Sir, – Ann Marie Hourihane hit the nail nicely on the head (Opinion, August 8th) when she remarked that the parents of children with special needs are “probably too tired” to protest at this Government’s disgraceful treatment of their children since coming to power.
As the father of a child with cerebral palsy I can attest to the daily grind of trying to access services, resources and meaningful assistance for my beautiful and brilliant four-year-old daughter. Having a child with special needs makes special demands on any parent, but combining that fact with the faceless bureaucracy, inertia and frequently Kafkaesque incompetence of the HSE in particular would wear a body out.
When you add to that equation the shameful and cavalier fashion in which this administration has attacked special needs provision in mainstream schools, maintained the ban on hiring new front line therapists (physio, occupational, speech, etc) within the HSE and has overseen the abandonment of all funding – and the consequent closure – of Ireland’s ABA schools for children with autism, one can only conclude that this Government has (correctly) guessed that the parents of children with special needs are too busy hanging on by their fingernails to be able to raise a hand or placard in protest.
I freely admit I voted for Labour in the last election, and indeed on many previous elections, but after what Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn has allowed to happen on his watch it will be a cold day in hell before I do so again. Since I won’t have the time or energy to organise a march or protest to this effect, please allow me to make my protest here instead. What this Government has done so far (and I believe,intends to do in the future) in relation to the reduction of services for children with special needs in this country is simply morally, ethically and practically wrong in every regard and will be a stain on the characters of the relevant Ministers that they will take to their graves.
There are richer and more powerful targets to go after in this time of fiscal correction than disabled children, and while those targets remain fundamentally untouched I say shame on this Government, shame on its Ministers and shame on a Labour party that has lost its way morally and has lost my vote for good. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I completely agree with the sentiments expressed in Ann Marie Hourihane’s article (Opinion, August 8th) regarding the proliferation of posters in Roscommon concerning the hospital issue.
I drove through Roscommon from north to south last weekend and took the message from all the posters that maybe I should get through this place as quickly as possible in case something happened to me that required hospitalisation – in other words, don’t stop here!
I think it sends out a very bad message to tourists passing through the county at a time when tourist revenue is more critical than ever. It projects a negative image of Roscommon in the public mind and one that I believe has the potential to have economic consequences for business in the county.
A lot of unpopular and unpalatable things are going to happen in Ireland in the near future and unfortunately people are just going to have to come to terms with that. In the meantime, people are entitled to protest but they should think before putting out such a blanket negative public message about their locality. – Yours, etc,