LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Dismayed by reaction to expansion of film studios

EDITOR – I was somewhat dismayed to read Kieran O’Mahony’s article in last week’s edition of The Southern Star, entitled ‘IDA “washed its hands of West Cork’.

That same evening I’d watched the tragi-comic spectacle of an ‘All Leave Voter’ audience on BBC’s Question Time fulminating over the UK’s disastrous exit from the EU. Both your article and the audience in that studio seemed rooted in some form of ‘Back to the Future’ mindset - but without the humour.

Cllr Carroll and Cllr Murphy are right in highlighting the need for the type of jobs that will keep young people living in our area.

But laying the blame at the feet of the IDA is a genuine misappropriation.

The IDA don’t need me to defend them; but they do deserve to be congratulated in their belief that inward investment for the development of film, television and related industries in Skibbereen represents a tremendous opportunity for the young people of the region.

I spend much of my time these days teaching at schools, colleges, and universities across the world – every nation and region is asking the same questions posed by Cllr’s Carroll and Murphy – but coming to a somewhat different conclusion. 

The government’s current National Development Plan has it right when it argues that ‘what our young people need are satisfying and sustainable careers to ensure quality employment with a focus on “enabling the creation of highly productive, sustainable jobs” and the skills that drive them’.

That, as I understand it, is both government and regional employment policy.

The film, television and games sector precisely conforms to that mandate.

In the past decade employment in these industries had more than doubled, bringing international recognition, along with dozens of associated benefits in the form of hotel and restaurant bookings and every type of retail activity – so ‘what’s not to like’?

My own analysis may be flawed, but I’d be very happy to get together and discuss these issues at Skibbereen Community School with Cllrs Carroll, Murphy and were it possible, TDs Michael Collins, Christopher O’Sullivan and Holly Cairns.

We could all benefit from trying out our ideas and our evidence on ambitious Junior Leaving Cert and TY students.

After all, it is their future we’re talking about – let’s involve them in the conversation.

I have total belief in the ability of West Cork’s educators to lay the foundations for the brighter futures of all our young people; and whatever the outcome, a couple of well-spent hours at the school could, at the very least, help the IDA make increasingly well-informed and thoughtful interventions.

Decisions all of us believe to be in the best interest of the young people whose futures are, in essence, the focus of your article.

David Puttnam,

Skibbereen

Actions that might help Leap children

EDITOR – In last week’s paper, the front page article, and also Letters to the Editor, referred to the danger to children in Leap getting to school.

I live in Cooldurragha, but regularly travel to, or through, Leap on my way to Cork on the N71.

I confirm that most vehicles travelling through Leap (motorbikes, cars, vans, lorries, and buses) exceed the speed limit, and it must be extremely dangerous for pedestrians (including schoolchildren) to cross the N71. 

Looking at the map, I see no possibility of constructing a bypass, and I would therefore recommend the following actions.

1.  Installation of speed bumps throughout the village on the N71.

2. Action by police to stop/fine vehicle drivers who exceed the speed limit.

3. Construction of a footbridge, near the school/church/graveyard, over the N71.

Mike Hogg,
Cooldurragha

Time to ban vapes and the waste they create

EDITOR – I have just read that the Irish Business Against Litter survey has seen discarded vaping cases now part of the regular litter in some towns. 

I have experience of this myself, as I often do some litter pick-ups in my own area of Ballincollig. It is such a shame that when we have managed to get rid of the horrible littering of facemasks, they have been replaced by an even worse offender – vaping detritus – which oftens contain small, toxic batteries too.

Don’t our wildlife have enough to contend with without adding yet another toxic element to the waste items found in our hedgerows, ditches and on our footpaths? Really, humans need to start having a serious and long think about what they are doing, not just to our own planet, but to the other creatures we share it with.

Not for the first time I am saying, ‘shame on us’. Time to ban the vapes – a disgusting invention we should never have allowed in our shops in the first place.

Sue Crowe,

Ballincollig

Did you know my grandparents’ shop? 

EDITOR – My great grandfather and grandmother had a shop in Schull in 1901. They were Michael O’Connor and Hannah Purcell. I am trying to locate the exact location of their premises, in the present High Street. Could one of your readers help me with this? I am planning a visit to Ireland in July and August this year.

John Philip Green  

11 Manor Park, Ruddington

Notts NG11 6DS

UK