England and Wales decreased their prison populations after Britain\u2019s Labour government came to power.<\/p>\n
Why isn\u2019t our Government following suit? Why are we less progressive than our former colonial neighbour?<\/p>\n
Those convicted of minor drug possession, minor road traffic offences and public order offences should be freed after serving half their sentence.<\/p>\n
We need to cut out the vindictive attitude in the Government and especially within the Department of Justice.<\/p>\n
Paul Doran, Clondalkin, Dublin 22<\/p>\n
More lives will be saved if we give garda\u00ed ability to properly police our roads<\/p>\n
As the Government legislates for stricter enforcement and penalties regarding the use of scrambler bikes, nothing can bring Grace Lynch back to her family.<\/p>\n
While government and garda authorities restrict frontline garda\u00ed from engaging in pursuits \u2013 and as long as garda\u00ed are left to fear that they and not the offender could end up in the dock as a result of such instances \u2013 further tragedies will occur.<\/p>\n
Policing is becoming reactionary and more concerned with political optics than it is with the rule of law.<\/p>\n
We need to call on the authorities, and those in Garda HQ, to remove the handcuffs that hamper proper traffic enforcement that would reduce tragedies like this.<\/p>\n
If we are serious about preventing tragedies like the one in which 16-year-old Grace lost her life, then let\u2019s stop scapegoating frontline garda\u00ed \u2013 they must be allowed to take decisive action to protect the public.<\/p>\n
People who endanger the lives of others in public places should not be treated as victims while those who risk their lives face prosecution for taking what they believed was the correct action to protect the public from these menaces.<\/p>\n
An increased number of garda\u00ed in traffic enforcement, not just on bank holiday weekends, would also be beneficial.<\/p>\n
Christy Galligan, Letterkenny, Co Donegal<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t need a full week of romantic gestures \u2013 one day sates all our desires<\/p>\n
May I offer a small word of guidance to younger readers attempting to navigate what is now being touted as Valentine\u2019s Week.<\/p>\n
In my day, Valentine\u2019s Day was a single event: one card, possibly a box of chocolates, maybe a carnation from the petrol station if things were going well.<\/p>\n
The marathon now begins on February 7 with Rose Day, followed by Propose Day, Chocolate Day, Teddy Day, Promise Day, Hug Day and finally Kiss Day, before everyone collapses gratefully into Valentine\u2019s Day itself.<\/p>\n
In theory, this is all very romantic. In practice, by midweek the roses are wilting, the chocolates are melting, the teddy bears are looking faintly accusatory and everyone smells of cocoa, damp petals and emotional over-commitment.<\/p>\n
My advice is simple: pace yourselves. Love does not benefit from a strict timetable. Promises made on Promise Day should ideally last longer than the roses from day one.<\/p>\n
Affection is rarely improved by exhaustion. Romance doesn\u2019t need a full working week. It needs sincerity, moderation and occasionally a window left open.<\/p>\n
Enda Cullen, Tullysaran road, Armagh<\/p>\n
A divided nation, even when it comes to planting and butchering of trees<\/p>\n
How ironic, the day after you carried a headline \u201cVolunteers needed to plant 3,000 trees on one of Wicklow\u2019s iconic hills\u201d, you publish a letter with the heading \u201cProtect our trees from the reckless cutting that only creates roadside eyesores\u201d (Letters, Febru\u00adary 5).<\/p>\n
One can only agree with your correspondent, Katie Condon, regarding what she calls \u201cthis butchering of trees\u201d during the hedge-cutting \u201cseason\u201d. Why do we continue to appear to be a nation of two halves, in every respect?<\/p>\n
Peter Declan O\u2019Halloran, Belturbet, Co Cavan<\/p>\n
If only Irish bookies took a friendlier approach to big races, like Italy\u2019s Palio<\/p>\n
On a recent visit to Siena in Italy, I discovered that the winner of the Palio bareback horse race is the first horse past the post, regardless of whether the rider has been unceremoniously ditched during the course of the race.<\/p>\n
Had this ruling applied to my humble punts over the years, my profit-and-loss balance with various turf accountants would have shown a healthier return,<\/p>\n
Tony Wallace, Longwood, Co Meath<\/p>\n
Some savvy measures can be implemented to stem Ireland\u2019s flood destruction<\/p>\n
The photos in your paper and on the TV of families in their flooded homes in Co Wexford and Co Wicklow and elsewhere are heartbreaking.<\/p>\n
Flood defences are very expensive, but must be funded and expedited in these areas. However, there are simpler and cheaper things that can be done to help reduce flood risk elsewhere as climate breakdown worsens.<\/p>\n
These include a scheme to pay farmers for the deliberate creation of swales on their land for holding excess water and slowing the speed of swollen rivers.<\/p>\n
Proposed drainage schemes need to be re-examined. Flood impact assessments must be carried out to see where vulnerable areas lie and measures must be taken to slow water velocity in the event that drainage goes ahead.<\/p>\n
Our planners need to stop giving permission for homes, however badly needed, on sites that have been known to flood, and then looking to expensive engineering solutions to try to hold back the waters.<\/p>\n
It may not be a very popular propo\u00adsal, but we need to immediately ban the insane fashion of ripping up all the grass in our gardens and replacing it with paving or brick.<\/p>\n
Sean Kirwan, Bray, Co Wicklow<\/p>\n
Blackrock abuse victim\u2019s meeting with Pope Leo was heartening occasion<\/p>\n
As a past student of Willow Park and Blackrock College in the 1960s, I was delighted to hear about David Ryan\u2019s meeting with Pope Leo.<\/p>\n
David and his late brother, Mark, bravely recounted their horrific sexual abuse ordeals in RT\u00c9\u2019s 2022 radio documentary Blackrock Boys, which gave many more victims the courage to come forward. I sincerely wish David every happiness for the future.<\/p>\n
Brian McDevitt, Glenties, Co Donegal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"England and Wales decreased their prison populations after Britain\u2019s Labour government came to power. Why isn\u2019t our Government…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":285249,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[45,2885,9691,246,61,60,102,43,6318,6085,1481,767],"class_list":["post-285248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-an-garda-siochana","tag-climate-change","tag-department-of-justice","tag-environment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-italy","tag-news","tag-pope-leo-xiv","tag-rte","tag-valentines-day","tag-weather"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}