2 weeks Ago
Another investigation report is published (this time the Grace Inquiry) into shortcomings in foster care. It took eight years, cost €13m and runs to 2,000 pages. There are few definitive answers and there is no accountability.
In the last 50 years, Ireland has had a litany of tribunals and inquiries, with very mixed outcomes. These are a curious type of legal hybrid, lacking the cut and thrust of a criminal jury trial, yet carrying the sanction of serious reputational damage for institutions and individuals deemed to have fallen below the necessary standards. They are flawed in many cases because of faulty terms of reference.
Although they carry more relaxed rules concerning evidence, there is still an adversarial mindset in the legal teams taking part. Ireland is not alone in this. The UK has been beset with the same problems.
It has addressed the issues by reducing time frames, if possible, and stripping back the scope. Sometimes an interim report is completed before the decision is made to proceed. Dáil committees would be the ideal forum, but they have been found to overstep their powers on past outings.
I agree with the Taoiseach’s recent comments regarding the poor value for money many of these inquiries provide, with little accountability at the end. I think it may be timely for a Citizens’ Assembly to convene and research this whole area, with experts brought in from various common law and civil law jurisdictions. Joseph Kiely, Letterkenny, Co Donegal McGregor’s ambitions all bluster and no substance – he should be ignored Ian O’Doherty’s article on Conor McGregor and his unnerving effect on politicians has its merits (‘McGregor is no threat to democracy, so why does he trigger fear in our leaders?’, April 16).
We’ve seen his type before – showboating agitators who spook the establishment more than they deserve to. From Billy Sunday in early 20th-century America to Screaming Lord Sutch in the UK and Jean-Marie Le Pen with his far-right, populist views in French politics, such figures rise on a wave of notoriety and public disaffection. They rattle nerves, command headlines and occasionally flirt with political ambition, but in the long run most prove to be more noise than consequence.
It’s not McGregor we should worry about, it’s a system that loses its nerve so easily. Enda Cullen, Tullysaran, Co Armagh Trump’s pharma threats risk pushing drugs out of reach for many Americans I note that Donald Trump name checks Ireland again as he suggests pharma import tariffs may be imposed soon. Trump told reporters “the drug companies are in Ireland”, adding that pharma tariffs may happen in the not-too-distant future.
One wonders if Trump realises how many years it would take to switch production plants to the US. Has he factored in the cost of realising such a massive project? If he continues with this policy, medications are going to get very expensive for the ordinary US citizen – not that it will be a problem for Trump and his billionaire friends. It’s my contention that the pharma companies in Ireland want to stay here.
They have high-spec technical facilities in Ireland, allied to a very skilled workforce, along with favourable tax allowances. One senses that these companies know it would be disastrous to return to the US. Try telling that to Trump.
John O’Brien, Clonmel, Co Tipperary China must be looking on with approval as dumbing down of the US continues So the people who wouldn’t pass history, politics or economics 101 are now threatening Harvard’s funding because it doesn’t reflect the narrow political agenda of the current US political class – and a Cambridge University voice appears to be on the side of the US fundamentalists. Can academia see what is happening with this? China is already producing more research and scholarly work than institutions in the West. Surrender the lead on cutting-edge thinking and you lose the power that shapes the future.
It doesn’t make the headlines, but it is vital to understand Billy Leonard, Co Clare Losing your smartphone now a nightmare scenario, such is our dependency I feel we are too dependent on the smartphone. Soon, certain airlines will not allow us to use printed boarding passes. We will have to download them on to our smartphones.
The same is true for most concerts nowadays, where we have to show proof of purchase on the phone. Smartphones can be lost or mislaid. Any taxi driver will tell you that many people have accidentally left their phones in the back of a car.
Also, there is the risk of the battery going dead. Smartphones are great inventions, but let’s not get too dependent on them. James McWalter, Mullingar, Co Westmeath Indifference to atrocities committed by Israel every day must end Our world leaders have completely abandoned the civilians of Gaza, who have been left without food, medicine and power.
Are they waiting for children to die from malnutrition before they act? They should be demanding that Israel allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. To block it is a war crime, and these so-called leaders are facilitating it by taking no action. Condemnations achieve nothing except more deaths in Gaza.
What happened to the air drops of food that countries did previously? Why can these not be resumed? The destruction of Gaza and the mass killing of Palestinians must be stopped. Those in power cannot continually respond with indifference to the war crimes we see on our television screens every night. Bart D Daly, Mount Merrion, Co Dublin Apparently, spring has sprung, but we forgot to let the forecasters know Yesterday, I felt I needed a rowing boat more than an overcoat in the deluge.
It felt more like a spring tide than spring. M O’Brien, Dalkey, Co Dublin.
