medical supplies, and its destruction of the health system.
On the subject of clarifications, it may be more pertinent to call for prefixing the pronouncements of the Israeli government with a descriptor such as “war-crimes accused”, or a caveat that human rights groups, from Amnesty to Israel’s B’Tselem, UN experts, lawyers and genocide scholars have determined it is likely conducting a genocide.
Noting the Israeli government’s record of false statements about its killing of journalists, emergency workers, or its bombing of hospitals could also be useful when featuring its quotes.
And rather than worrying about the accuracy of these figures, one should perhaps wonder in what other conflict in which a side has killed more than 60,000 people – including over 230 journalists, 400 aid workers and 18,000 children, and 168 people have died of malnutrition as a result of the purposeful starving of the trapped population – would a person be more concerned with casting doubt on death tolls than putting a stop to them. – Yours, etc,
CHRISTINE MAGUIRE,
Whitehall,
Dublin 9.
School holidays
Sir, – Having read “The Debate: Are school holidays too long?” (August 12th), it crossed my mind that it is always teachers who think that the school holidays are not too long.
I wonder why? – Yours, etc,
JOHN WALSH,
Shannon,
Co Clare.
Immigrants and jobs
Sir, – Fintan O’Toole reminds us of where we were as emigrants and where we are today as an immigrant nation (“We in Ireland forget how recently we were the ‘crap-job’ migrants”, August 12th).
We should treat immigrants in Ireland with the protections we hope for Irish emigrants wherever. Is there no intergenerational memory? – Yours, etc,
BOBBY GILMORE SSC,
(Director of Irish Emigrant Chaplaincy 1978-92),
Navan,
Co Meath.
Sir, – Each morning on my daily walk I meet an elderly Irish man with a walking stick being led by his carer from Peru. They strike me as having a respectful and caring relationship and without the carer he could not take a walk.
Fintan O’Toole refers to this job as “crap”. Meaning worthless.
While I do agree with most of his views and consider him a gifted writer with an extensive vocabulary, I am greatly disappointed with his choice of the word crap.
I agree that these jobs are low paid and mostly done by foreigners, but it is an insult to refer to them in this way. I do hope none of these foreigners read The Irish Times to discover how “worthless” their jobs are.
If this were a report card. I would say “could do better”. – Yours, etc,
KATHLEEN FORDE,
Whitehall,
Dublin 9.
Sir, – Fintan O’Toole brilliantly summarises the immigrant dilemma.
I look forward to seeing Conor McGregor and his friends serving me my burgers and delivering my next pizza when they fulfil their “Ireland for the Irish”.
In the meantime, I appreciate all the contributions of those who have chosen to make Ireland their home. – Yours, etc,
TONY HAMILL,
Stillorgan,
Co Dublin.
Camogie bogey
Sir, – Having spent last Sunday at Croke Park, I agree with Dermot Ashmore’s complimentary observations on the merits of camogie (Letters, August 12th).
However, the referee’s insistence on whistling when the sliotar crosses the endline, sideline and then blowing again to restart play was infuriating. Let them play. – Yours, etc,
DENISE McCARTHY,
Drumcondra,
Dublin 9.
Horse show coverage
Sir, – The coverage in your paper, and indeed other Irish media outlets, of the Irish Horse Show is disproportionately small compared with that given to English sporting events.
This is despite the fact that we have the best riders, the finest horses, and host one of the most prestigious competitions in the world.
The Irish Horse Show warrants far more coverage in Ireland befitting its international standing. – Yours, etc,
FIONA ANDERSON,
Blackrock,
Dublin.
SUV survey
Sir, – The debate about SUVs in the media, including in your Letters page, never tackles the definition of an SUV.
I drive a modest car similar in size to many Nissans, Renaults and Volkswagens.
It burns 4.5l/100 km (63mpg) which is half the fuel consumption of a 1950s Morris Minor.
It fits into a standard parking space and its weight is about half that of a Range Rover.
Finally, its height is only about 18cm more than the saloon equivalent. Yet my car is classified as an SUV alongside very large cars such as Range Rovers, Volvos and Porsches simply because it is a little higher than the saloon.
Few people mention the advantage of an SUV which is that older people like me with mobility problems find entry and exit easier with a higher vehicle.
I would wholeheartedly welcome an accurate and scientific means of determining whether a car is an SUV, and I would also welcome a taxation system for cars based on a combination of dimensions, weight, fuel consumption and pollution. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL HARRINGTON,
Beara,
Co Cork.
Stalling infrastructure
Sir, – Your editorial (“The Irish Times view on infrastructure delivery: radical solutions are needed,” August 11th) rightly highlights dysfunction in Ireland’s infrastructure delivery, but its roots lie in a relentless focus on economic gains at the expense of social, environmental and legal commitments.
Judicial reviews are not the problem; they are a symptom of this imbalance.
Renewable energy policy is a case in point. Low ambition, weak policy, and disregard for best practice have made Ireland the slowest in the EU for project consents.
Offshore wind has been stalled by departmental inefficiencies and failure to engage with legal and public concerns, ensuring years of further delay.
This is not the fault of “objectors” but of poor governance. It is time to move beyond the narrow economic mindset, stop pandering to foreign direct investment (FDI) interests, and deliver competent, lawful planning in the true national interest. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL O’MEARA,
Fenor,
Co Waterford.
Is this a record?
Sir – Your excellent world weather summary (August 12th) shows that 10 cities reached 100 degrees Fahrenheit or higher yesterday.
This must (unquestionably) be a record!
Don’t tell Mr Trump. – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN CASHELL,
Co Louth.
Sir, – Allow me to wade in. I have a yellow-skinned fleshy tuber in my possession. Is this a Record? – Yours, etc,
JAMES KINSELLA,
Arklow,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – I note the current run of letters on records has been continuing for quite a while, perhaps longer than any previous times.
If this is in fact the case, would that be a “broken” record? – Yours, etc,
DAVID DORAN,
Bagenalstown,
Co Carlow.
Bowel screening
Sir, – Reading the letter from Michael Gleeson on bowel screening (August 12th) reminds me that there is equality legislation in this country (Equal Status Act), the purpose of which is to prevent discrimination in the provision of goods and services against nine categories of people in our society.
One of these categories is discrimination on the grounds of age . – Yours, etc,
MARY DALY,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin.
