Phoenix Hospital should be 'renamed'

I am one of those parents.

The location is wrong, but why can’t they at least get the name right?

The name should reflect the brave babies and children who become patients, and the wonderful doctors, nurses, and all frontline hospital staff who treat them.

There is already a Phoenix hospital in Ireland and a world-renowned children’s hospital in Arizona

has the same name. Hospitals, nationally and internationally, are in constant contact with each other and surely the shared name will confuse.

Not much thought or common sense went into the naming of the Phoenix.

Our children’s hospital deserves a name worthy of the work done there and of the children whose lives are dependent on it.

Please rename it.

Aisling NcNiffe

Straffan

Co Kildare

White poppy of peace more apt

RTÉ News reports that An

Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, wore a shamrock Poppy in the Dáil, on

November 7, as a gesture for Remembrance Day, when poppies are worn to commemorate the British dead of the First World War.

So, the poppy is associated with British military imperial involvement in the war, in which over 18m people were killed and 23m wounded.

This was the most unjustified war in human history, and was billed as “the war to end all wars”.

Far from achieving this, WWI was the root cause of WWII, which

exceeded its depravity. All the

Irish men who died in WWI died needlessly, and many of the Irish soldiers who fought killed German soldiers whose deaths were also tragic and needless. The traditional red poppy celebrates militarism, rather than commemorate the died. Ireland is again being surreptitiously dragged into military

alliances, including the Nato

so-called Partnership for Peace, European battlegroups, and the EU naval refugee strategy, Operation Sophia.

As in the period prior to WWI, imaginary enemies are being created in Eastern Europe to justify the militarisation of Europe, regardless of the reality that Russia is no longer the expansionist Soviet Union.

Ireland should be reinforcing its positive neutrality and promoting international peace, rather than helping to threaten international peace.

It would be far more appropriate for An Taoiseach to wear the white poppy of peace rather than the divisive and militaristic British red poppy.

Edward Horgan

Commandant (retired), Veterans for Peace Ireland

Castletroy

Limerick

Leo’s Dáil gesture was poppycock

An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s decision to wear the so-called shamrock poppy in the Dail has provided us with another distraction from the main event.

Was it necessary? The Irish men who fought with the British did so for a myriad of reasons, from

principled ideals about freedom to raising money for their impoverished families back home. They are part of our narrative.

Laying a wreath would be appropriate and the remit of our President, Michael D Higgins, at Islandbridge War Memorial, but this publicity stunt is nothing short of attention seeking and diversionary — something for which our unelected Taoiseach is known.

Killian Brennan

Malahide Road

Dublin 17

Rosary to be prayed around Ireland

On Sunday, November 26, which is the Feast of Christ The King, everyone is invited to go to the coasts of Ireland to pray the rosary for the preservation of the faith in Ireland and the protection of life in Ireland.

The aim is to encircle Ireland with a human rosary, at 53 locations around the coast, one for each ‘Hail Mary’.

Each county will have its own sites. The locations can be found on the website, coastalrosaryireland.ie, or by contacting Kathy Sinnot, at kathysinnnot@gmail.com, or phoning 087 2786 552.

Dr Owen Gallagher

Glenavy

Co Antrim

Homelessness akin to evictions of old

I hope the recent RTÉ documentary on the housing crisis in Ireland will now convince our government to undertake a major house-purchasing and house-building programme, to relieve the homeless situation.

The housing crisis is almost akin to penal times, when rents were high, and if a tenant fell into arrears, he and his family were thrown out on the roadside. The bitter and unjust penal laws made hatred the birthright of a suffering people.

At present, overwhelming demand for housing in Cork City and County is driving rents up and pricing people on rent allowance out of the city, and, in some cases, into homelessness.

The letting crisis in Cork is having severe consequences for families in receipt of rent allowance.

I meet many such victims. Some landlords are either increasing the rents or terminating the lease, stating that they need the property for a family member.

Those with rent allowance are being priced out.

Three-bed units that were €900 per month can now command €1,200 per month. The housing agencies are full, while local authorities have waiting lists of thousands. Many of these people have been on waiting lists for more than eight years. It will take four to six years before additional homes are built.

A short-term solution is needed to help these families cope with the disruption.

I renew my appeal to Cork County Council to take the lead in setting up a working group to deal with the crisis and I am calling on the Department of the Environment and Local Government to make available a major injection of capital to voluntary housing agencies, so they can acquire housing stock from Nama and other interested parties.

We must act now, otherwise the consequences could prove fatal for the growing number of homeless families. God help our dear country.

Cllr. Noel Collins

St Judes

Midleton

Co Cork

Death too easy for Halloween terrorist

US President Donald Trump’s call for the death penalty for the Muslim terrorist who carried out the New York Halloween atrocity is typical of his kneejerk tunnel vision. Death is too good for the evil terrorist and he should be given 80 years in prison and his life should be made as miserable and painful as possible.

Jerry Daly

Caherslee

Tralee

Bus delays remind me of Ryanair fiasco

I wish to complain about the scheduling of the bus 203 route, going north from Blackpool Shopping Centre to Farranree.

Of course, I can allow for weather, busy traffic, etc. That affects us all.

If these were the reasons for the bus’s delay, there would be no need for this letter. It happens on a regular basis, and waiting one hour is nothing new.

At this particular bus stop, many people get on and off the bus. The bus driver, when he eventually comes along, can face an awful lot of unfair abuse. That driver could well be on time. The result is everyone gets on board, so the bus is packed like sardines. I don’t carry a bus schedule, as it is probably full of fake news.

The best schedules are 208, 202 and Blarney (215). Now, I know it could be that some drivers don’t turn up, but why should the 203 be victimised.

I’m sure the answer lies with the depot. In Ryanair, the shortage of pilots and the cancellation of planes resulted in a resignation.

I’m sure there’s a lesson there somewhere.

Bernard Naughton

Farranree

Cork

Leo building an image, not houses

Hundreds of families are sleeping in hostels, while this government pretends it is building houses for the homeless. But 1,000 private houses are being built for every 100 social houses.

The proportion should be the other way around, if we are to get people off our streets. More than 8,000 people are homeless and I must commend the Peter McVerry Trust, and other voluntary organisations that are doing more than this government for the homeless. We need to use vacant properties on ghost estates that were abandoned after the property bubble broke ten years ago.

An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, is not fooling anyone by having himself photographed in a visor jacket outside private building sites, as if to suggest something was being done.

Noel Harrington

Scilly

Kinsale

Co Cork

1% of greyhounds tested positive

In response to Terry Lacey’s letter (‘Ethical Standards going to the dogs’, Irish Examiner, November 7), the Irish Greyhound Board (IGB) has a strong anti-doping regime.

Under statutory regulations, a greyhound that returns an adverse analytical finding is immediately disqualified from racing or trialling, until an additional sample, free from prohibited substances, is procured. This regulation was introduced in 2015.

From 60 greyhounds entered into the 2017 Irish St Leger, at Limerick, 114 anti-doping samples were taken throughout the six rounds — which included out-of-competition testing at private kennels. All six greyhounds in the Irish St Leger final on Saturday, November 4, were tested twice on the night, pre-racing and post-racing.

In the Laurels, at Cork, the winning prize money has been frozen until the independent control committee has adjudicated on their investigation.

In total, 5,387 samples were taken to combat doping in 2016. Of these, 48 resulted in an adverse analytical finding, which equates to a less than 1% positive rate. Every

adverse analytical finding is published on the IGB website, as is the decision of the independent control committee. This transparency is designed to ensure public confidence.

David McManus

Irish Greyhound Board

Dock Road

Limerick