Letters: When it comes to being in charge, are the grown-ups missing from the Dáil?

Am I missing something, or does it feel like the children have taken over the school and are ensconced in the principal’s office?

Peter Declan O’Halloran, Belturbet, Co Cavan

Our TikTok Taoiseach might want to keep more of an eye on the time

With a general election looming, are we looking at the tick-tock Taoiseach rather than the TikTok Taoiseach?

Brian Ahern, Clonsilla, Co Dublin

We can be very proud of Tralee and its status as a great tourist destination

I would like to echo Billy Ryle’s comments that Tralee is becoming a “thriving Mecca of tourist activity” (Letters, April 15).

It has been obvious for some time now that Kerry’s county town is undergoing a renaissance with new pubs opening, a new hotel and another in the pipeline. The success of the Greenway out to Fenit with its convenient parking options mirrors what Brighton is to London. And it may just be a coincidence but Education Minister Norma Foley’s constituency office sits right, bang in the middle of all this new development.

Together with the popular Wetlands Eco Park, the thriving all-weather Aqua Dome, the modern eight-screen Omniplex, tennis courts and caravan and camping parks, Tralee is at last beginning to rival its more famous neighbour to the south as a family-friendly tourist destination.

With the ever-expanding Munster Technological University and the critical care being provided by University Hospital Kerry, Tralee caters for the young and not so young. And if that wasn’t enough, the €330m investment by Japanese pharma company Astellas in the town promises to be a game-changer. And of course the Kerry capital has a proper bypass should one prefer to keep on driving on the Wild Atlantic Way.

Tom McElligott, Listowel, Co Kerry

Potato production doesn’t seem to be keeping up with prices in the shops

Like many, I was worried about the incessant rain and its effect on food production on Irish farmland that is now saturated due to a lack of drainage ditches and the removal of hedgerows which formerly eased the crisis. Reports of probable potato shortages and an eventual increase in prices abounded.

Therefore, I was surprised to see that these potatoes were currently growing as the price in the shops has doubled already.

Eugene Tannam, Firhouse, Dublin 24

As long as the National Women’s Council exists, we need a male equivalent

One of the most striking aspects of the recently defeated referendums was the total underrepresentation of the will of the people (as it turned out) by “official” Ireland. Only Aontú, Senator Michael McDowell and a few others dared to defy the stifling political consensus.

In this regard the worst offender was the National Women’s Council of Ireland. Surely in this day and age this particular entity is well past its sell-by date. Not only is it patently unrepresentative of the vast majority of women, but its name is sexist and highly offensive to men. If it’s not abolished, then in the interests of equity, the Government must fund a National Men’s Council.

Although, on second thoughts, given the make-up of its female equivalent, one shudders at the thought of who might be appointed to it.

Eric Conway, Navan, Co Meath

A five-point plan to help secure peace in Gaza may look something like this

With no end in sight to the war in Gaza, I’d like to offer a few suggestions which can bring about peace:

1. The US should tell Israel to withdraw from Gaza.

2. The US and Egypt, with United Nations observer troops in place, should oversee security in Gaza with Hamas surrendering all large-scale weapons and returning Israeli hostages.

3. Israel should return Palestinian political prisoners who have not murdered defenceless people but who took a life in combat exchange.

4. Israel should withdraw from the West Bank except for the Old City of Jerusalem. The West Bank should be overseen by US and Jordan with United Nations observer troops.

5. Friendly Arab nations, such as Saudi Arabia, along with Western nations should help in the rebuilding of Gaza. Failure of Hamas to agree to these terms will surely bring about the destruction of more human life.

Jon Dolen, Illinois, USA

Better education would at least begin to help stop the horrors we witness today

I am just back from the beautiful city of London. I visited the Wiener Holocaust Library and the experience has a profound effect on you. The present exhibition is on the many stories of Armenian and Yezidi women who were held in genocidal captivity, in 1915 and 2014 respectively.

Presently we have an attempt to displace the Palestinian people from their homeland. We see what is going on in South Sudan. We cannot forget the genocide of the Jewish people by the Nazis. I could go on and on.

All of this is caused by hate and fuelled by the lack of basic education of our fellow human beings along with a major lack of international solidarity among all of us.

It is time that this esteemed newspaper, other public media bodies and political and school institutions devoted time and money to start a programme of educating everyone of the other i.e. the person in front of you. Treat the person in front of you how you would like to treated.

We need to turn around all of this horror and maybe create something positive out of it.

Paul Doran, Dublin 22

Still no sign of an Ireland manager, so will FAI wait as long to select new chief?

With the news that Jonathan Hill is to step down as FAI chief executive, one would hope that finding a candidate to fill the position won’t take as long as the process to fill the senior international men’s team coaching position vacated by Stephen Kenny.

Stephen O’Hara, Carrowmore, Co Sligo