Letters to the Editor: Process to obtain a full licence is not enough
One writer feels that drivers who don't have enough confidence or ability behind the wheel are passing the actual driving test.
The number of road traffic deaths are a huge concern and something needs to be done about it soon.
I just think that the Government is doing as much as possible to find ways to financially hinder the public, and are trying to control everyone through fear of fine and penalty points.
It would be a lot better if they were to tackle the issue at the source: The right and ability to acquire and keep a driver’s licence.
Let’s face it, the test to get a provisional is very simple. A primary school child can study the material and pass. Then the actual driving test for the full licence is very simple too, and I feel drivers who don’t have enough confidence or ability are passing this test.
In other European countries, the test is spread over a number of days. You’re taken to specialised tracks and put through a lot more tests to determine your reactions and ability to control a car.
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For example, a 17-year-old has the ability to acquire a full Irish licence. So you’ve a 17-year-old driving unaccompanied thinking they’re a rally driver or, the opposite, getting terrified when it starts raining and becoming so slow they are a danger on the road to other drivers.
We all know speed kills, but I’m also a believe that a slow nervous driver also has the ability to cause an accident if other drivers lose patience and push the safety barrier in order to pass them.
Young fully licensed drivers don’t understand the limitations of a car, the grip, or handling.
We are told not to speed and are shown what can happen if we do, but everyone thinks “they were a bad driver, I’m not”. Why can’t part of your test be go to a private area like a track and test high-speed reactions?
Bring us onto a skid plate going 100km/h and get the back wheels to slip out and let new drivers experience the fear or being in a car which they have no control of?
I feel it’s the Government’s responsibility to ensure that every person who receives a full licence has proper knowledge of the dangers or the road, but also the skills in order to prevent accidents to the best of their ability. I feel the Government is falling short on this one.
It was sad to hear that Eamon Ryan, one of the most honourable of people in our public life, has decided to step down as leader of the Green Party. He can be consoled, however, that he has succeeded in putting green issues permanently on the political agenda for all future Governments.
The sad thing is that his party was dumped upon by his coalition partners in the recent European and local elections. Like the Labour Party before them, the Greens, as the minor coalition party in Government, have proved to be a convenient mudguard for their senior coalition partners.
With the Greens in the doldrums for the foreseeable future, one wonders who the grand old dames of Irish politics, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, will be eyeing up next as potential junior partners in their next coalition Government.
When the tripartite Government was eventually formed after the last general election, you would have got some odds on Micheál Martin outlasting both Leo Varadkar and Eamon Ryan as leader of their respective parties.
What’s that saying, “an old dog for a hard road”? This is an interesting time in domestic politics.
I want to thank you for using the front page of your edition to share the words of Samia Al-Atrash. To slightly alter Sinéad O’Connor’s (Shuhada’ Sadaqat) ‘Thank You for Hearing Me’, I would like to “thank you for hearing her” and “thank you for seeing her”.
Last week, our march in Cork was a response to the poor-to-absent media reporting on Palestine. Many of us created large eyes, keys, and placards to highlight the absence of fair, factual, ethical coverage of this moment of utter catastrophe in the history of humanity.
Thank you for using the front page to ensure that more eyes are on Rafah. I hope this line of reporting continues.
At the previous European election, I voted for Mick Wallace. However, when Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, I was disgusted that Wallace effectively supported Putin, regardless of whatever Wallace actually says on the subject.
More than enough for me not to vote for Wallace this time, which means I was delighted to contribute to him not getting a seat.
I am writing to express my complete dismay and astonishment at the recent decision by Labour and the Green Party to form an alliance with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in order to gain control of Dublin City Council.
This unholy alliance is set to impose increased local property taxes on the hard-pressed citizens of Dublin who like many others are grappling with a cost-of-living crisis. It is a move that is both incredible and incredulous.
It is deeply disappointing to see these parties, which many voters believed would champion progressive and equitable policies, instead opting to join forces with those who have historically supported austerity.
Ivana Bacik, in particular, should be reminded of the fate that befell her predecessor, Joan Burton, when she decided to support Fine Gael and subsequently faced severe electoral backlash for endorsing austerity measures that adversely affected the Irish people.
If Dublin City Council needs to release funds, a more prudent approach would be to scrutinise its own organisation and structure for efficiency and cost control, eliminating any willful waste. Resorting to increasing taxes is a betrayal of the electorate’s trust, and flies in the face of what Dubliners voted for in the 2024 elections.
This is a move that will not be forgotten come the general election, which is only around the corner. The electorate will be more discerning with their votes, taking into account the current strategies employed by these parties to circumvent the wishes of the people. The Labour Party and the Green Party can expect to face severe repercussions at the polls, potentially even more so than Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, who are merely acting in character.
This is indeed a very disappointing day for the people of Dublin.
Edward O’Driscoll was my grandmother’s solicitor when she left “the seven sisters” of Tarelton, journeyed to the Big Smoke of Bandon, and hanged her shingle over the door of a “pub and eating house” across from the Courthouse.
Almost 60 years later, Edward O’Driscoll was my “instructing” solicitor in a few civil and criminal cases. “Instructing” is an understatement. Whether it was fish, fowl, farms, or folly, the man was boundlessly erudite, shrewd, and tough in the tackle.
Whether he was striking a golf ball, jumping a ditch on a horse, or waiting for “learned counsel” to catch up with him, the man was a giant and did nothing by halves. Bandon has lost one of its most distinguished long-serving and dignified citizens. Ar dheis Dé.
The treatment of three gay friends in Phoenix Park (Elaine Loughlin, June 20) makes for very sad reading. However, it is a stark reminder that legislation alone, without an ongoing strong focus on education in all sections of the community will ensure that people who are seen to be different will remain a target to those who feel they have a right to destroy the lives of others.
This is clear to us on a daily basis in our work with some of the people we meet who find themselves homeless, seen as “outsiders” in our society. It is clear we have a long way to go.
There has been much talk in recent times about how dysfunctional the dairy industry is, with its impact on greenhouse gas emissions due to the size of the national herd (1.6m cows and counting), and with a spotlight being shone on the 750,000 male calves born annually and which the industry essentially doesn’t want.
However, there is something more fundamentally dysfunctional at the heart of dairy: Humans are the only mammals that, as adults, consume the milk of a different species.
We are not physiologically designed to consume the milk of a cow, and indeed a significant proportion of the world’s population do not drink milk as they are lactose intolerant.
It’s easy to forget that cows produce milk for their offspring and not for us. Plant-based drinks are the future and Ireland needs to jump on board and stop supporting and promoting an industry that has, at best, an uncertain future.
