Letters to the Editor: Kick in right direction for Gaelic football

Irish Examiner

4 days ago

The Kerry victory against Donegal arrived in the nick of time to save Gaelic football from extinction. What a relief to see a return to high fielding, long-distance kicking, and a plethora of scores on a regular basis.
The data-driven obsession, borrowed from soccer and American football, with its clichès about zonal defence, dominating the middle third, edge of the D, outside and inside the arc, and so on had made this relatively simple and spontaneous game the world's most boring, and unwatchable, except for scoreless soccer games.
At last, the new rules have liberated natural and skilful athletes like David Clifford and Michael Murphy to keep going forward toward goal and not sideways and backwards in a dreary process of endless handball.
The two points from long distance and long kick-outs from the goalie have also helped, but backward handpassing should be banned completely.
Gaelic football still has a long way to go to equal the wizardry and skill of hurling or rugby at its best, but at least it is finally going in the right direction.
Maurice O'Callaghan
Stillorgan, Co Dublin
Leaders complicit in genocide
By standing by and watching Israel commit war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, our nations and leaders have become complicit in this genocide.
They have shown us that monetary and economic gains far outweigh the value of human lives, that Israel is free to violate international and humanitarian law with impunity.
Three formal EU reviews have revealed strong indications that Israel is breaching its obligations with respect to Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
And still the EU did not and does not adopt any corrective measures or sanctions against Israel, while at the same time sanctioning Russia again — clearly highlighting the EU's double standards.
Bob Geldof recently called the forced starvation of civilians in Gaza a 'despicable disgrace'.
I fully agree. It is a disgrace to humanity and a stain on our nations and conscience.
History will not be kind. The people of Israel and Jews worldwide, whether complicit or not, will be condemned for years to come for allowing this to happen. And so will we all.
Being German, I know this only too well.
The ugly truth is this: The world and our political leaders have failed the people of Gaza by their inaction and complicity. Uttering 'strong' condemnations and empty words does not help.
We are long past the point where these are enough.
We can no longer let ourselves be distracted by Netanyahu's denials, lies, and constant diversionary tactics. His latest publicity stunt of allowing aid drops into Gaza has already been condemned as a dangerous farce and is merely a concession to mounting international condemnation and pressure.
The trickle of aid trucks allowed in will not save those adults, infants, and children that are already beyond saving due to the level of starvation.
So to all involved I say this: Enough is enough. This genocide must end now. The remaining hostages must be released and all those responsible must be fully held to account for their crimes.
A Haaf
Leitrim
War bonds
As starvation stalks Gaza and scenes reminiscent of our Great Famine fill our screens, the Central Bank's
continued involvement in supporting Israeli war bonds borders on the incredulous.
Gary Gannon's legal action against the Central Bank is a timely reminder that three fundamental questions need credible answers: Who decided to accept this role for our bank? How is this consistent with our neutrality? What European Central Bank regulations explicitly prevent the bank from stopping this activity?
Our Central Bank is not a private bank mandated to facilitate dubious clients.
Ethics, human rights, and respect for democratic values should overrule monetary and fiscal policies.
Faced with the ongoing genocide in Gaza, institutional independence is not an excuse for inaction.
War justifies exceptional measures. The Taoiseach should instruct the Central Bank to stop this activity that besmirches Ireland's name. Penalties would be a small price to pay for a principled stance which would be respected in the court of global public opinion.
This would send an unequivocal message that Israel's actions are an affront to our humanity and that our neutrality is more than platitudes.
Declan Deasy
Former director European Commission, DG DIGIT, Castlebellingham Co Louth
Inhumanity of war
Those of us raised in the Roman Catholic tradition are familiar with the Madonna and child image. Last week, another image of a Madonna and child was shown on our TV screens and print media. The child showed to the world its emaciated frame displaying the protruded bones of its spine caused by the lack of nourishing food due to the inhumanity of war.
How and when did the governments in our world become so impotent, and have our civilised democracies lost their edge and become too polite?
Mary Shanahan
Tralee Kerry
Rote learning is not the way
Nathan Barrett (' Beyond the exam hall: Reclaiming the purpose of Irish education', July 8) is correct. The points system is a narrow pressure point memory recall system inflicted on young people every June during the Leaving Certificate. It does not capture academic ability and excludes many students from third level study, especially those who cannot afford grind schools, which Nathan correctly points out, exist outside of the scrutiny of the Department of Education.
These schools do exist with no emphasis on pastoral care or any other student development. Regretfully, the Leaving Certificate, as it is, pushes all teachers to focus on rote learning for the terminal Leaving Certificate exams at the expense of real learning.
Regretfully, the ASTI will now resist changes to the upcoming Leaving Certificate at the expense of students. As products of the Leaving Certificate, many Irish educators are afraid of changing the system but there is no doubt that the Leaving Certificate is outdated and badly in need of serious reform which will capture students' ability beyond their ability to memorise, which can be assisted by ability to pay for grinds.
Adrian Gibbs
Deputy principal, Nano Nagle College,
Cork
Long-term plans give us hope
If one were to look at every Irish infrastructure development, particularly the 300,000 houses that the Government intends to deliver with the private sector by 2030, a key constraint there will obviously be the availability of labour.
I believe that another key consideration will obviously be what happens with Trump and his tariffs. This could have a huge impact on our tax revenue receipts which, in turn, will seriously inhibit our ability to spend the sort of money that's needed for infrastructural development.
It is good to see that this Government is actually committed to addressing the areas that badly need to be addressed in this country.
One could say that there is a sense of long-term planning here. I know it's all aspirational, but hopefully it will work.
Then there is that old chestnut of the Irish planning system. One wonders what the State has in mind when it comes to dealing with this very complex issue?
John O'Brien
Clonmel, Co Tipperary