Sir, – Eamon Ryan’s recent article on a potential transatlantic “supercable” from Canada is timely and well judged. His invocation of Ardnacrusha and Valentia Island reminds us that Ireland has, at critical moments, had the confidence to back visionary maritime and energy infrastructure that reshaped our future.
Those projects succeeded because Ireland chose to act on its Atlantic position rather than merely receive what others proposed. That is the deeper lesson worth revisiting now.
If a subsea interconnector is to be a true game changer, the more compelling question is not only whether Ireland should host such a cable, but why we are not shaping the ambition ourselves. A supercable originating from Ireland, integrated with offshore renewables, future energy hubs, hydrogen and e-fuels, data infrastructure and European grids, aligns naturally with our geography, climate obligations and strategic interests.
We already have the foundations. The Shannon Estuary is a national asset, as are the deep-water ports and marine capabilities along the western seaboard, from Cork Harbour and Bantry Bay to Galway and beyond.
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These locations sit close to some of Europe’s strongest offshore wind and wave resources and possess the engineering and port infrastructure required for Atlantic-scale projects.
This is not solely an energy discussion. Subsea cables are critical national infrastructure. They underpin economic resilience, data flows and security. They require protection, monitoring and coherent governance.
Yet Irish policy too often remains seablind, treating the ocean as a backdrop rather than a strategic domain.
Technologies such as SuperNode, championed by the late Eddie O’Connor, may mature over the coming decade. That is precisely why Ireland should be positioning now, through public private collaboration, so that energy ambition and maritime security are designed together.
The lesson of Ardnacrusha and Valentia is not simply that great projects can succeed, but that leadership matters. Ireland should lead where its future advantage most clearly lies, the ocean. – Yours, etc,
MARK MELLETT,
Vice Admiral Rtd DSM PhD,
Cork.
Pondering a new world order
Sir, – Eamon Ryan made some very cogent points about the desirability of an electricity interconnector between Ireland and Canada, to serve the whole of Europe (“Supercable from Canada could be a game changer”, January 27th). I would go further: Canada should be invited to join the EU.
Last month, Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, made what will turn out to be a seminal speech on the state of the western world. Its thesis is that the rules-based international order which has pertained since the end of the second World War is now at an end. That system was based on mutual co-operation and respect by world powers in the pursuit of democracy, and prosperity for all.
Ironically perhaps, it echoes the sentiments of the founding fathers of the United States, who also placed democracy up front and centre, in opposition to rule by monarchs, dictators, religious leaders, or centrally managed ideologies, but who also foresaw the possibility that even a properly elected leader can turn out to be a despot.
By the wholesale employment of executive orders and by the blatant packing of the supreme court with partisan members, the current regime in the US has started the process of undoing the constitutional safeguards that were meant to preclude the rise of authoritarian rule.
Carney said that what we are going through now is not a transition, it is a rupture, and he’s right. This rupture was presaged by such things as the dotcom bubble, the sub-prime mortgage disaster, the global economic crisis of 2008, and the mis-management of the Covid pandemic in many regions.
His solution to the problem is straight forward: middle powers, such as Canada, must now work together to counter the rise of hard power and great power rivalry in order to build a more co-operative, resilient world.
One of those middle powers is the European Union. It is obvious from Carney’s speech, as well as from the fact that he was the first world leader to demonstrate that he was not prepared to act as a supplicant to US president Donald Trump.
The idea of Canada joining the EU is not that far-fetched. After all, if Israel, which is actually an Asian country geographically, can take part in the Eurovision Song Contest, then Canada should be able to join the European political and economic grouping.
In all other respects it would be a very good fit indeed.
And just imagine the chagrin of the despot to Canada’s south at the idea of an EU member state sharing a border with the US. – Yours, etc,
SEAMUS McKENNA,
Straffan,
Co Kildare.
Landlords and rentals
Sir, – Virtually every commentator on the housing problem laments the flight of the small landlords from the market and many advocate measures to encourage them to remain, up to and including your correspondent Niall Pelly (Letters, January 30th) who advocates tax-free rental income.
Any consideration of this issue should really be informed by the understanding that when a small landlord leaves the market they do not fold up the property and put it in their pocket.
They sell it to someone who either lives in it or proceeds to rent it out. The national housing stock is not reduced by one iota. Ironically, a flood of sales by landlords might generate significant capital gains tax revenue enabling the State to finance a larger housebuilding programme. – Yours, etc,
TERRY GRIFFIN,
Drumcondra,
Dublin 9.
Weathering the floods
Sir, – A flurry of opinions and excuses about flood warnings have now been vented. The previous rainfall (antecedent rainfall), the current soil moisture conditions and the predicted future rainfall are all known.
While regional flood predictions can be made, they may be simplified and have been shown to be lacking when forecasting local flood events.
However, flood-prone areas are well known to councils and locals alike and they could be easily mapped. A flood hazard map allied to regional predictions would allow a warning system to be implemented.
Some of the recent flooding was centred on suburbs in Ballinteer and Rathfarnham – I guess due to very localised intense rainfall amid a storm. The areas prone to flooding are very clear and centred on small streams flowing off the Dublin mountains and in part culverted and managed through housing estates.
Certain areas are high risk and if properly mapped as such, then local residents could opt into a warning system that could be triggered when conditions suggest a flood event is impending.
This should be a straightforward task given the data already exists and using modern geographic information systems technology. – Yours, etc,
PETE COXON,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 16.
Sir, – While physical infrastructure will always play an important role in flood defences, another equally crucial part of the solution lies literally under our feet.
Ireland’s uplands and peatlands act as natural sponges, slowing water flow and reducing downstream flooding. Yet decades of degradation-from Sitka spruce plantations, overgrazing, burning, drainage and erosion have stripped many of these landscapes of their capacity to absorb rainfall. Industrial-scale windfarm developments, with extensive access roads, concrete foundations, and disrupted hydrology, have compounded the problem.
Restoring upland habitats and rewetting damaged peatlands are proven, nature-based solutions for flood control which also tackle our climate and biodiversity crises. Rewetting bogs, creating native woodland, and supporting high-nature-value farming can delay and flatten storm flows, working as living flood defences.
The river Slaney, which burst its banks in Enniscorthy last week, rises in the Wicklow Mountains and flows through the Blackstairs.
Extending Wicklow National Park to include the Blackstairs, and restoring the uplands of both mountain ranges, could create a continuous ecological corridor along the east - slowing floods, enriching biodiversity, and sustaining rural livelihoods while making downstream communities safer.
Yet the €3.15 billion fund allocated for climate and nature is being raided for other projects.
If towns like Enniscorthy are to stop “bracing” for every storm, government policy must prioritise upland restoration alongside hard infrastructure. – Yours, etc,
ROSEMARY ROONEY,
Borris,
Co Carlow.
Sir, – Extreme floods have occurred (in Enniscorthy) in 1924, 1947, 1965, 2000 and more recently in 2015, according to www.enniscorthy frs.ie.
In other words, since the foundation of the State, Enniscorthy has suffered an extreme flood event about once every 16 years.
In response to the most recent flood, Minister for Housing James Browne pledged to bring Met Éireann before a Dáil committee and made some sinister sounding Trumpian pronouncements to the effect that Met Éireann is “guarding information”.
This is not what a minister should be doing.
A preliminary design for a flood relief scheme in Enniscorthy was developed and exhibited for public consultation in 2009. That was 17 years ago, and since then there have been two extreme flood events there.
The problem here does not lie with Met Éireann.
It lies with the abject failure of successive governments to respond to the needs of the State with alacrity.
Browne, do your job. Please. – Yours, etc,
JOHN FORREST,
Douglas,
Cork.
Sir, – I know there has been heavy rainfall over the past week, but nobody has raised the issue of the maintenance of our rivers.
The Dodder, for example, is silted up so badly in Ballsbridge that there is a little island from which a heron watches for a catch.
The original towpath floods during normal rainfalls and the growth of trees and plants in the river are restricting its flow. All very visible to an average observer.
Surely dredging and maintaining the flow in our waterways is basic maintenance and could certainly alleviate some of the problems. – Yours, etc,
CATHERINE KINANE,
Ballsbridge,
Dublin 4.
Sir, – I am well past my “sell-by date”.
Yet, every year I hunker down and clean out the drains beside my house.
Where I live flooding occurs regularly because of compacted road drains with grit and general gubbins.
Property tax bears no relation to the efficiency of council services.
My eulogy might include: “A woman who knew the value of having a strong back and tunnel vision”. – Yours, etc,
MARY GARDINER,
Delgany,
Co Wicklow.
What a wicked web we weave
Sir, – Your correspondent Michael Martin (Letters, January 28th) signs off his letter by saying “we cannot allow ourselves to be deceived”.
Unfortunately, the deeper problem, especially with AI stalking in the shadows, is that we are becoming less able to determine when we are being deceived. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL GANNON,
St Thomas Square,
Kilkenny.
Improving the bus service
Sir, – I read with interest the letter from Mark Fox (January 29th) about suggestions for improving the Dublin bus system, in which he makes a case for some buses to call at every second stop. He gives route E1 (Bray to Northwood) as an example.
I share his frustration about bus journey times, but I think that his alternate stop idea would be unworkable, as it would cause a lot of confusion among passengers.
Instead, I would suggest an express service which skips well-served inner suburban stops during rush hour. Taking the E1 again as an example, the E1X service, on the south side of Dublin, could run non-stop from Foxrock to Leeson Street, while intermediate stops would be served by other E1 and E2 buses.
The same pattern could be replicated on a number of outer suburban routes.
Another urgently needed change is to discontinue “timetable” stops on the more frequent routes (those running more than twice an hour) where they achieve nothing whatever apart from longer journey times. – Yours, etc,
RICHARD BARRETT,
Rathmines,
Dublin 6.
Sir, – Dublin Bus offers €15,000 for suggestions to improve its bus system?
I suggest they do the job they are paid for and solve the problem themselves.
My bank details available on request. – Yours, etc,
JOHNNY FOX.
Headford Road,
Galway.
Trying to cycle
Sir, – The roads are just not wide enough to safely accommodate cyclists.
I cycle most days across the Limerick-Clare border, on a bridge opened circa 1830, in the era of horse and carts, when the internal combustible engine was nearly a century away.
The Athlunkard bridge is the main artery into Limerick city from southeast Clare and it is just not fit for purpose, for pedestrians and cyclists alike.
It’s too narrow for cycle lanes and doesn’t serve motorists well either.
I love cycling, it enables me to travel relatively long distances quickly, frequently passing swathes of cars which are gridlocked, assuming I can navigate a way past the wing mirrors.
So many of our roads are just designed for a bygone era. – Yours, etc,
KAREN RAINE,
Limerick-Clare.
It’s the way you say it
Sir, – Delighted to see that the honorific titles are to be dropped in the new Irish Times style sheet.
If proof were needed as to their redundancy, today’s newspaper had a report on monies being paid from Jeffrey Epstein to Peter Mandelson’s husband Reinaldo da Silva and the title Mr was used no less than 19 times in a 600-word article (“Epstein sent money to Mandelson’s husband, published emails show,” January 31st).
Well, there’s a saving of 3 per cent going forward – sorry, in future.
I hope your style sheet is consistent and you take this opportunity to give short shrift to all those Sirs and Lords who occasionally infiltrate your pages. Carpe diem. – Yours, etc,
EOGHAN Mac CORMAIC,
Cill Chríost,
Gaillimh.
Sir, – I read with great interest your note “It’s the way we say it” (January 31st).
As I write my letter to the Editor, which I occasionally do, I have grave fears that my literary effort may be frustrated by The Irish Times stylebook.
I have addressed my letter “Sir” on the presumption that “Sir” conforms with The Irish Times stylebook.
With regard to the list – Mr, Mrs, Dr Prof and Sgt, please note: I still retain my title of Miss. – Yours, etc,
EILEEN LYNCH,
North Circular Road,
Dublin 7.
