EDITOR – I see the IBAL survey from businesses against litter showed that there was a big reduction in soft drinks bottles being found discarded, since the introduction of the return scheme.
That’s great news and shows that monetary incentives are a great way to entice people to stop throwing things away.
Mind you, IBAL doesn’t survey West Cork, and I wonder how it would fare if it was included. Discarded rubbish is still a menace all along the N71 and the ‘Bantry line’ too.
If only we could see something similar now when it comes to mattresses, or coffee cups, or even sweet wrappers! A wonderful show on RTÉ last week called ‘Heated’ showed how a company in Longford is helping to recycle mattresses, thanks to a continuous supply from Tipperary County Council, among others. I helped a neighbour with some litter-picking recently and was horrified to see how many plastic triangular containers for sandwiches had been thrown away. Not only is the plastic in these horrible containers an eyesore along our roadsides, but the edges are incredibly sharp, and one wonders what awful damage they could do to little mouths or claws pecking at the contents.
Maybe it’s time we banned outright all plastic packaging and got shops and others to only use carboard packaging – with zero plastic components – for sandwiches and other ‘fast food’ options. And bring in a financial incentive for all other discarded bottles and wrappings. If they can be recycled, then there’s money to be made – oh, and a planet and its nature to be saved.
But somehow, the monetary ‘carrot’ appears to be a bigger draw that the need to save an entire planet.
Susan Crowe,
Ballincollig
Adoption Authorityseeking online input from service users
EDITOR – The Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI) is seeking your readers’ input to help guide and inform the development of our next strategic plan.
We are keen to hear from anyone we work with, or who has availed of our services, as well as those who have been personally affected by adoption. The feedback we receive will support us in identifying the issues and priorities to focus on over the next three years. To gather this feedback, we have developed an online survey which can be accessed by visiting our website – www.aai.gov.ie – and clicking on the ‘News’ tab.
The survey will remain open until Monday July 15th 2024. We appreciate and welcome the feedback which will help us to consider how we can improve our programmes and services and better meet the needs of those we serve.
Dr Lorraine Horgan,
Chief executive,
The Adoption Authority of Ireland,
Shelbourne House,
Dublin 4
We need more women like Natasha O'Brien
EDITOR – That the soldier who beat a young woman in an unprovoked attack in Limerick city was giving a suspended sentence of two years was outrageous, to say the least.
It sends out the wrong message of violence against women and then he boasted about it on social media. This was a cowardly attack on a young girl on her way home from work and fair play to her friend who was with her, and may have saved her from much worse. This is very frustrating for the garda who investigated this case. We need more women like Natasha O’Brien and protests to stand up to these cowards.
Noel Harrington,
Kinsale
Rainy day fund could be better spent
EDITOR – The introduction of the competitive corporation tax rate by the John Bruton government and a highly-educated workforce have both resulted in the Irish economy having a surplus of many billions yearly.
The prudence in setting aside of a couple of billion euro yearly by Minister Paschal Donohoe and Michael McGrath into a rainy day fund is admirable, but surely the construction of major infrastructure like the Innishannon bypass will be a decision that will keep on giving for decades and decades to come.
On a short visit to Belfast, Rishi Sunak’s broke government refused to commit a sum of money to the refurbishment of Casement Stadium.
Would it not be ironic if it took a foreign ‘Fenian’ government to foot the bill?
Michael Hallissey,
Mayfield,
Bandon,
Co Cork
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