Amnesia or Reality Check: Are Ireland’s Football Team Expectations Realistic?
Watching the RTÉ panel after the game, I briefly thought I had come down with amnesia. By the way Richie Sadlier and Didi Hamann were talking, it sounded like Ireland had just been beaten by San Marino. This is a strong Dutch team with players at some of the biggest clubs in the world, including Liverpool, Manchester City, and Barcelona. By comparison, some of Ireland’s players come from the lower leagues in England. Can we all please take a reality check and acknowledge that we don’t have the players to expect to beat world-class teams.
I have enjoyed watching Ireland games under Stephen Kenny. They have tried to pass the ball around, which is a big change in culture. Even in the glory days under Jack Charlton, Ireland played a brand of football that was, at times, hard to watch. It was successful, but it wasn’t pretty. We had great players back then who played for the biggest teams in England. Holland manager Ronald Koeman alluded to this when he suggested the Ireland’s current batch is nowhere near the level of their predecessors from the 1980s and ’90s.
Kenny is worth sticking with in my book. I admire his passion for the country, and I also like his refusal to move away from what he believes is the right way to play, despite pressure from pundits with no record in management. If the alternative is to bring someone in who decides we should return to long-ball tactics, I think I’ll stop watching the games. If the FAI does opt for a change of manager, the new man should be told to continue with the current style of play.
– Fran Nolan, Tallaght, Dublin 24
Fianna Fáil’s Need for Inspiration and Desperation
Fianna Fáil is flirting with desperation – what it needs now is inspiration. The picture American journalist HL Mencken created by his observation of “philosophers” came to mind when reading reports of Fianna Fáil’s pursuit of truth and wisdom at its “think-in”. Mencken observed that philosophers are people with low vision in a dark room looking for a black cat that might not even be there. Given their repeated failures to find solutions to the many problems that endure and their static standing in the polls, may I suggest that the party stop with the philosophizing and seek the aid of a theologian. In the absence of inspiration, all that is left is desperation.
– Jim O’Sullivan, Rathedmond, Co Sligo
Distracted Motorists and the Need to Put Down Phones
Sightings of motorists distracted by phones are getting way out of hand. I recall a jingle in a television advert featuring Bob Geldof many moons ago. The refrain, which was a reworking of a Pink Floyd song, was aimed at discouraging would-be phone-box vandals. A slight alteration to the lyrics would be appropriate for some drivers these days. Something along the lines of: “Hey stupid, put that phone away.”
– Tom Gilsenan, Beaumont, Dublin 9
Shorter Wait Time for Junior Cert Results
Students should not have to wait so long before getting Junior Cert results. Junior Cert students finally know when they will receive their results, with the date confirmed as October 18 (‘Junior Cert students finally get date for when results will be released’, Independent.ie, September 11). This is not good enough from the Department of Education. Young students should not have to wait nearly four months to receive their exam results, especially when they will have been back at school for around six weeks by that stage. These exam results should be posted within a week of the Leaving certificate results in August, similar to how results are received by students in the UK.
– Susan Burke, Cahir, Co Tipperary
The 50th Anniversary of the Chilean Military Coup
Military coup in Chile was 50 years ago, but we can still learn from it today. There has been a lack of comment in Ireland about the 50th anniversary (on September 11) of the 1973 military coup in Chile. It led to the overthrowing of the democratically elected Popular Unity government led by president Salvador Allende. This tragic event crushed the hopes of millions of ordinary Chileans for an equitable society and set in motion a terror that would claim thousands of lives at the hands of Augusto Pinochet’s violent dictatorship. Since the restoration of democracy in Chile, numerous trials have resulted in convictions and jail terms for murder and human rights abuses. However, Pinochet’s death in 2006 meant the former dictator never had to answer in court for his crimes. The coup in Chile continues to be relevant. It raised the question of whether future attempts to create socialist societies in other parts of the world might meet with the same fate. This remains an open question.
– Dominic Carroll, Ardfield, Co Cork
Unlocking the Potential of Refugees in Ireland
Refugees will benefit from jobs – and Ireland will benefit from their skills. We have recently been informed that there are thousands of job vacancies in Ireland. Solutions need to be found to fill the gaps because we have gone beyond full employment. We have thousands of skilled, professional, and educated refugees and asylum-seekers in our country, with more arriving. Instead of segregating many of these people in tented camps and hotels, is it beyond the imagination of our Government, businesses, and civil servants to match these people with vacancies? Rather than letting these people languish for months and years without purpose, we should welcome them and treat them with the respect they deserve.
– Hugh McDermott, Dromahair, Co Leitrim
The Sad Departure of Curly Wee from the Irish Independent
Can Curly Wee’s bacon be saved, or is this really the end of his readable antics? While the digital changes in the Irish Independent are very welcome, it is sad to read you have given Curly Wee his trotting papers. After a lifetime of following his readable antics, he now appears to have been given the chop. Many of your readers will be very anxious to save his bacon.
– Leo Gormley, Dundalk, Co Louth
Denial of responsibility! Vigour Times is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
