I agree with the sentiments of Michael Clemenger’s letter about Elizabeth O’Farrell’s airbrushing of Irish history (“Paying Respect to a Woman Forgotten by Irish History,” Letters, June 25).
In 2013, Dublin City Council invited people to name the new Liffey Luas Bridge in Hawkins Street. Elizabeth O’Farrell was nominated for consideration. Ten nominations were referred to the council’s nomination committee, which chose to name the bridge after Rosie Hackett, a unionist and Republican revolutionary, a very worthy choice.
Rosie Hackett’s selection does not diminish the stature of Elizabeth O’Farrell, an ordinary Dubliner who was a local and national hero. With little regard for her own safety, this heroic lady not only nursed the wounded rebels in the GPO during the Easter Rising, but delivered Patrick Pearse’s surrender letter to Brigadier General Lowe and carried the surrender notices to rebel commanders across the country. the city.
Oddly enough, Elizabeth O’Farrell was airbrushed from the official photo of Pearse’s surrender. The roles that generations of Irish women have played in Ireland’s political, cultural, religious and civil life have been immeasurable, but insufficiently recognised.
Dublin City Council can begin to rectify this misogynistic omission by recognizing the sacrifice and heroism of Mná na hÉireann. It is pathetic that in this state we preserve buildings, quays and streets commemorating Queen Victoria who reigned in Ireland during the famine of millions, while ignoring the women who fed the hungry.
Tom Cooper
Templeogue, Dublin
Fly the flag for empty grand gestures and crazy protests
Members of Dublin City Council voted to install a rake of flagpoles at the Russian Embassy in Dublin and then decorate the entire area with Ukrainian flags.
That puts the annoying Russians under pressure, it seems.
Is there no escaping attempts to gild fading Irish lilies with wacky protests and empty grand gestures on an epic scale?
Now what: A real moving holy statue rolled up and down that road to further prove belief in national identity?
Robert Sullivan,
Bantry, Co Cork
Breaking out the barbie this summer? Which summer?
As the rain continues to fall in stair rods and the wind rearrange landscapes and garden furniture, as golfers scatter on the course below, I feel smugly satisfied that the barbecue I bought today is dry and safe in the trunk of my car.
Tom McGrath
Wicklow Town, County Wicklow
Proposed plans to improve bus service light on details
Many will now know that the Dublin-based National Transport Authority (NTA) has recently issued an updated document detailing some general schemes of the proposed Bus Connects project for the city of Cork.
The document provides few details on the changes to the proposed routes, but focuses – in glowing terms – on the positive outcomes for citizens. Significantly, it does not detail the serious negatives and imposed consequences for the unfortunates who live along the routes.
For example, it refers to the removal of part of the yard, which is a euphemism for seizing large tracts from people’s and businesses’ front yards. This will in many cases be accomplished by the crude method of writ of execution.
The attendant loss of vital off-road parking will force homeowners to seek alternative amenities and likely pay for the privilege. Critically, removing yard space will result in heavy traffic roaring within feet of homeowners’ front doors, increasing air and noise pollution, as well as decreased privacy and in some cases a greater chance of subsidence.
At a time when biodiversity and habitat loss are high on the government’s agenda, the road widening proposals will result in the widespread destruction of natural resources across 110 kilometers of streets and roads. Garden spots, trees, hedges and flowerbeds are replaced by concrete.
The government spending code requires alternative solutions to be explored and the results published. There is no reference to alternatives in the NTA document. Nor is there any reference to the required environmental impact or safety reports for the proposal.
Home and business owners should have no illusions about the long-term inconvenience and difficulties of these proposals and would do well to prepare for the coming attack.
John Leahy
Wilton Road, County Cork