Sir, – The à la carte democrats now calling for a second UK referendum on EU membership would have been the very first to crow "the people have spoken" if the result had gone the other way by even the tiniest of margins. – Yours, etc,
PETER KEATING,
Charleville,
Co Cork.
Sir, – I do not believe that those predominately older, working class Britons who voted to leave the EU were, as many commentators, and your editorial (June 28th), seem be suggesting, were looking to inflict self-harm of some kind.
The influencing factors behind the Leave vote were both multiple and more prosaic; a feeling that their individual cultural identity was being diluted by EU policy on immigration, undue dominance by their old rival, Germany, and ultimately, like all of us, how they were being directly affected in their own individual lives.
Britain has currently almost 20 million of its citizens living on the breadline. According to a 2014 poverty and social exclusion study undertaken by the University of Bristol, the amount of Britons living in poverty more than doubled since the early 1980s, with 18 million being unable to afford adequate housing, one in three unable to heat their homes adequately in winter, and one in four adults unable to eat what is deemed a healthy diet.
During the recent “austerity” years, Britons, many working in low-paid jobs, have been relying on handouts from food banks to make ends meet, something reminiscent of the 1940s rather than an era of unprecedented global affluence. A million food parcels were dispersed between 2014 and 2015, with 400,000 of these going to children.
It actually does not surprise me in the least that they viewed the EU institutions as both remote and working against their interests and opted to break away. – Yours, etc,
JD MANGAN,
Stillorgan, Co Dublin.
Sir, – Fintan O'Toole is wasting his time trying to persuade our "leaders" that justice and equality are needed to save the union ("How Europe's leaders can fix the European Union", Opinion & Analysis, June 28th).
The fact of the matter is that we have allowed greed to enter into the very heart of this project and it will prevail. The people of the UK are about to see their democratically expressed wishes binned as money flexes its muscle to protect the interests of the golden circle. And the real fear now must be that in order to be heard in this cauldron of self-interest, many will conclude that they are ill-served by the democratic process. – Yours, etc,
JIM O’SULLIVAN,
Rathedmond,
Co Sligo.
Sir, – If lack of accountability, arrogance, democratic deficit, secrecy, mission creep, etc, are hallmarks of the EU that need correcting, let all member states be obliged to have a referendum every certain number of years to determine whether or not they wish to remain in the EU. Think how this would change the mindset in the EU institutions, and member state governments, which would have to justify the EU’s reasons for being, and ongoing membership thereof, to the citizens they are supposedly in place to serve? – Yours, etc,
PAT KELLY ,
Castleknock,
Dublin 15.
Sir, – Partition of the EU will make us all less free, less wealthy and less effective in tackling cross-border problems (and almost all problems are cross-border nowadays). But perhaps the most profound outcome of the referendum process is a positive one, the emergence of a new, young generation of Britons who are positive towards Europe and international co-operation. – Yours, etc,
GAV ROCHE,
Ballina,
Co Mayo.
Sir, – David Cameron is correct in ascribing the Leave vote in part to failure of Europe to respond to the immigration question. However, he is wrong to blame it on the EU’s failure to limit migration to the UK. By far the greatest crisis in immigration is the displacement of millions mainly from Syria and the continuing neglect of their wellbeing by the European nations.
These innocent people, many of them mothers and children, are still awaiting badly needed help from the international community, which is well placed, but largely too apathetic, to respond. The exception to this is the vital day-to-day assistance and subsistence provided in the camps in Jordan and Lebanon by the UN and aid agencies that are thankfully keeping these 10 million displaced people alive in minimal living conditions on behalf of us all.
The failure on the part of the UK ever to be wholehearted as members of the EU, the absence of any initiative by them to develop the EU, and their abject indifference to innocent victims of international strife are the real deceptions on the part of the UK, in which light its legitimate concerns as to sufficiency of employment for UK nationals are small.
The childish and petulant behaviour of their predominantly English leaders in the creation of and responses to the recent referendum, the utter failure of the Leave campaign to have any exit plan at all, all confirm perceptions that they have by and large maintained a long historical mé féin approach to their relations with other nations. It is time this changed. – Yours, etc,
NEIL PATRICK McCANN,
Enniskillen,
Co Fermanagh.
Sir, – Irish people with rare diseases are hugely concerned by Brexit. We have a paucity of specialists in rare diseases in Irish hospitals.
Many of us travel to the UK under EU cross-border healthcare schemes that allowed us access to top consultants who specialise in rare diseases and genetic syndromes. It offered highly specialised genetic tests, access to research trials, new drugs or other treatments and other supports that are simply not available in Irish hospitals.
Indeed, one UK rare disease unit in Newcastle has warned it will be severely affected by Brexit as many of its researchers and workers are funded by the EU. This will have a huge negative impact on Irish patients attending that unit.
Minister for Health Simon Harris needs to address the anxiety of patients who already suffer in Ireland from a lack of skills and expertise in very rare diseases. Where will rare disease patients now go if the doors to such UK expertise, research, drug trials and treatments are closed? – Yours, etc,
Dr MARGARET KENNEDY,
Greystones, Co Wicklow.
Sir, – It’s sad to say this, but the Brexiters have made their bed of nails, so now they can lie on it! – Yours, etc,
SEÁN O’SULLIVAN,
Killester,
Dublin 5.
Sir, – Roy Foster seems to believe that the votes for leaving the EU came primarily from Wales and the north of England ("Britain consigned to margins by the 'stupid party'", Opinion & Analysis, June 27th). If he takes the trouble to examine voting patterns a little closer, he will find that most English constituencies outside London returned majorities for leaving the EU.
He appears to approve the opinion of Garret FitzGerald’s mother that voting should be confined to graduates. Such an approach, had it been applied 200 or so years ago, would have deprived us of the abilities of, to name only a few, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle and Sean Lemass. But never mind. Wouldn’t we all be better off if political life were confined to such geniuses as Mrs FitzGerald and Prof Foster?
He claims that Angus Wilson's novel The Old Men is about a nationalist dystopian England; those who bother to read that novel will find that the dictatorship which takes control is called One Europe. – Yours, etc,
CDC ARMSTRONG,
Belfast.
Sir, – The EU is not perfect but it is a huge success story.
The only positive aspect of the decision by the UK electorate is that the advantages of EU membership will be discovered and highlighted over the next couple of years. The UK will, unfortunately, discuss and most likely lose the majority of them step by step. – Yours, etc,
RALF LISSEK,
German-Irish Chamber
of Industry and Commerce,
Fitzwilliam Square,
Dublin 2.
Sir, – Does anyone else feel like the adult child of squabbling parents who, after 40 years of sharing a home and family, have just announced that they are applying for a divorce? – Yours, etc,
SIOBHÁN WALLS,
Dublin 13.
Sir, – It is quite astonishing to read calls for Ireland to hold its own referendum on EU membership (June 27th). If Britain jumped off a cliff . . . oh wait, it did. – Yours, etc,
JOHN DUFFY,
Dublin D6W.