Has Sinn Féin gone soft on animal cruelty?

EDITOR – Sinn Féin demonstrated a remarkable ability to ‘run with the hare and hunt with the hounds’ at its weekend Ard Fheis.

Faced with motions calling for a ban on hare coursing, and rival ones expressing support for the practice, the party’s ard comhairle came up with a supposed compromise ... that the party calls for ‘regulation’ of the sport. It may have escaped the attention of those who made this decision that coursing is already subjected to so-called regulations, but that these do nothing to prevent a hare from being snatched from its natural home in the countryside, confined for weeks in unnatural captivity, and then forced to run from two hyped-up dogs in a wired enclosure.

Regulation is cold comfort to a hare when a dog mauls it, pins it to the ground, or it gets flung into the air like a sliotar on a hurling pitch. One cannot regulate animal torture, whether it’s the live baiting of hares, cock fighting, or dog fighting.

One may as well try to address the crime situation by giving potential victims a longer start to escape their would-be assailants, or asking paramilitaries to attach longer fuses to their bombs.

I imagine Sinn Féin is being extra-careful right now, desperately seeking to avoid any serious political gaffes, or unnecessarily discommoding any part of the voting public, with the heady scent of power already wafting up its nose.

But while giving the green light to hare coursing to continue might go down well in some constituencies, I hope that anyone who cares a whit for the welfare of animals, or about our imperilled wildlife heritage, will remember that this party now officially condones one of the worst forms of animal cruelty.

John Fitzgerald,
Callan,
Co Kilkenny.

We are greenwashing power needs of big data

EDITOR – The greenwashing of data centres in Ireland by buying up all the new energy from wind and solar farms is in stark contrast to the easy targets that are the farming community. A cull of cows is being brought in by the back door. However, I think solar panels on milking parlours are a very good idea, because the peak of sunlight would match the peak of milk production.

Michael Hallissey,
Mayfield,
Bandon.

Humans must come first in climate crisis debate

EDITOR – If we have learned anything from the recent flooding, it’s that our current flood defensive systems and the management of our rivers and streams are totally inadequate for climate change weather.

Clearly, local authorities and the OPW have a lot of work to do to bring our waterways, rivers, and streams up to a standard to cope with the consequences of climate change.

The recent flooding from storms Babet and Ciaran brought enormous hardship and suffering to a multitude of homeowners in parts of Cork. It is now clear that the climate experts who predicted storms and extreme rainfall for Ireland from climate change are 100% correct.

Of course, this is poor comfort for residents in Midleton, Killeagh, Glanmire, and the eight home owners in Ballinhassig, as well as those in Galway this week, whose houses were devastated when flooding hit them. It is, however, a reminder to all the relevant authorities, including government, of just how serious climate change will be.

Clearly the consequences of climate change will have to be dealt with urgently, not only at local level. This will require much more commitment than a few visits to flooded areas by members of government, culminating in photo ops and expressions of sympathy towards the affected homeowners.

The government must tackle this issue with urgency, similar to their Covid crisis response. This will require tackling the actual reasons why many flood defence systems are not already in place, and in other situations are delayed, or postponed on account of environmental compliance with EU directives.

While most of us greatly appreciate wildlife, the well-being of human beings must always take precedent. Otherwise, residents in those areas that are prone to flooding can no longer live there. This could eventually lead to flooding migration.

The leaders of the three-party coalition need to deal with this crisis. Any plan must ensure that the well-being of human beings will supersede compliance with EU directives implemented long before the emergence of climate change.

Diarmuid Cohalan,
Ballinhassig.

How many must die in Gaza?

EDITOR - Israel has bombed hospitals, ambulances, convoys of refugees, churches, and men, women, and children. How many more must die in this carnage before this madness is stopped? The US should stop supplying these deadly weapons of mass destruction to Israel until the slaughter stops. The state of Israel is ignoring all UN directives and its actions amount to war crimes, as do the actions of Hamas. The leaders of renegade nations must be brought to book sooner rather than later.

Noel Harrington,
Kinsale.