LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: A place to view our Olympians in action

EDITOR – The banks and waters of the River Ilen are delightful, especially that stretch from the new bridge by the Abbey cemetery, west to New Court.

The main road to the west runs parallel to this stretch of water and it is also the stretch on which our Olympic champions practice and hone their skills.

As the road is narrow and traffic is fast moving, to stop on this stretch of road would be courting death.

Could I suggest, then, that a safe ‘viewing point’ be established somewhere along this stretch, where one could stop and enjoy the scenery and watch the rowers in action?

There is an elevated point of land, more or less opposite the Skibbereen Rowing Club buildings, which would be an ideal location, in my opinion.

But, as I am no expert on road traffic management, or on the acquisition of lands, could I ask your readers to air their views on the pros and cons of this proposal, and maybe, if it is feasible, help Cork County Council in bringing this idea to fruition?

The newly established ‘viewing point’ and garden development at Leap is worthy of note and congratulations.

James L O’Keeffe,   

Schull

Jeffrey must realise the protocol is here to stay

EDITOR – Jeffrey Donaldson of the DUP has failed to produce any new policies on absolutely anything, but he is clearly being led by the nose by none other than virulent anti-anything nationalists and fears the TUV in the forthcoming assembly elections and his sole policy seems to outdo Mr Allister in his anti-Nationalist rhetoric.

Jeffrey calls for Unionist pacts in order to win as many seats as possible aimed at keeping Sinn Féin becoming the largest party in the assembly and therefore holding the position of First Minister.

This position has been held by Unionists for the past 23 years. The political demographics in the six counties have changed and the outcome of the next assembly election might well see Sinn Féin as the largest single party in the six counties.

Sir Jeffrey’s threat to collapse the institutions has to be unreservedly condemned. Direct rule from Boris Johnson, who is out of touch with northern politics, will never work – a fact that is not being lost on the electorate.

The DUP needs to waken up and read the writing on the wall. The protocol is here to stay and Sinn Féin will be the largest party in the next assembly and if the DUP does not get its head out of the sand, it will be left behind. Accept change for the better of our small island.

Noel Harrington,

Kinsale

A solitary curlew

EDITOR – ON the coast road near Durrus recently I saw and heard a solitary curlew in Dunmannus Bay.

Curlews are an endangered species in Ireland, having been reduced from 5,500 breeding pairs in the 1980s to now only 138 pairs.It looks like the wildlife in Lough Hyne are also in crisis mode, as 100 different species have declined by 90% in the past 20 years, mainly due to fertiliser and pesticide pollution.

We must take action in this country to ensure that we do not lose more of our precious species to the use of pesticides.

Surely there is a better way to treat weeds than the use of reportedly carcinogenic chemicals. Surely we can all pay a little more for our food to achieve this.

Paul Hird

Durrus

Prioritising their own

EDITOR – The recent Facebook outage (along with its subsidiaries, Instagram and WhatsApp) and the new whistleblower revelations on how Facebook prioritises its own ends at the cost of the personal safety of the consumer, have all shown that changes in online culture need to be led by service providers. The whistleblower shared a trove of Facebook documents alleging the social media giant knew its products were fuelling hate and harming children’s mental health.

Facebook has been already pursued in the USA by the federal government and over 40 States for anti-competitive practice.We cannot depend on a modern day equivalent of a 19th century railroad monopoly as a means of connecting with each other.

Tadgh Quill-Manley,

Kerry Pike

No home to go to

EDITOR – I was very disappointed with the lack of any help for those of us renting, in this week’s Budget. I am renting in Cork but need to move to Clonakilty for work purposes.

I checked again today before writing this and there are zero – yes zero – homes (apartments, houses, anything) advertised in Clonakilty town on daft.ie. This situation is not unique, either. It’s the same in many other Irish towns. It’s time this government woke up and smelled the coffee – it’s not new houses we need. It’s any houses, anywhere, and right now.

Mary Clarke O’Connor

Ballincollig