EDITOR – A close friend of mine, Pádraig went to primary school in Listowel. The master was Bryan McMahon, dramatist and playwright. The circus came to town and Bryan invited the circus to the school.
Pádraig has vivid memories of the baby elephant walking into the classroom. A quote from Master McMahon puts it all in perspective: ‘For a school is nothing if it is not a place of laughter and song.’
Happy days indeed, but that is not the experience of all our schooldays. Let’s call a spade a spade: for the majority of us in the 50s and 60s, our schooldays were brutal. I still think they failed as teachers when they had to get heavy-handed with us. John Hume, teacher and politician, stated that the first teacher in a child’s life was his most important one.
Today, it is wonderful to see the media shine a light on the dark days. Although we were known as the island of ‘saints and scholars’, it co-existed with brutality. On a positive note, we are survivors, the physical scars have healed but we take the mental ones to the grave.
I will the final words to Bryan McMahon: ‘A teacher will let tracks of his teeth on three generations of a parish.’
Ted Cadogan,
Turkhead,
Skibbereen.
We are not getting value for money
EDITOR – An incredible €1.4m for a security hut – the most expensive hut in the world – the same as the bike shed.
The OPW have outdone themselves again. But what is clear at this stage is that the public deserves to know exactly how the OPW spends taxpayers’ money.
They blow €336,000 on a bike shed that holds only a fewbikes. The OPW knew that they had overspent on the bike shed before the story blew up on them. They have failed to protect taxpayers’ cash.
As Sinn Féin said, the Irish people need to be convinced they are getting value for money. As it stands, we are getting anything but.
Noel Harrington,
Kinsale.
Putin’s Napoleon lesson for all
EDITOR – Why would you fight a deadly war with one hand tied behind your back, shooting at arrows and not at the archers firing them? It makes no sense whatever.
Putin’s threat that Nato would be regarded as an aggressor and not merely a defensive alliance if it guides long range arrows at targets within Russia must be regarded as yet another false red line.
Putin must know that the US et al now have their nuclear arrows primed and pointing directly at Moscow.
Neither will Putin risk Napoleon’s folly of opening another front against any Nato neighbour when it could not even muster resources to support Armenia in the recent spat with Azerbaijan in the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh or immediately defend against the recent Ukrainian sortie into Kursk. Now is the time for Ukraine to shoot at Russia’s archers, and not just shield against its arrows.
Kevin T Finn,
Kingston Close,
Mitchelstown.
Who is going to care for our carers?
EDITOR – We are all familiar with the announcement on airplanes before take-off to put on your oxygen mask first before tending to others.
The same is true when looking after someone with a brain tumour. You have to make sure that you give yourself room to breathe too.
That’s why, on Tuesday October 22nd, as part of National Brain Tumour Awareness Week, Brain Tumour Ireland will host an evening webinar called Who cares for me?
The online event will feature contributions from broadcaster and mental health advocate, Keith Walsh, and leading psychotherapist, Bríd O’Meara, on the importance of looking after ourselves first if we are to best look after our loved ones.
With lots of helpful self-care tips and advice, the webinar will also feature the lived experiences of people who have been diagnosed with a brain tumour and their families.
It’s worth reflecting that, each year, approximately 800 people are diagnosed here with a brain or other central nervous system tumour, including around 60 children and young people.
That’s 800 families who each year have to come to terms with news that inevitably turns their lives upside-down.
Brain Tumour Ireland is here to support anyone who has received a brain tumour diagnosis, as well as their families.
If you have any questions about brain tumours, or would like more information, telephone 085 7219000, Monday to Thursday, 9am to 5pm.
In the meantime, registration for the webinar is completely free. For details of this, and other events taking place as part of the National Brain Tumour Awareness Week, visit www.braintumourireland.com
Fiona Keegan,
Chief executive,
Brain Tumour Ireland,
Dublin 7.
