Aileen Hooper News Today

Sir — At the turning of the year, the ‘little men’ were in conclave up the side of Slieve- namon. They were gathered to discuss the extraordinary rise of the Limerick hurling team and the fate of rivals Kilkenny and Tipperary, whom they saw as the carriers of the hurling flame, with Cork an annoying impostor.

He is no conventional angel He never was His halo was made of cigarette smoke His voice of gravel His words, stories and fairytales Written to unravel

Sir — I have witnessed many changes on our little island over the years, most of them very welcome, thus creating a more grown-up society. I’m all for inclusion, as long as its good for society as a whole.

Sir — In last week’s Sunday Independent, Colin Murphy wrote that “in the 1950s, Ireland had the highest proportion of psychiatric beds in the world” and also that an inquiry is warranted into former psychiatric institutions similar to other residential institutions that have been investigated in Ireland. I agree.

Sir — The Government, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) and installers of heat pumps are convincing when they tell us to upgrade home heating systems from fossil fuels to an electric pump.

Sir — My two friends arrive every year in early April, and their companions come some weeks later. It has been the same routine year in, year out, and I have eagerly looked forward to their arrival each year. I am talking, of course, of the swallows coming to my farmyard after travelling thousands of miles across oceans and deserts, fighting their way through storms, thunder and lightning.

Sir — I found some of the writing and commentary on the visit of US president Joe Biden remarkably cynical.