EDITOR – A year ago, Palestinian children of all ages gathered around a microphone outside of Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza. They held their own press conference, where they called upon the world to stop the unfolding genocide and hold Israeli military personnel accountable for mass murdering families.
‘Since the 7th of October, we’ve faced extermination, killing, bombing over our heads—all of this in front of the world,’ one child said at that press conference. ‘We come now to shout and invite you to protect us. We want to live, we want peace, we want to judge the killers of children. We want medicine, food, and education, and we want to live as the other children live.’
That press conference was held on November 7th 2023. Since then, the Israeli military has killed tens of thousands of Palestinian kids. Israeli soldiers brutally besieged that very hospital for two weeks in late March and early April. They left behind mass graves, including the bodies of murdered children whose hands they had zip-tied.
We the ‘civilised’ West stood idly by as our government bowed in homage to the US administration and the banking capitalist system of which we live in awe. We must stand up and proclaim at this election opportunity and demand that our government immediately enacts the Occupied Territories Bill and closes Shannon Airport to US military traffic.
Daniel Teegan,
Listarkin,
Union Hall.
Some common sense employed over creches
EDITOR – Suddenly, with an election imminent, somebody has developed some basic common sense. We are informed that Fine Gael has indicated they promise to roll out 100 State-run creches by 2026.
This country has well-educated politicians, supported by dozens of well-paid advisors, in addition to highly-paid civil servants, and between all of them it has taken until now to realise the country needs State-run creches.
Michael A Moriarty,
Rochestown.
Over 2,600 admissions in Cork due to COPD
EDITOR – If your readers suffer from shortness of breath, have an ongoing cough, with or without phlegm, or have been a smoker, then they may have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD.
COPD is an umbrella term that includes both emphysema and chronic bronchitis. It arises where there is obstruction to the air moving out of the lungs, causing a person to feel breathless.
We know that between 2020 and 2022, there were 2,686 hospital admissions of people from Cork due to COPD.
Yet, of the estimated 380,000 people living with COPD in Ireland, only 110,000 people are thought to have had a formal diagnosis.
The unfortunate reality is that there are many people walking around with COPD who have no idea. Their symptoms may not yet be obvious, or they may be putting problems down to simply getting older.
However, with an early diagnosis, and lifestyle changes, people can really improve their quality of life.
Spirometry is a simple and painless breathing test that diagnoses COPD. I would encourage those who have concerns to ask their GP for the test which is available from local integrated care hubs.
We will shortly be marking World COPD Day (Wednesday November 20th) and to mark it, COPD Support Ireland has published COPD & Me, an essential guide to living with COPD. To download or order a copy of the booklet, visit www.copd.ie.
Joan Johnston,
COPD Support Ireland,
Dublin 18.
We are neglecting a defence ministry
EDITOR – It is long past time that Ireland has a standalone Minister for Defence. The present one has four jobs. He is leader of a political party, deputy head of the government, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and last, Minister for Defence. No wonder our Defence Forces are in decline.
Richard O’Connell,
Castletownbere.
Ryan’s plan will destroy our countryside
EDITOR – The great Chinese leader Mao Zedong had an ideology to empty the cities of people and put the people working the land.
It was a disaster – destroying the cities and the countryside.
In modern times, the great Green leader Eamon Ryan has an ideology to destroy the commercial Irish farming way of life and replace it with marshes and woodlands.
In order to facilitate the people of the cities exploring this great vista and theme park, he built a network of walkways and cycleways to view nature and the peasant population.
This will end in disaster – destroying food supply to a growing urban population.
Michael Hallissey,
Mayfield,
Bandon.
Government is putting fishers out of business
EDITOR – The Irish government and the EU are putting the Irish fishermen out of business – one of our huge employers in this country. Boats are tied up all over the country due to quotas.
The writing is on the wall because we failed to get a fair deal from the EU, while foreign boats can come in and fish us out of existence. Our seas are like a goldmine for foreign boats yet our fishermen are not allowed to catch any of this ‘gold’. We need a new Minister of State for Fishing to save our fishing industry and all the jobs on shore – and to get a better deal from Brussels.
Noel Harrington,
Kinsale.
