By Letters To The Editor

Copyright independent

Well, stop the lights for this gem of information. I don’t know what I’ll be doing next week, never mind in seven years’ time.

Anyway, Michael D Higgins said a similar thing before he was first -elected and later changed his mind.

Nobody gave a toss about what he originally said as he was comfortably re-elected. It seems making predictions about the distant future aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.

Tommy Roddy, Ballybane, Co Galway

I can think of much better uses for the Áras if we were only allowed the choice

Given the myriad criticisms of the office of the president over it being anachronistic, undemocratic and its very raison d’etre being, frankly, a pointless political version of The Wacky Races, what if there were a box to tick in the upcoming presidential election that read “None of the above”?

What if we were offered the -following option on the ballot paper: “Hold a referendum to abolish the presidency and donate the Áras to a well-run charity, such as the Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation, and convert it to use as respite care for children and their parents.”

The €250,000 a year that would otherwise have been paid to the president, plus the no doubt millions more that we do not know about in running their entourage, office, upkeep and pensions, could be better spent caring for those most in need at the most critical moments of their lives, while also being just a short trip from the new Children’s Hospital.

I wonder how many of us would tick this last option. It’s just a -suggestion.

Tony Hetherton, Address with editor

It is best to stay informed, but make sure to read from a variety of diverse voices

I always enjoy Enda Cullen’s letters, and I envy him the time to read five newspapers each day (‘Were news-papers the first influencers? I know I’ve been swayed by editorials’, September 16). There is no doubt there is a liberal progressive orthodoxy in Irish media. It takes effort to seek out a diversity of viewpoints.

My journey started four years ago when I asked myself “What did JK Rowling say that was so bad?” and found that nobody can ever quite explain it, other than to say she is a big meanie.

Since then, I have tried to find -different takes on the issues of the day and form my own, hopefully better–informed, opinions. Sometimes it means having to read whole books.

The most important thing is to stay curious, be aware that everyone has an agenda for better or for worse, and be open to changing our minds.

E Bolger, Dublin 9

If the world fails to act on genocide in Gaza, we will see international law fail

Whenever a UN commission, chaired by a former judge of the Rwanda tribunal, declares that genocide has been committed in Gaza, the world should not look away.

The evidence is stark: tens of -thousands killed, children starved, hospitals destroyed, leaders -dehumanising an entire population. This is not the fog of war, but the -deliberate destruction of a nation. The extrapolation is bleak.

If the international community once again fails to act – as it did in Rwanda – the Genocide Convention will be reduced to a rhetorical relic, invoked selectively and ignored when politically inconvenient.

The lesson to every authoritarian leader will be clear: mass atrocity pays when allies shield you.

I suspect that in the coming years the credibility of international law will collapse so far that regional powers will no longer bother to cloak aggression in legal language. Instead, they will openly declare demographic engineering, forced displacement and siege as legitimate statecraft.

And when that happens, it will not stop at Gaza. History will not ask what we said. It will ask what we did.

Enda Cullen, Tullysaran Road, Armagh

Harris should be leading by example on Israel, not waiting for EU permission

We are told Simon Harris is “seeking clarity from Europe on Israeli sanctions”.

Interesting, considering Harris and his colleagues in the Government have “sat” on the Occupied Territories Bill since 2018. So what about leading by example, Simon?

Michael Moriarty, Rochestown, Cork

Vidal article a great read, but misses out on writer’s most scandalous novels

I enjoyed Paul Whitington’s treatise on Gore Vidal (‘Gore Vidal’s Irish ancestors, Truman Capote and a legacy of brilliant insults’, Irish Independent, September 16).

The TV debates between Vidal and his arch right-wing nemesis William F Buckley were legendary and could be described as ratings gold -today. Interestingly, though, your movie critic and TV writer omits to mention what was probably Vidal’s most -scandalous work, Myra -Breckinridge, and its sequel Myron.

Myra -Breckinridge became a bestseller when it was published in 1968, but was slammed by the critics (“Has literary decency fallen so low?” asked Time magazine).

In a new introduction to Myra Breckinridge and Myron in 1993, Vidal wrote: “In the course of the first book she changes her sex: first out of conviction; then again out of love. Under that hard-boiled exterior is the heart of a tender man/woman.

“In the second book, Myra is now Myron and is happily married. But a vengeful Myra still lives inside Myron.”

This vividly shrewd intellectual of 20th-century literature and politics concludes writing from Ravello in Italy by saying: “It is good to have Myra back. After all, this is her/his/their age.”

Tom McElligott, Listowel, Co Kerry

Donald Trump is not quite a model guest – good luck to all who must host him

Get ready for the onslaught when Donald Trump pops in on the way through to his golf courses in -Scotland.

His understanding of “guest” and protocols might need to be updated after his last visit when he blocked Queen Elizabeth -walking -comfortably around a troop -inspection. I am sure he will be happy to visit, so long as the local -McDonald’s is open. Good luck to all.

Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia