Letters: Our trip to World Cup in Japan just wasn't the same without Giles and Co

Irish Independent

11 hours ago

This was before smartphones and instant internet news. When we arrived, we heard from other Irish supporters that Roy Keane had left the Irish squad. We hungered to know what the RTÉ panel were saying.
Supporters took turns making the expensive call home for an update, then shared the news with all the Irish supporters.
It was a similar story as we travelled along to the matches, asking what Giles thought and wondering if Dunphy had thrown the head.
When we got home, everyone asked us about our experience. We said Japan was nice, the people lovely, the matches exciting and Ireland minus Keane brilliant; but we felt we kind of missed the World Cup, really, because we had no RTÉ panel out there.
We decided to stay home for future tournaments so as not to miss out again.
Family ties can resist Israeli bombardment
Madam — It is early Sunday morning, and I've read Colin Murphy's piece on being Jewish in New York in the context of what's happening in Gaza three times already, looking for a sliver of hope — any type of hope, really ('New York's Jews increasingly divided over Gaza war and the 'heresy' of criticising Israel', June 22).
What I would say to Naftuli Moster of the Modern Orthodox tradition is that, yes, you are correct in saying that many of the young pro-Palestinian supporters around the world do not have families and kids yet.
But saying a 'protective ­instinct' will kick in that will see them rally to Israel (when they have kids) is also true of every Palestinian family living in the war-torn region.
Families and the love that binds them can never be defeated by military might, irrespective of whether you are a Jew or a Muslim, an Israeli or an Arab.
Tom McElligott, Tournageehy, Co Kerry
Criticising genocide is not antisemitic
Madam — Colin Murphy's article is interesting in that right-wing Jews in New York seem to ignore or play down the genocide being perpetrated by the IDF. They do not mention the blockade of Gaza, the militarisation of food distribution and Israel's refusal to give access to external journalists.
How would they respond if they and their families were to swap places with a Palestinian family in Gaza for a week? I am sure that experience would bring the reality of IDF oppression home to them.
The actions of the Israeli state in Gaza in the past 20 months only highlights its inhumanity and lack of respect for Palestinian lives. Being anti-Israel in this oppression is not being antisemitic.
Michael Ryan, Stillorgan, Dublin
Gazans need us to keep flag-waving
Madam — Eoin O'Malley's article on flag-waving is a very reasonable piece of journalism ('War is not a football match, so put those Palestinian flags away', June 29).
However, in the case of Pales­tine, I would dissent. To para­phrase Donald Trump, the people of the West Bank and Gaza 'have no cards'.
In the face of more than 55,000 deaths in Gaza alone, the EU will take no action. The UK is banning Palestinian Action on the grounds that it is a terrorist group. Fear stalks those who speak out against Israel in the US.
Without the flag-waving, the Palestinian question would be forgotten. In life-and-death situations, clinical analysis just means more bodies in the morgue.
Richard Collins, Castleknock, Dublin
Free speech bill is a well-meaning folly
Madam — I could not agree more with Eilis O'Hanlon ('Policing speech is only OK when it's Simon doing it', June 29). Yes, the new American security requirements may be excessive, but that's up to them; Micheál Martin's comments on the issue are just irrelevant. Far more worrying are our own home-grown restrictions on free speech.
This all emanates from well-meaning men and women in Brussels, our own included, who are striving for a beautiful world where everybody will be polite and reasonable in their dealings with their fellow hum­ans and nobody will ever feel offended.
My late mother used to observe that 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions', and this scenario fits the bill. A free, open society, which is what I and most others want, must allow people to speak their minds, even if that is off­ensive to some. They will just have to suck it up.
Anthony Hanrahan, Salruck, Renvyle, Co Galway
Peter Power would be a great president
Madam — I was pleased to see Peter Power being suggested as a suitable candidate for election as President of Ireland ('Former FF minister Peter Power in secret talks to run for Áras', June 29).
I've read of other possible presidential candidates from the left to the right in our political system, sadly without much enthusiasm about any of them to date.
As executive director of Unicef Ireland since 2011 and a former TD and junior minister for Overseas Development, Mr Power has all the attributes needed and is well placed for the important position of First Citizen.
Aged 59, he has the energy and enthusiasm required for this position.
JJ Ryan, Lisnagry, Co Limerick
Gender ideology is forced upon us
Madam — In your editorial last Sunday to mark Pride Week, you stated: 'What is beyond question is that the country today, while by no means perfect, is a far more open and progressive place in which to live than it has ever been.'
I would take issue with this statement and say that, although some things may have changed for the better, in this country freedom of speech only exists for those who follow the Government line.
Unlike Marriage Equality, the Gender Recognition Act – which is also 10 years old – was introduced with no referendum and no real discussion of the implications and possible impact on women's rights. Gender identity and transgender matters are controversial and contested.
Despite this, the Government flung itself into the job of embedding this ideology into our legislation, school curriculums, health service, public services and NGOs.
Even in his heyday, John Charles McQuaid never managed quite this level of ideological saturation and domination.
Julia Anderson, Kilpedder, Co Wicklow
Men have no right to be in female spaces
Madam —Bernie Linnane says she has a right to be heard (Letters, June 22). Over a two-week period, she has had letters in two national newspapers, an article in a third and has been a guest in Áras an Uachtaráin. Congratulations, Ms Linnane, on your success.
It constantly astonishes me that defending the 'right' of a cohort of men to enter women's spaces, where women are vulnerable due to their biology, is considered a righteous cause and is celebrated.
Whereas our belief that our daughters, our nieces, our sisters, our friends, our mothers, our grannies and all other women deserve privacy from the male sex when dealing with intimate bodily functions is considered bigoted and wrong.
In reply to Margaret McPherson (Letters, June 29), I would like to provide clarity that the only people we want to keep out of women's toilets are men.
Females of all ages, sexual orientations, identities, races and religions are welcome. Just not men. Can anyone explain to me what is wrong with that?
E Bolger, Dublin
Br Kevin Crowley changed lives
Madam — Brother Kevin Crowley, who died last week, was a remarkable man. I met him on Dublin streets on num­erous occasions, and one in particular always stays in my memory.
Br Kevin encountered a middle-aged man who had unfortunately fallen on hard times. He put his hand on the man's shoulder and walked him to the Capuchin Centre, which he established to help those in need. After a shower, a shave and some nourishing food, that man was a different man.
For those who fall on hard times, help is always available thanks to men like Br Kevin. May he rest in peace.
Kevin Carolan, Bailieborough, Co Cavan
How cricket united Major and Reynolds
Madam — I was amused by Shane Ross's excellent column ('Sobriety gives me new respect for a Soc Dem', June 29) about the drinking and non-drinking at the Dáil members' bar during days gone by when he and the hardline republican Neil Blaney talked about cricket, that most English of sports.
It reminded me of a meeting with Albert Reynolds, who told me he had a fierce row with John Major in Dublin when both thought the other had been leaking details of their meetings to the media.
When both leaders discovered that neither was to blame, they went to lunch and talked anim­atedly about cricket. John Major later confirmed this to me.
It is well-known that Martin McGuinness was a keen cricket fan, and I have been told on great authority that when he and General John de Chastelain, the Canadian who oversaw Provisional IRA disarmament, met at a dinner party in Belfast, they had a long discussion about their passion for fly-fishing.
All of which shows our inherited cultures on these islands and elsewhere are not always what they seem.
Alf McCreary, Belfast
Trump's tactics will soon poison Ireland
Madam — Referring to Caitríona Perry's article on Donald Trump ('F-bombs, love bombs and actual bombs — inside Trump's big week', June 29), it is tempting to write off the recent events in Washington as just more chaos.
But there's more at stake here than headline drama. What's happening is a new kind of power play — quick military strikes, court rulings that clear the way for presidential moves and political decisions ann­ounced on social media. The old checks and balances are being ignored, and that should worry us all.
This style won't stay American for long. Other world leaders will see how bold moves and controlling the message can get results fast. These days, it seems attention matters more than honesty or skill.
There's a bitter irony in a president who orders bombings while chasing the Nobel Peace Prize. If that prize is given under these conditions, it risks losing its meaning and value.
Irish readers should watch closely. This isn't just one 'big, beautiful week' in US politics. It's a sign of lasting changes in how power is used around the world, with consequences for Ireland too.
Enda Cullen, Tullysaran, Co Armagh
An all-time great response to Dunphy
Madam — I have long admired and enjoyed your columnist Declan Lynch. He writes wittily and intelligently on a wide range of subjects. In particular, his analysis of the far right, as epitomised by the likes of Trump, Farage, Orban and far too many others, is a beacon of sanity in what seems to me an increasingly insane world.
I would like to thank him for his wonderful column last week on John Giles and his role as a great football analyst. I was somewhat disappointed, though, that he didn't include what I thought was one of the great exchanges between Giles, Eamon Dunphy and Bill O'Herlihy.
Bill asked Dunphy and Giles for their predictions on the match that was about to be played.
He then mischievously asked Giles if he was as sure of his prediction as Dunphy was of his, to which Giles gave the magnificent response: 'I'm not as sure of anything as Eamon is about everything.'
Noel Kennedy, Thurles, Co Tipperary
A welcome article on Máirtín Ó Direáin
Madam — Mícheál Ó hAodha's translation of Feam­ainn Bhealtaine by Máirtín Ó Direáin ('Lament on loss of community, People & Culture, June 29) is a welcome development in allowing a wider understanding of this fine poet.
As Mícheál observes, Ó Dir­eáin was often associated with a nostalgic recreation of the Aran Islands, especially since many of his early poems were prescribed material on school curriculums.
However, the poet was a well-read autodidact who went on to discover such modernist poets as TS Eliot, WB Yeats and Ezra Pound, incorporating some of their themes into his middle and later poems where his beloved island became a metaphor to measure — morally, and find wanting — the worst excesses of urban life.
I had the privilege of working with him on postgraduate work and can still recall, poignantly, the day I last visited him in the nursing home above Greystones in the winter of 1988 when he told me he was dying.
We will remember the poet by the immortal lines from his seminal poem Cranna Foirtil (Strong Oars): 'Coigil aithinne d'aislinge/Scaradh léi is éag duit' — 'Preserve the spark of your vision/To part with it is death'.
Declan Collinge, Templeogue, Dublin
David Quinn is right about Tuam home
Madam — Thank God (and whoever/whatever, if anything, atheists believe in) for David Quinn's excellent analysis of the mother and baby homes issue ('Lurid claims obscure truth of Tuam', June 22).
This subject has been crying out for a more reasoned crit­ique for a very long time. As he points out, it's not as if the evid­ence is not already there. The report of the government-app­ointed Commission of Investigation is available for all to read. It's quite comprehensive. The only problem is it totally contradicts the false narrative that has been allowed to gain traction in recent decades.
A few significant facts illus­trate this. For example, it explains that the vast majority (about 75pc) of unmarried mothers chose to have and rear their children at home, with no major deleterious consequen­ces — not exactly evidence of a very malignant society.
The commission also found that the religious-run institutions were generally better than the state-run county homes, where most poor unmarried mothers received care.
Eric Conway, Navan, Co Meath
Keep up great work, Tommy Conlon
Madam — Tommy Conlon was the only pundit to call the Armagh-Kerry contest right ('Old order not quite ready to be written off', Sport, June 29).
He didn't buy all the ullagon­ing from everybody in Kerry and was spot-on in his observations about David Clifford, who brings all the players into the game. Keep up the good work.