THIS WEEK, WE heard from our readers on the hospitality industry, road safety, Ursula von der Leyen’s trip to Ireland and, of course, the weather. Have something to say? See our letter guidelines here. 

The weather

[Ireland is in the midst of a heatwave, but what exactly counts as a heatwave?]

While cycling near Fanore recently, we had a cloudburst or a summer shower, as we used to call it, with steam rising off the road, while it was raining! It brought back memories of similar events in Loughrea during the 1960s. Of course, there was no rain when we were younger!

Did we always have heatwaves or is our weather warning system alarming us?  

Joe Harrison,
Spanish Point

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Hospitality 

[Big chains are the winners from the poor targeting of Ireland’s hospitality VAT rate cut]

The government is providing the hospitality industry with a €650 million taxpayer-funded package from 1 July 2026. 

Industry representatives have been effusive in their praise for what they describe as a vital lifeline, highlighting the success of their lobbying efforts in securing this funding.

What is striking, however, is that the minister with responsibility for tourism, Peter Burke TD, failed to remind the hotel and catering industry that it withdrew a lifeline from its own workers when it went to the courts to abolish the Joint Labour Committees. Those committees gave catering workers and their representatives a voice in regulating pay and conditions of employment.

This is the same hospitality industry that refused the government and the Dáil’s request to participate in the newly established National Joint Labour Committee to negotiate and regulate pay and conditions for catering and hotel workers.

It appears that when the government distributes hundreds of millions of euros in taxpayers’ money (largely contributed by PAYE workers) to employers, the benefits do not extend to the more than 250,000 workers in the hospitality sector, many of whom are among the lowest paid in the country. Is it any wonder, then, that industry spokespersons are celebrating the success of their lobbying campaign?

Norman A. Croke (former head of SIPTU College),
Co. Kildare 

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Road safety 

According to reports from Kilkenny one weekend in June, 170 breath tests and 40 drug tests were carried out resulting in a single arrest for driving under the influence. It beggars belief that this is the most efficient system the collective brains in our legislature can come up with.

Apart from the unnecessary inconvenience to the driving public caused by this fishing system of traffic enforcement, it must cost a small fortune to prosecute that one person, and there is no information that the driver in question even failed subsequent tests – it may well be that there wasn’t even a prosecution.

With the now ubiquitous WhatsApp groups warning about garda checkpoints, the mass testing road checks are quickly known to anyone who cares to know and can be avoided with a little effort.

Surely our legislators can devise a more efficient system, preferably based on traffic infringements and other observations of our highly trained gardaí.

Ronan Quinlan,
Roscommon

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Israel 

[Von der Leyen visit comes as Euroscepticism is high and the EU's Gaza response is a key driver]

Ursula von der Leyen is spending two days in Cork. I would love to meet her ask pose the question, ‘Do you still stand with Israel?’.

She flew to Israel a few days into the conflict between Israel and Hamas and on behalf of the EU, which she represents, and made that statement. 

She didn’t represent me, a European. I’m sure she didn’t represent many others at the time especially those who know the history of the Middle East. 

I wonder would any reporter be brave enough to ask her if she still stands with a nation that many, worldwide, believe has committed genocide.  

Gerry Cournane,
Kerry 

Editor’s response:

Gerry, and other readers, may be interested in how our political editor Christina Finn raised Israel’s deliberate targeting of children in Palestine, post ceasefire, with von der Leyen on 3 July. 

“Why are you and the Commission dragging your feet on this issue [a European-wide Occupied Territories Bill] and when will there be action on this?” she asked. 

Here is the full exchange: