Arise, Sir Aidan dreaming of the Irish who deserve honours – Independent.ie

Sir The annual publication in the UK of the queens New Year Honours seems to inevitably elicit contributions from various correspondents regarding our system of honours, or in some cases, the lack of it.

erhaps it was the sugar rush from the last of the mince pies, but my imagination went into overdrive as I imagined the link with the crown had not been broken 100 years ago.

In my reverie, I saw Aidan OBrien on one knee, head bowed, as the queen placed the ceremonial sword on each shoulder. I heard her whisper: Arise, Sir Aidan.

The two monarchs of their respective spheres then joined in in close conversation, presumably on equine matters.

From the wings, actor, Sir Gabriel Byrne appeared, preceded by the more senior knight Sir Gabriel Byrne. The double-take confused no one, certainly not Sir Bob Geldof nor Sir Daniel ODonnell, who got the gong for their services to music and charitable work. Sir Ben Dunne got his prefix for business.

The ladies are also in the mix. Dame Sonia OSullivan for sports, Dame Mary Robinson for human rights, Dame Mary Kenny for journalism and Dame Miriam for TV.

I dreamed the Upper House was also represented, and Lord Kinsealy created quite a stir in the sedate House of Lords, though his gallop was balanced by the more correct Lord Michael of Galway, who found the ancient house a suitable venue to exercise his oratorical skills.

Alas! To paraphrase the Bard, We are such stuff, as any dreamers are made of.

Patrick Fleming,Glasnevin Dublin 9

Sir I read with interest your editorial piece in last Sundays paper. I completely agree with your opinion on the stable state of our country and the fact we have far more that unites us than divides us.

However, I contrasted your positive piece with that of Gene Kerrigan, whose theme, week-in week-out, on the prominent back page is to shred the current and indeed past governments for every move they make.

Mr Kerrigan is a fine writer and can be so sharp on certain topics, but if one were to only read his opinion every week we could be led to believe we live in a shambles of incompetency, fraud, corruption and general chaos, with no hope for the future unless a group of hard-left politicians take over and put us on the right track.

May I suggest everyone in the country be asked to read Mark Henrys excellent recently published book, In Fact:An Optimists Guide to Ireland at 100.

This might level the argument for the naysayers and doom merchants. And also the cynics and pessimists.

Yes we have big problems here in Ireland, as there are in the rest of the world. A wise man said: The world has enough for everyones needs, but not everyones greed.

Mary Cleary,Firhouse, Dublin 24

Sir I am amused by Joe Brollys naive reliance on record sales for The Men Behind the Wire as proof of the emotional connection that the people of the Republic had with them.

Aside from the fact an RT ban broadened the appeal of the song in question, Joe should know that, in the real world, democratically held elections provide a sounder basis for assessing the opinion of the people. From 1976 to 1994, over 85pc of those who voted in seven general elections supported political parties that maintained Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act.

The people and the political parties were on the same page on this one, Joe.

PJ OMeara,Cahir, Co Tipperary

Sir Joe Brollys excellently written piece last week reminded me of Fianna Fils attitude to the Troubles in Northern Ireland and indeed to its treatment of the Irish media of the time.

That Irish journalists, many of them solid NUJ trade unionists, were silenced and an eminent RT reporter ended up in prison for reporting the truth in the news was certainly an indictment of a party that has the word republican in its shop window.

Mr Brollys words were obviously written from the heart. Along with my favourite columnist, Gene Kerrigan, he truly is a nugget of hope at a time when stenographers and press releases are stymieing a proud tradition.

Jimmy Rhatigan,Loughboy, Kilkenny city

Sir In the first half of an Ulster Championship match against Down in 1994, Joe Brolly destroyed all before him. But, with regard to his article last week, I fear I must put a stop to Joes relentlessly one-sided revisionist viewpoints much like Paul Kelly did when he came on for Down in the second half and took Joe out of the game.

I cannot pretend to understand what growing up in South Derry was like, to be a second-class citizen. But it reflects poorly on Joes legal training to hammer the same line, without context, at every opportunity.

Hindsight is always clear. A barrister always has time to analyse, parse and deconstruct the decisions of others who have to actually deal with a chaotic or stressful or dangerous situation.

Pearse Doherty,Co Monaghan

Sir I want to compliment you on the supplement on the Treaty Debates in last weeks issue of the Sunday Independent.

It was so interesting and factual and a pleasure to read and even my grandchildren showed great interest in it. They loved the old advertisements.

Sally McDonald,Ballinacarrig, Carlow

Sir By agreeing to attend the Treaty negotiations in 10 Downing Street, London, did that not somehow imply that ownership of Ireland was vested in the UK government?

Accordingly, did this not reduce the plenipotentiaries to the role of beggars begging the owners for concessions to bring home to the Dil in the guise of obtaining the best deal?

Apart from conceding home advantage to the opposition, surely by insisting on a more neutral venue Edinburgh or Cardiff the Irish delegation would have kicked off the negotiations on a more equal footing?

Separately, compliments to the editor for last weeks supplement in the Sunday Independent an excellent coverage of the Dil debates leading to ratification.

Mick OBrien,Springmount, Kilkenny

Sir The Golfgate trial in Galway was told the public was whipped up into hysteria and good people had to resign.

I found this statement to be absolutely ludicrous.

I say that based on the millions of people in this country who at that time were asked to make unprecedented sacrifices.

The least I would have expected from our public representatives is that they too would have been on board with the zeitgeist of that time.

It appeared to me that Golfgate was one rule for them and another rule for everyone else.

Name and address with Editor

Sir Hold on, lets nip this in the bud. We are all fairly much aware of the facts and circumstances of this. Trial of the Four is a futile exercise. No new facts will emerge. Legal profession get another fat pay day. Court time wasted. Mood of the nation gets another kick in the teeth.

Instead why not ask Donie Cassidy and Noel Grealish to request a modest 2k each from the offenders. We and they know who they are. Include Phil Hogan and Samus Woulfe. Nobody loses further face. Money paid to go to a nominated charity (charities). All legal action dropped.

Common sense and decency should prevail.

Tony Finucane,Ennis, Co Clare

Sir I was surprised at An Taoiseachs attack on Sinn Fin and his allegation of them having a pro-Putin stance on Ukraine. It is a poor reflection on a leader to be encouraging confrontation with Russia and compromising our neutrality.

Surely Mr Martin, a teacher qualified in political history, must remember what happened in 1955 when the US positioned missiles in Turkey aimed at the USSR and Russia reciprocated by placing missiles in Cuba?

The world came close to nuclear war until, fortunately for us all, both sides sensibly removed their cause for war in 1962.

Mr Martin should exhort the EU to bring their influence to bear on Biden and Putin and stop Ukraine becoming another pawn with the potential for war.

Don Teegan,Monkstown, Demesne, Co Cork

Sir Conor ODonovans letter (GAA must resolve to fix hand-pass fiasco) resurrected the spiky issue that, for me, has dimmed the brilliance of our ancient game in recent years.

There is an article on his countys Premierview site about the issue of the hand-pass with statistics that seriously undermine the legality of how the pass is being executed. For instance, two-thirds of the hand-passes in the semi-finals and final of this years senior hurling championship were illegal ones.

Its long been the rule that if a player wants to carry the sliotar for more than four steps he/she has to bounce or balance it on the hurley, while the sliotar can only be handled twice in such a possession. It would be in keeping with this principle that the hand-pass be adjusted, whereby both hands must be used to execute the movement. Failing that the hand pass as is should be limited to a maximum of three hand-offs.

Such modifications would limit the easy retention of possession, promote more contesting of the sliotar as was traditional in the game and carry the potential to make a referees life a smidgen easier.

Michael Gannon,St Thomas Square, Kilkenny

Sir The comments by the Pope concerning pets and children were undoubtedly insensitive and unkind to animal lovers. He perhaps unintentionally strayed off message. Where was his shepherd?

He was bemoaning the global decline in birth rates and clumsily threw the pets out of the bath water to make a point.

I can remember from coming from a family of 10, not including the many wonderful pets we had, that it was considered a bit selfish for parents to have so many children or at least it sometimes felt like that. All those mouths to feed. But my parents managed to share the sustenance and love.

Obviously, the church welcomed all, the more the merrier with that expectation of some dayof a Christian brother, a nun and a priest for the fold.

I fondly remember an episode from The Vicar of Dibley, when Geraldine organised an impromptu gathering (pre-Covid) for the local pet owners to bring their pets to the church for a special sermon thanking God for all living creatures. The service was a lively event as humans and their pets packed out the church and the choir sang All Things Bright and Beautiful and Puppy Love.

I wonder what St Francis of Assisi would think of the Popes comments? I suspect he might identify more with the vicar.

Aidan Roddy,Cabinteely, Dublin 18

Sir In the haste to dismantle the religious trappings of Christmas, spare a thought for the Three Wise Kings (aka the Magi), who arrived, camel-sore, weary and in the nick of time into Christian history and a mere few days ago in our family cribs on January 6.

Shouldnt we afford Balthasar, Melchior and Caspar a period of Yuletide welcome beyond the cut-off point of the 12 days and Little Christmas?

It would be (to borrow TS Eliots wonderful word in Journey of the Magi) satisfactory.

Oliver McGrane, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16

Sir With the present Governments regulations on alcohol price control forcing the consumer to drink less, perhaps they should set a good example and ban alcohol from the Dil?

David Smyth,Co Leitrim

Sir The Governments introduction of minimum alcohol pricing is a progressive step if it encourages people to drink a little less. It reminds me of one of the many stories my late father told me about the customers of the family pub.

John arrived at the pub every evening around 8pm. He had three pints of Guinness before closing time. He enjoyed discussing Austin Stacks football, greyhounds, horses and the news of the day. He then walked home, where he lived alone.

When the price of the pint went up from 11p to an old Irish shilling, the regulars called down every misfortune on the powers that be in Dublin, but the porter continued to flow.

Making his way to John, who was sitting contentedly by the fire, Dad asked: Will you follow the pint at the new price, John?

My dear man, replied John. Ill follow it to Hell. Drinking the juice of the barley in such pleasant company is priceless.

Billy Ryle,Spa, Tralee, Co Kerry

Sir Our legislators are among the highest-paid in the world, but the new regulations on buying alcohol are more Luddite than progressive. They display a paucity of imaginative and innovative thinking and the implementation of these measures will only benefit special interest groups, again.

Those of us on fixed incomes, particularly those of us getting on in years, will have to pay prices out of the reach of many.

Like all responsible people, I would like to see an end to anti-social drinking and the social ills that accompany this scourge, but it is wrong to scapegoat everyone for the irresponsible behaviour of the few.

Tom Cooper,Templeville Road, Dublin 6W

Sir The reality of binge drinking and cheap alcohol was brought home to our family 11 years ago when our 19-year-old son, David, died by suicide after leaving an all-night house party.

At his inquest we asked that the problem of cheap alcohol be addressed, along with promotion and availability.

We were just parents who saw a problem and wanted change, not sympathy.

At times, total strangers saw fit to tell us we were just looking for something to blame and that we were allowing ourselves to be used as pawns despite the proven facts that alcohol is a contributing factor in 50pc of suicides in Ireland and a person is eight times more likely to die by suicide when they are binge drinking.

It says on Davids death certificate that alcohol was a contributing factor in his death. It never ceases to amaze us that so many people choose to ignore these facts.

Minimum unit pricing is the can that was kicked down the road until eventually someone decided to pick it up and thank God they did.

John Higgins,Ballina, Co Mayo

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Arise, Sir Aidan dreaming of the Irish who deserve honours - Independent.ie