EDITOR – Season’s Greetings to everyone from the magical North Pole!
Letters are pouring in from all around the world so I would like to remind all the boys and girls in Ireland to write and post their letters to me as soon as possible.
The elves are working hard every day getting the toys and gifts ready in good time for Christmas and they are washing their hands too!
This is what the boys and girls should do:
• Write their letter to me straight away.
• Put it in an envelope, seal it and address it to ‘Santa Claus, The North Pole’.
• Write their own name and full postal address (in very clear handwriting) on the top left-hand corner of the front of the envelope.
• Stick a stamp on the top right-hand corner.
• Post it in your local An Post postbox – that’s important!
It’s that easy! My friends in An Post are helping me to reply to as many children’s letters as possible before Christmas this year.
And a word to the adults – do get posting your cards and parcels to family and friends straight away! Christmas is getting very close now and there is snow and ice and other challenges in many places, so please allow time for your post to reach your loved ones before the big day.
I hope you all have a very safe and happy Christmas.
Very best wishes,
Santa Claus,
North Pole.
Vaccine is a privilege others don’t have
EDITOR – The Covid-19 Vaccine is a privilege that many other people don’t have. The distribution of vaccines is about the global north v the global south. It is about inequality. It is about rich countries hoarding vaccines while countries in the south suffer.
It doesn’t make any sense whatsoever not to vaccinate the globe as otherwise, we will have to live like this with ongoing disruptions, challenges and stress.
It is like what we did with the HIV pandemic – Africa got the antiretroviral drugs last and was at least 10 years behind the global north. As a result, children lost their parents, families were decimated and we are still picking up the pieces.
But in Africa, it is not just about the vaccines, it is about the logistics of delivering the vaccines, too. The vaccines are in limited supply in the global south whilst they expire unused in the global north.
In Kenya, for example, there are no subsidies, no support.
Today is about the survival of the families that Brighter Communities Worldwide works with. In Kenya, where Covid-19 is far from over, the pandemic has had a devastating effect across the region. This is about children missing school and returning to the fields to work. This is about young pregnant girls facing a challenging future, and about the breadwinners being unable to work, with no government support.
We have the opportunity to act in solidarity across the world.
No one is safe until we are all safe.
Maria Kidney,
Co-founder, Brighter Communities Worldwide,
Cork.
Sight of ill-treated dogs made me sick
EDITOR – The sight of those poor little dogs rescued from the apartment in Co Dublin last week made me sad and very, very angry.
To think there are people still in this world who think it is acceptable to treat domestic animals like this in order to make a few quick bucks is really disgusting.
We hear we have become the ‘puppy farm capital’ of Europe time and time again, from the animal welfare charities, but this was something else.
How could anyone think tiny cages in an apartment in an estate was any kind of acceptable place for one of these puppy farms?
Of course, we are also led to believe that sights like this are just the tip of a very large iceberg of animal cruelty instances in this country. It always amazes me, how a country known for its humanitarian ethos at home and abroad, cannot extend that same empathy to animals.
Why do we think we deserve better treatment than those poor innocent creatures? We all share the same planet, and all types of living creatures feel pain, joy, empathy, and all the various emotions. It sickens me to think that we live in a society which barely commented on that horrendous discovery – and so many more in recent years.
My Christmas wish for 2021 is that we start to realise that humans have no special right to rule this planet and we must respect all creatures that inhabit it, equally.
Susan Crowe,
Ballincollig.
We must be laughing stock of all of Europe
EDITOR – Every other European national government did everything possible to protect their fishing sectors during the Brexit discussions.
This government has done the opposite and accepted a sell-out – like in the early 70s when we joined the EU, when we had our fishing grounds reduced from 50 nautical miles to 12 miles.
We must be the laughing stock of Europe.
Since assuming office, the government has crucified our fishing industry, which employs 16,000, through massive fish quotas and will cost our fishermen dearly.
The new bill is unfair and unreasonable which reduces fishers’ rights under the law with the penalty points system.
Furthermore, all these measures were introduced at the behest of non-elected bureaucrats in Brussels and with the huge increase in fuel as well, the boats will be tied up on the quays for many months of the year.
Noel Harrington,
Kinsale.
