NO TO LISBON TREATY

Dear Editor,

I was wondering how long it would be before somebody started telling us that, because of the recession, we all need to sign up for the Lisbon Treaty.

Sure enough, a prominent national daily has now led its front page with a survey promoting this idea.

Look at Iceland! If only they had had the EU to tell them what to do! Not so fast there - Iceland by last year had put itself in debt to the tune of seven times its Gross National Product. It does not take a PhD in economics to see that this was madness.

The causes of this recession are deep-seated, and one important reason is the very globalisation and centralisation that the Lisbon Treaty promotes. When one important organisation makes a mistake, it can drag down others with it. This is one of the key arguments against over-centralisation.

It is efficient (perhaps) while things go well, but in the inevitable case of a mistake, the repercussions are far worse than they ought to be. Secondly, it is the very over-regulation of the European banks by the endless EU directives that hamstrung the banks in the first place, to the point that they could not maintain their liquidity.

No. Ireland as a whole is very much for a strong Europe. But we will not be blackmailed or panicked into signing up for this treaty, which is a power-grab disguising itself as ‘a step forward for Europe’.

The step forward is to look at the current mess and devise a more stable arrangement than the unaccountable top-heavy structure that Lisbon is designed to set in place.

Is mise le meas,
Micheal O Fearghail,
‘Loreto’,
Sallybrook House,
Glanmire ,
Co Cork.

CONCERNED AT COURSING

Dear Editor,

As the “Irish Cup” hare coursing event looms, those of us who care about the welfare of animals are concerned at the fact that this medieval barbarism is still with us, despite having been outlawed in the other countries that once permitted it, such as Britain and Australia.

Across Europe, one nation after another banned it, as animal protection laws were enhanced and updated. It is suspended on conservation grounds in Northern Ireland, thanks to a recognition by the authorities up there that the Irish hare is an endangered species throughout this island.

But here, thanks to Fianna Fail’s official policy of support for hare coursing, it continues to elude the legislative axe. So hares, instead of enjoying the protection and careful monitoring that they require as they cope with the challenges of urbanisation and the large-scale destruction of their habitat that modern farming entails, are still being netted by more than seventy coursing clubs nationwide for use in baiting sessions.

They are terrorised, mauled, injured, or suffer death from unnatural captivity all to provide the punters with a day-out, a “flutter” on the dogs, and a few laughs. Surveys show that a majority of Irish people want coursing banned.

Among the prominent public figures who have spoken against it over the decades have been the late Tony Gregory TD; the late playwright, Hugh Leonard; Senator Margaret Pearse, sister of Padraig; comedian Maureen Potter; actors Des Perry (of TV’s Tolka Row), and John Cowley (“Tom Riordan”). Were they just voices in the wilderness?

Maybe. Right now, we have the farcical situation where Minister for the Environment John Gormley, and his department, have confirmed that the Irish hare is endangered, but his Coalition colleagues in Fianna Fail remain as fervent as ever in their loyalty to hare-baiting, with several Cabinet members and the Taoiseach himself delighted with what they consider “a fine rural sporting tradition”.

If hares could vote, they would, I suspect, be joining many of their disgruntled human counterparts in voting for anyone but Fianna Fail. Whilst I appreciate that the country is in the throes of an horrendous recession, and that our leaders have much to focus their minds at present, I wonder if they might spare a thought for the hares that will be forced to run for their lives at the “Irish Cup” and re-think their support for this deliberate, organised cruelty to animals.

To cite a remark made in the course of a previous political upheaval in the country, can they not just “Let the Hare Sit”?

Thanking you,
John Fitzgerald,
(Author of Bad Hare Days - The story of Ireland’s anti-coursing campaign),
Lower Coyne Street,
Callan,
Co Kilkenny.

ABORTION IS THE MODERN DAY HOLOCAUST

Dear Editor,

I am glad to learn that Tomas O Briain in letters to The Avondhu 12-02-09 considers abortion on demand as murder. So do I.

All abortion, including abortion on demand, is murder, as it kills unborn babies and it damages mothers. It is a crime against humanity. His claim, that Barnardos, the ISPCC and other children’s organisations are so busy with their work of looking after children, that, for them to speak out against abortion, would somehow divide their energies, baffles me.

Abortion is the ultimate in child abuse. It is the modern day Holocaust. Millions of Jews died because of the silence of others. Today millions of babies are being killed by abortion. I now request groups purporting to represent children, to publicly declare their position on abortion.

To issue a public statement on this vital issue would not detract from their work in the least, and it is, I believe, in the public interest long, long overdue.

Yours sincerely,
Mrs Mairead Scannell,
Dublin Road’,
Fermoy,
Co Cork.