Letters to the Editor: CUH and MUH staff went above and beyond in trying conditions
A reader pays tribute to the care his relatives received in the Mercy University Hospital (above) and Cork University Hospital. File picture: Denis Scannell
On my many hospital visits during a period of two months, with excess admissions and confinements at record levels, I observed the emergency departments overwhelmed, many staff stressed by heavy workloads, reminiscent of a movie war setting.
These were scenes you would not expect at this time of year, in a First World country.
I extend praise and gratitude to the first responders, ambulance crews, and the hard-working, committed hospital staff, who gave exceptional hands-on care to both of my relatives: In the MUH, Professor O’Connor, doctors, nurses, and a special thanks to the two Joes, porters who helped above and beyond their official duties, and the helpful assistance of receptionist Tracey.
In the CUH, Dr Peter Kelly, doctor, nurses, and in the step-down ward, porters, catering staff, senior nurse Joan, and fellow nurses.
I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the escalating Israel-Palestine conflict, and the disproportionate loss of innocent lives as highlighted on IrishExaminer.com (‘It’s not justifiable’: Tánaiste says Israeli strike on Gaza refugee camp not a proportionate attack’) on November 1.
The actions of the Israeli government, aimed at countering Hamas, have resulted in a significantly higher number of Palestinian casualties, including vulnerable groups, like women, children, and the elderly.
This situation raises alarming questions about human rights violations and the urgency for international intervention.
I echo the sentiments of Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, who rightly pointed out that world leaders bear a grave responsibility.
Their failure to courageously strive for a ceasefire could lead the world towards destruction.
Warning of the risk of a global war, he said: “The rate at which the state of war is escalating, and how the Israeli government and other major global powers are adopting certain policies, it’s apparent that a world war is staring us in the face.”
I urge global leaders to prioritise dialogue, empathy, and cooperation, emphasising the need for an immediate halt to hostilities.
Preserving innocent lives must be our collective priority, transcending nationality and background, and ensuring a peaceful resolution to this conflict.
Tom Clonan’s review of the Gaza military conditions and weapons (‘Gaza civilian death toll will rise exponentially’, Irish Examiner, November 1) was good work, but ignored the other half of the question because, as UN Secretary General António Guterres noted, “the current crisis has not come out of the blue”.
For the last 18 years, Hamas has bombarded Israeli civilians with a total of 30,000 unguided rockets, with the intention, the “malice aforethought” of the traditional murder charge, to wreck the Negev towns, and ethnicly cleanse their people.
In contrast, the IDF warned Gazans to move, but as on a previous occasion, Hamas tried to stop civilian evacuation, however temporary.
Please note, the Palestine Arabs have rejected all two-state solutions since 1937 (Peel) — to 2008 (Olmert), and in 1948, as in 1967, their intention was to drive out all Jewish people (at 82, I can remember the 1967 “kill them all” speeches).
Janet Nunan Cunningham (Irish Examiner Letters, October 30) is rather ill-informed about the intentions of Hamas, which is an internationally proscribed terror organisation.
The Hamas charter argues for the obliteration of Israel, quotes multiple antisemitic conspiracy theories, and claims the Day of Judgement will not come until all the Jewish people have been killed.
It rejects peaceful solutions and initiatives, and says there is no solution to the Palestinian question, except jihad.
Hamas leaders regularly make speeches inciting the violent murder of Jewish people. We have now seen the outcome of such incitement. Hamas leaders live in luxury in Qatar. Their senior people in Gaza live in villas, with swimming pools and large cars, leaving ordinary people in poverty.
Hamas digs up water pipes to build rockets and has built 500km of tunnels for military purposes, but refuses to allow civilians to shelter in them.
Israel has made numerous offers of statehood to the Palestinians, every one of them rejected by intransigent leaders, who value ending Israel above the valid aspirations of the Palestinian people to self-determination.
Ms Cunningham may be enraged. I am beyond shocked that a thinking person of any religious denomination would justify, as she has, the sickening slaughter that Hamas unleashed in Israel on October 7.
It is the simpler steps that sometimes get overlooked in efforts towards dealing with climate change.
Reduction in emissions within transport is an urgent matter and TFI (Transport for Ireland) is making inroads, with more frequent services and additional bus routes in rural areas.
The piece of the jigsaw that is glaringly missing is the lack of any policy, in relation to good public transport in towns around the country.
Many of the larger towns have seen considerable growth in population over the last 20 years, and public transport has not kept pace with this.
We hear talk about the need to get more people out of their cars.
Surely the easiest place to begin is within our towns and cities, to have a public transport network and cycle routes so brilliant, that all residents have no need to use a private car.
Surely it should be possible to offer a service where people can travel at any time of the day or night, from one end of the town to the other end, using a frequent and convenient bus service. It will of course, need an efficient infrastructure of signed bus stops and shelters included. Think of the reduced number of cars, the improved air quality.
Think of the reduction in parking at school gates, but most of all, think of the reduction of CO2 gasses in our environment.
Regarding Fergus Finlay’s column (‘Terror should not be met with terror but humane quest for justice’, Irish Examiner, October 31): I have to add my voice and say it is time for all ordinary people to demand that the US, Britain, France, and others sit down with Israel and negotiate a proper peace settlement with Palestine.
The world knows it is the only way forward.
Over the past three weeks, more than 9,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza. Among the dead are more than 3,500 children; a figure which exceeds the annual number of children killed in conflicts across the entire world, since 2019.
This is the deadly fruit of Israel’s current invasion of Gaza; its 11th such military incursion into this small, but crowded, strip of land, since 2007.
All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good people to remain silent. The mounting corpses are stark reminders that our time for sitting on the fence is over. Now is the time for people and governments to demand and work for peace, based on a free Palestine and on equality.
We hear a lot of tiny violins around budget time, or whenever there is a threat to hotels’ bottom line. Now, the noise is drowned out with joyous Americana rock’n’ roll. Hotel price gouging around special occasions, like Bruce Springsteen’s tour, is a slap in the face to the taxpayer who supported the industry through Vat breaks.
There should be price controls: No room rate can be more than 150% of an average of the previous rolling 30 days.
