Letters to the Editor June 16th

Teenagers Dear Editor, It was with delight that I read Tony Galvin's article on teenagers in your most recent issue. It put me in mind of Jonathan Swift's â€ËœA modest proposal' and I could only think why in God's name has someone not written this before.[private] Look. Tuam is not spoken of in the highest of esteem around the country. This may have many town elders chomping on their false teeth in derision but sadly that does not change the facts. The incidents concerning the Hood maggots ( no that is not a typo) in the last few months have only added to the disdain with which many people hold the town. Is it fair? No of course it isn't. The vast majority of people living in the town and its surrounds, be they young or old, are good law abiding people but it only takes the reporting of the antics of a few to have people â€â€ many who have never set foot in the town â€â€ shaking their heads and upholding their prejudices that at a certain point in the evening the town is not a safe place to be. I spent five years as a student in Tuam and I have socialised in it many times since. I know and am friends with many townspeople and I would say that I know the inside and the outside of the place as well as if I were living there myself. However if you were to ask me would I send our kids for a night out in Tuam I would say 'not a snowball's chance in hell'. As individuals our ability to monitor ourselves and the actions of our youth has been denuded over the past few years through the over-zealous instigation of the liberal agenda. We have been too quick to defer responsibility for our children's actions to societal forces. The Gardai are expected to do everything and when they try they are castigated for every little mistake. How many times have we read in the newspapers of a parent saying that their son had his arm bruised while being placed into the back of a squad car. The poor darling. Never mind that he had just attacked someone and left them unconscious on the footpath. Our priorities are all wrong. Authority should be questioned certainly, but within sensible parameters. There is a saying that 'Nobody ever died from a kick in the a**e'. Before I listen to the howls of foul from the liberal junta, I am not advocating a process where children are allowed to be bounced off the walls for every little misdemeanor and I am not calling for a return to the horrible days of corporal punishment but I would suggest that we as individuals must take responsibility for our own families and our young people. I have worked with teenagers for 20 years and I must say that I have rarely encountered a bad one. Misguided certainly. Sometimes they can do the wrong thing. Those who inflict harm on others are still in the minority. We as a society have watched as all forms of discipline are put to bed whether it be in the classroom or on the street. We as adults stand back and then wonder why young people have taken the wrong path. We do not offer any guidance. We do not supply any facilities but then we get annoyed when teenagers appear on the streets with seemingly nothing to do. They have nothing to do because in an urban environment there rarely is anything for them to do. Not everyone is into sport. The argument that begins 'in our day' makes me feel like biting my own tongue. Isn't it time that we looked inward and trusted our own instincts. No law in the world is going to stop a bad parent from being a bad parent but sometimes intrusive laws make good parents question their actions in regard to laying down a constructive regime of discipline. The old adage that teenagers are the future may make us cringe at its pure Americanised schmaltz but it still is the truth. The way we treat them lays in place the blueprint for the way we will be treated in our old age. Perhaps I could ask our public representatives to show some vision when it comes to dealing with our young people but then I would have to pull them out off the golf course, drag them kicking and screaming into the 21st century and try to convince them that just because teenagers have not yet the power to vote that they should be treated as individuals that have. There are not enough days in the week. Regards, Damian Cunniffe Brierfield Ballinasloe Co. Galway EU Commissioners keep out Dear Editor, EU Commissioners should keep out of Irish Constitutional affairs and mind their own business. Commissioner Hammarberg, while visiting here last week, demanded that the Labour-Fine Gael government legislate for abortion. His meeting was hosted, according to reports, by Labour leader and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore and Fine Gael's Minister for Justice Alan Shatter and was also attended by members of some chosen groups. It is not the job of EU Commissioners to act as tourists going around Europe promoting abortion. An unelected EU Commissioner has no right to bully and intimidate the Irish people or seek out politicians who would provide an 'open door' for their agenda. Both Minister for Justice Alan Shatter and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore must know full well that last year's ECHR opinion is not binding on Ireland. The question is why did they not tell him so? Also why did they miss the opportunity to tell him that the Irish people, as Ireland's Attorney General has previously stated, have spoken in three referenda rejecting abortion. Regardless of their own personal opinions it is a duty of Ministers to represent the democratic views of the Irish people. We are a Sovereign Nation and the people, under Ireland's Constitution, make all decisions relating to this matter. We are dealing with nothing more than an opinion of the European Court which has no legal authority and whose decision is not binding on Ireland. An Taoiseach Mr Enda Kenny must tell the EU Commission that this matter can only be decided on by the Irish people and that he will also uphold his election promise not to legislate for abortion. Yours faithfully, Dana Rosemary Scallon Claregalway Enhance your career with GOAL Dear Editor, In these straitened times, with job opportunities in such short supply, it is not surprising that a steady stream of young Irish people are taking to the airports and seaports. Recent estimates are that up to 1,000 people are leaving Ireland every week. This job-hunting exodus is sadly reminiscent of a time that we thought we had left behind us. Young professionals and recent graduates in particular are increasingly moving abroad, with no guarantee that they will ever return. The departure from our shores of so much talent does not bode well for the future economic health of the state. However, there is one possible avenue of career-enhancing employment open to graduates, the existence of which perhaps many of them are not aware. GOAL is always on the lookout for talented young professionals, most especially nurse midwives, nutritionists, structural engineers and accountants, to recruit for our various programmes in the field. Aside from enhancing the well-being and future prospects of developing world populations, it is said with justification that a specialist can gain more experience from spending a year with an aid agency than he or she would in ten years at home. And the young aid worker will eventually bring his or her professional talents and experience back home to Ireland. Plugging at least a tiny part of the current brain-drain from Ireland is only one of the many benefits that can flow from young professionals taking employment with an implementing aid agency. Yours sincerely, John O'Shea GOAL PO BOX 19 Dun Laoghaire Co Dublin 01 280 9779   Mayor's thanks after challenging year Dear Editor, I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to you and your readers for the support shown to me in the last year. The last year was extremely busy and while it proved to be quite challenging at times I always knew I had the support of many of my colleagues on various issues which often made things slightly easier. On Monday a new Mayor was elected and I have no doubt that Mayor Mary Loftus will work extremely hard and do a fantastic job. I had the pleasure of working with many different organisations within the last year and I really appreciated being invited to so many events, it was wonderful to see just how much we have in our town and how hard so many people are willing to work to make our town even better. I think the young people in this town are outstanding citizens. I was fortunate enough to work with many of the secondary and primary schools in different projects and I was completely overwhelmed by their ambition and enthusiasm. Whenever the students from Tuam represented us or their school in a competition they did fantastically and I don't think they will ever realise just how proud I am of their achievements. It is important we keep encouraging and nurturing the future leaders of our community be it through academia, sport or maybe even politics! I would like to thank the press for their attendance at our Town Council meetings, in particular, I would like to thank Jacqueline Hogge, Tom Gilmore, Declan Tierney, Ray Ryan, Johnny Ryan, Jacinta Fahy and of course, David Burke. Without The Tuam Herald, many issues would escape our attention. Whenever I asked The Tuam Herald to help promote something in the town I was never refused so I know just how important the paper is to our town. The internet is a great for keeping in touch, however, there is nothing quite like The Tuam Herald to keep people up to date, especially for those living abroad. I have always found the staff of The Tuam Herald very professional, yet, seeing the number of the office appear on my phone wouldn't exactly excite me either but it did keep me on my toes. I know the business community are suffering and some may feel that the Town Council are ignoring them. One of the toughest meetings we had in the last year was the budget meeting. We all wanted to cut the rates and postponed our meeting to try and find areas to cut the budget from. Unfortunately, we had already promised the Chamber of Commerce €10,000 for the Christmas lights and cutting our Town Enhancement fund would not have made a difference on its own. This year, we are going to discuss this well in advance rather than wait for a letter to arrive on the night of the budget meeting requesting we reduce the rates. It won't be easy to cut the budget and something will have to suffer but we all want to help the business community. To all I worked with in the past year, a sincere thank you. To all of the officials, especially Angela Holian, to my colleagues and of course the Fine Gael party, I am very grateful for your support. Most of all, I would like to thank those who took time to stop me in the street and give me some words of encouragement. Politics can be very isolating but every so often someone would tell you they were happy with the job I was doing and that meant the world to me. I adore my family and could not have gotten through the year without them, especially my nieces and nephews who are convinced I made it snow at Christmas because I was the Mayor! My friends who supported me and listened to me have been amazing, it was great knowing that no matter how bad the day was one of my friends or family would make it better. Finally, I would like to thank the people of Tuam who have been so good to me. To everyone who voted for me, whether it was number 1 or number 15, I am eternally grateful. There isn't anywhere quite like Tuam, we have so much to be proud of and I believe our best years have yet to come. I will always do my utmost for this town because I love it. Thank you for allowing me to be your Mayor, it was a privilege being your first citizen. Yours sincerely, Sally-Ann Flanagan Tuam Congratulations to mini-marathon runners Dear Editor, I am writing on behalf of Ireland's only organisation focused on supporting people affected by meningitis, the Meningitis Trust, to say congratulations to our biggest team of 150 runners in this year's Flora Dublin Mini Marathon. As a charity that relies on donations to ensure that families throughout Ireland have the strength to rebuild their lives after meningitis, we are incredibly grateful to our runners' commitment and support. We couldn't do our work without them. The Meningitis Trust offers the largest range of free professional support services to anyone who has been affected by meningitis through counselling, bereavement support and home visits. If anyone is taking part in any other fantastic events for us, we would be honoured to welcome them to our team. Please contact me for details. Good luck and thank you. Yours sincerely, Carole Nealon General Manager Meningitis Trust PO Box 102 Bray Co Wicklow carolen@meningitis-trust.ie   [/private]