Sir, – Diarmaid Ferriter reports that St Mary’s Catholic Church in Marlborough Street, Dublin, has been elevated to the status of a cathedral but notes that this elevation contrasts starkly with the meltdown of the Catholic Church in Dublin (“Dublin gets its cathedral while Catholicism is ailing,” December 19th).
The Archdiocese of Dublin, the largest in Ireland, caters for 1.1 million Catholics with the aid of only 361, mostly elderly, priests. There were no ordinations to the priesthood in the diocese last year and over the coming 20 years priest numbers will shrink by a further 70 per cent.
This situation is mirrored all over Ireland – the Irish Catholic Church is running out of priests and fading into a shadow of its former self.
The church desperately needs more priests but priestly vocations have dried up, mainly, I believe, because the church insists on maintaining the mandatory celibacy rule.
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If this mandatory requirement was dropped, vocations would revive and also many ordained priests who left the ministry to marry would return to priestly life.
Mandatory priestly celibacy is an administrative rule of discipline in the Catholic Church. There is no fundamental reason why it could not be dropped immediately.
Priestly celibacy need not be dropped entirely, just made optional. Other Christian churches, including the sister Orthodox Catholic Church, allow their priests to marry, as did the Catholic Church itself throughout its early history.
I realise that allowing women to become priests could also ease the priest shortage crisis, but the church claims that there are compelling religious reasons preventing ordination of women.
I seriously doubt the church is right about this and many Protestant churches have women priests. But, it will take some time to resolve this matter.
In the meantime there is no valid reason why optional celibacy cannot be introduced for male priests immediately.
The Catholic Church is doing little or nothing to deal with this existential crisis. It clings on to mandatory celibacy like it is the best idea it ever had. It is very possibly the worst. – Yours, etc,
WILLIAM REVILLE,
Waterfall,
Cork.
Abortion Bill
Sir, – On December 18th, deputies voted by the slimmest of margins not to decriminalise abortion in the Republic. Bríd Smith’s Private Members’ Bill would also have scrapped the punitive three-day waiting period, which is a mechanism rooted in stigma and medical disinformation, and created better conditions for compassion and care at home for pregnant persons.
By rejecting decriminalisation, the TDs have reminded us of the cruelty of the Irish State. Plainly put, these TDs believe women should be jailed for accessing abortion, and receive a criminal record that could impede employment and travel.
Since 2019, abortion has been decriminalised in Northern Ireland. Our medical professionals have been lauded nationally and internationally for their service provision.
The fear and shame associated with abortion due to the centuries of brutality inflicted on the women of Ireland has slowly begun to ease due to community work empowered by decriminalisation.
It is unacceptable that politicians, out of step with public opinion and clearly ignorant of medical best practice, should use what is left of their misogynistic power to terrorise pregnant persons with colonial law stemming from 1861. – Yours, etc,
Dr MAEVE O’BRIEN,
Inchicore,
Dublin (via Tyrone).
Moving from Wood Quay
Sir, – I can’t believe the Corpo (aka Dublin City Council) are considering moving out of the Wood Quay site. Surely not after all the effort they put into its acquisition and development less than half a century ago.
They compromised 1,000 years of Dublin heritage (the best preserved medieval urban site in western Europe) for a mere 40 in an office complex their successors find unsuitable though they were designed by one of the best architects of the time.
If there’s a heaven, former professor of medieval history, FX Martin, architect Sam Stephenson, former Dublin city manager Frank Feely, and the others must be amused.
Here’s to their memory from an astonished site archaeological director who wishes to raise a seasonal glass to the great idealists and workers who graced a site they and I thought was to clear the place for Civic Offices which would at least outlive themselves. – Yours, etc,
PAT WALLACE,
(Director of Wood Quay excavations and later director of the National Museum of Ireland),
Ballsbridge,
Dublin 4.
Dispensing medicines
Sir, – In reference to your editorial “A problem prescription” (December 20th), since 2016 every person in receipt of phased dispensing (where medicine is collected more frequently than once a month) has fulfilled a strict set of medical criteria and been issued specific patient approval for this service from the HSE, which is applied for by the pharmacist or GP or often both.
It is not an “anomaly” that these fees contribute to the everyday running of a pharmacy.
The idea that legitimate fees received from and approved by the HSE should not be used to pay the staff and equipment costs associated with dispensing, which may include blister packing, is ridiculous.
Also classing these payments as “anomaly” and “hidden subsidies” could lead the public to wrongly assume some fudging or fraud on the part of pharmacist. – Yours, etc,
MARGARET McPHERSON,
MPSI,
Clongriffin,
Dublin 13.
Helping Ukraine
Sir, – The Franco-German EU leadership has shown itself to be as pusillanimous, even cowardly, as ever. An opportunity to show some courage and strength has been missed by ducking a decision to use Russian financial assets sitting in Euroclear, to fund Ukraine’s needs.
To have done so would have shown EU member states determination and commitment to the cause of justice and defence of human rights.
Instead, a bankrupt French government regime and a weak, chaotic, navel-gazing German government have shown themselves to be unworthy of their EU leadership role.
Russia will take great satisfaction from the humiliation of our EU heads of state and government in the face of speaking truth to power.
And to add insult to injury, it is us, the European taxpayers, who will fund the extension of this uninvited conflict to the tune of €90 billion, a massive sum by any standards and unlikely to be repaid.
Meanwhile, some €300 billion of Russian monies, much of it amassed by dubious means, sits in a Belgian-based, EU financial institution. Yes, a cowardly decision made by people of poor judgment.
I would remind that Ireland is now a net contributor to the EU budget, with some €4 billion going into a Belgian-based financial institution.
Are we happy to fund the continuation of this war, at our own expense, while three other member states (and the US) stand idly by, smirking at our weakness? Je m’en doute. – Yours, etc,
DÓNAL DENHAM,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – The Bondi Beach hero, Ahmed Al Ahmed, could teach us all a lesson. Knowing that he was himself in danger of losing his life did not stop him from doing the right thing – attacking one of the gunmen and wrestling a rifle from him to prevent further killing.
In the event, he was injured but not fatally. Our political leaders should take note and make decisions on what is right rather than what is politically expedient.
A case in point is Ukraine. Here in Ireland, our politicians hide behind our neutrality. Worldwide, politicians are fudging the issue and are not standing up to Putin.
In recent days the EU failed to make a decision to use Russian frozen bank accounts to help Ukraine fund its ongoing defence against the Russian invasion.
I appeal to our politicians here in Ireland and worldwide to stand up and be counted.
Stand up to Putin and his bullying tactics, even at the risk of a counterattack against the wider EU – which, by the way, I’m sure is a bluff, as bullies always back down when someone stands up to them. – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN MURPHY,
Sandycove,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – Regarding the EU’s agreement on a €90 billion loan to help Ukraine in its defence against Russia’s invasion force, it was noted in the article that the regimes of Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia all failed to support the measure.
The people of each of these three nations suffered for decades under the brutal rule of dictatorships imposed by the Soviet Union/Russia.
How can such leaders ignore the recent tragic history of their own nations, and see no parallel with Ukraine’s present struggle? – Yours, etc,
DAN DONOVAN,
Dungarvan,
Co Waterford.
Sir, – Since the European Union is both economically and demographically larger than the Russian Federation, I wonder what they’re waiting for?
Steps should be taken immediately to build a strong European army, including an arsenal that would make Russian president Vladimir Putin as worried about Europe as they are about him.
There’s no point as we know in relying any longer on the United States. And, if we’re all agreed that Putin would have Europe in his sights if he takes the Ukraine, then I believe there’s no room for procrastination.
The lateral thinking employed by the Europeans in handling the frozen Russian assets issue didn’t yield the desired result. Arming Europe and building a strong defence is a no-brainer. – Yours, etc,
PAT O’REILLY,
Clonakilty,
Co Cork.
Celebrating the wrong feast?
Sir, – Braving the weekend chill and the lemming Christmas panic, I was never more certain of the fact that we are celebrating the wrong feast.
Instead of a Roman or Christian holiday, we should be celebrating Solstice Day – December 21st – which empowers all generations and denominations, not just the chosen few.
The dark mornings are about to recede. Sunshine and light will rehabilitate our brains and bones, thickets and hedgerows will come to life as plants and flowers stretch their roots.
Expectation cheers our minds. I can’t wait for the first celebratory greeting: “Wouldn’t you feel the stretch in the evenings?
Surely this is the joyous occasion we should be celebrating – and its reminder of our true place in the scale of life? – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN LYNCH,
Dublin 7.
Simplex perplexed
Sir, – When at home in the evening, our routine has been my doing the Simplex in seven to 10 minutes, and then we have dinner.
However, over the past week, the time of dining has been extended due to the change in the length of the clues. Our dinners have now become midnight feasts, and frequently overcooked. – Yours, etc,
AUDREY KASSELIS.
France.
Sir, – Simplex is not so simplex any longer. Personally, I find this deeply frustrating.
I acknowledge old age has withered some of my brains but surely not that much. – Yours, etc,
ANTHONY HANRAHAN,
Renvyle,
Co Galway.
Holywood star
Sir, – In true Frank McNally fashion, I drop you a line once again on this subject.
Malachy Clerkin’s wonderful Saturday Sports column on Rory McIlroy’s incredible year was a superb opinion, however, it contained a very obvious geographical error.
Rory lived and played golf in his hometown of Holywood, Co Down, here in the North, not as your excellent columnists repeatedly keep referring to as Hollywood which is in the US and some 5,000 miles away.
Rory has the deserved fame of a Hollywood star, but his modesty and genius grounds him in Holywood, Co Down. Can your columnists perhaps stop relying on predictive text and give Holywood, Co Down its correct name? – Yours, etc,
CRAIG DOUGLAS,
Belfast.
MetroLink and traffic
Sir, – As a resident of Dublin 6, who walks, cycles or drives through Ranelagh daily, I witness the delays arising on the city-bound route outlined by your correspondent, Mary Reilly (Letters, December 20th).
However, to link this local traffic issue to the suitability of the proposed MetroLink terminus at Charlemont is a stretch.
Passengers wishing to use the MetroLink to the airport or other destinations can board the Luas at any of almost 20 stops south of Charlemont. It is called intermodal transport.
I fail to see why in Ireland we insist on being able to drive our cars to the entrance of every amenity, be it schools, concerts, sporting events, shops or in this case the MetroLink.
Yes, there is a requirement to walk a short distance when linking between the Luas Green line and the MetroLink but that is the case with mass transit everywhere. There cannot be a separate line from everyone’s front door to the airport. – Yours, etc,
DAVID LOUGHLIN,
Rathmines,
Dublin 6.
Sir, – A recent letter to The Irish Times criticises the proposal to locate the terminus of the MetroLink at Charlemont as one of the main access roads “is already choked to death by incredibly poor road design”.
It should be realised that roads that are in the city are not designed. They are the space left over after everything else has been built. – Yours, etc,
PETER LYNCH,
Dublin 16.
Sir, – Mary Reilly laments Ranelagh’s current and future traffic woes, with blame attributed to cycle lanes and Dublin’s MetroLink respectively. Perhaps the real cause is right in front of our eyes: too many cars. – Yours, etc,
COLM Ó CATHALÁIN,
Dublin 7.
